FRANKLIN, TN (FOX Sports) – NASCAR Hall of Fame driver and longtime broadcaster Darrell Waltrip is stepping back from the public spotlight after being diagnosed with frontotemporal degeneration, or F-T-D, complicated by possible chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or C-T-E.

Waltrip and his family say the condition currently involves minor noticeable symptoms that affect his personality, but that the disease will inevitably progress. The 79-year-old is spending time with his wife, Stevie, their two daughters and three grandchildren.

Waltrip won three NASCAR Cup championships and 84 races during a career that spanned nearly three decades. He won the 1989 Daytona 500 and later spent 19 seasons as Fox Sports’ primary NASCAR analyst.

Waltrip was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012.

The Mayo Clinic says frontotemporal degeneration affects areas of the brain involved in personality, behavior and language. C-T-E is associated with repeated head injuries and can only be definitively diagnosed after death.

Waltrip’s family ended its statement with his familiar sign-off: “Boogity! Boogity! Boogity!”