Darrell Waltrip, 79, steps away from public life after frontotemporal degeneration diagnosis

NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip is stepping further away from public life after being diagnosed with frontotemporal degeneration (FTD), a progressive brain disease, his family announced in a statement on Wednesday.

The family of the 79-year-old said the diagnosis was “complicated by possible Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) — likely from injuries incurred during his racing career”, which spanned from 1972 to 2000.

“While this disease will inevitably progress, thankfully it is currently limited to some minor noticeable symptoms,” the statement said. “Be assured, Darrell is happy and otherwise healthy — spending his time with his wife, Stevie, two daughters and his three young grandchildren.”

FTD is a form of dementia that affects the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain, the areas associated with personality, behaviour and language, according to the Mayo Clinic. CTE is a brain disease linked to repeated head injuries that currently can only be definitively diagnosed after death, during an autopsy of the brain.

Waltrip won 84 NASCAR Cup Series races — fifth on the sport’s all-time list — and three championships in 1981, 1982 and 1985. He captured the 1989 Daytona 500 and was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012.

After retiring from driving in 2000, he became Fox Sports’ first hire for its NASCAR coverage in 2001 and spent nearly two decades in the broadcast booth, where his “Boogity! Boogity! Boogity!” race-start call became famous. He stepped away from full-time broadcasting in 2019.

Sources

• NASCAR Hall of Famer Waltrip exits public life due to brain disease — Associated Press, via theScore
• Darrell Waltrip diagnosed with frontotemporal degeneration, stepping away from limelight — USA Today
• Darrell Waltrip diagnosed with frontotemporal degeneration, stepping away from public life — The Tennessean