Nottinghamshire man Michael Joseph Luciw, 27, was a passenger in the white transit van that was hit head on by a car travelling in the wrong direction on Monday.
The 87-year-old car driver, who has not yet been named, drove the wrong way on the southbound carriageway before colliding head-on with the transit van.
Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of the transit van was taken to Nottingham’s Queen’s Medical Centre where he remains in a stable condition.
Victim Michael, was described as a ‘loving father’ by his family, who said he will be ‘deeply missed.’
‘We as a family would appreciate at this time to be left alone to come to terms with his loss,’ the family said in a statement.
Meanwhile police officer Simon Cole, who was on the scene for Leicestershire Police, described the incident as ‘harrowing.’