ATLANTA, Ga. — Following last year‘s exhilarating EchoPark Speedway summer race win, the Chase Elliott Foundation is continuing its partnership with NAPA Auto Parts and Hendrick Motorsports for the 10th edition of its Desi9n to Drive art collaboration with Children‘s Healthcare of Atlanta. Launched in 2017, the foundation‘s Desi9n to Drive program has raised and donated more than $545,500 to Children‘s over its first nine years.
Elliott‘s No. 9 race car and race uniform, from head to toe, will feature a design imagined by two pediatric patients at Children‘s for the NASCAR Cup Series race at EchoPark on Sunday, July 12. Race fans can enter an online sweepstakes fundraiser to win a flyaway race weekend trip for two to meet Elliott, with donation proceeds benefiting Children‘s.
Last year, Elliott won the EchoPark night race with a late-lap surge to the front. His winning race car featured a Dream Big-themed design by 12-year-old Rhealynn Mills, a pediatric cancer patient at Children‘s. Rhealynn captured the hearts of race fans everywhere when she celebrated with Elliott on the track‘s frontstretch immediately following the race on live television.
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“The Desi9n to Drive race weekend is one of my favorites of the season,” said Elliott, a Dawsonville, Georgia, native. “It was really unbelievable to win the Atlanta night race last year at my home track in the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy in the ninth year of doing this program with Children‘s Healthcare of Atlanta. Hopefully, we can defend our race title for NAPA and get back to Victory Lane and bring more awareness to the patient stories at Children‘s.”
This year‘s Desi9n to Drive program received dozens of sports- and recreation-themed artwork submissions from patients at Children‘s. The selected artwork sketches of two patients — 8-year-old Maximus Peace and 9-year-old Noelle Springer — have been combined into a baseball-themed design that will serve as the paint scheme and driver uniform look for the July 12 race.
Maximus was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 2 and is insulin-dependent. Despite dealing with the chronic disease on a daily basis, he enjoys being a normal kid, playing baseball, playing piano and spending time with his dogs. Maximus has a positive attitude toward life and exhibits a vibrant personality, which shows as he performs in stage plays and commercials.
Noelle was diagnosed with a form of leukemia called acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) at age 5. After many rounds of treatment, including chemotherapy, she rang the end-of-treatment bell more than a year ago. Like Maximus, Noelle exhibits a glowing, can-do approach to life. She enjoys spending time with her older sisters, Abby and Claire.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to partner with Chase and his foundation once again in support of the remarkable, life-changing work the team at Children‘s undertakes on a daily basis,” said Katherine Wooten, director of partnerships at NAPA. “It is an honor to have the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevy wear this year‘s special livery and drive awareness for a truly worthy cause.”
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Before Wednesday‘s Atlanta Braves home game, Elliott and the two patients unveiled the race car‘s paint scheme at Children‘s Healthcare of Atlanta Park, the 30,000-square-foot dedicated family space located on Truist Park‘s left-field plaza. Pieces of the race uniform will be revealed over the next few weeks before the July 12 race.
“Desi9n to Drive is more than a design contest; it is an opportunity for our patients to see their imagination, resilience and creativity celebrated on a national stage,” said Beth Buursema, director of corporate and community giving at Children‘s. “Through Desi9n to Drive, our patients, Maximus and Noelle, are sharing their stories through their artwork and experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime moment. The Children‘s family is grateful to the Chase Elliott Foundation for helping make those dreams a reality.”
Fans can visit desi9ntodrive.org to learn more and enter the flyaway race weekend trip sweepstakes. The sweepstakes begins June 3 and closes July 13.