Laps For Leukemia 2018

Laps for Leukemia will support L Bryce Whitson Jr. and Be The Match Foundation, the National Marrow Donor Program. This campaign asks for a small donation for every lap that Whitson Motorsports completes in the 2018 iRacing Endurance Events. Money from these donations will go to support the National Marrow Donor Program so that people with leukemia and other malignancies can have access to life saving replacement stem cells. In addition, we would like to encourage every one that reads this, whether they donate monetarily or not, to please sign up on http://join.BeTheMatch.org/LapsForLeukemia to be a possible stem cell donor. It is a simple and painless process to join. Just order the kit, swab the inside of your cheeks and send it back. You never know if you could save someone’s life.

L Bryce Whitson Jr’s Story:

Bryce and his nephew, Gary Bryce Whitson II, inherited the love of the sport from their fathers, L Bryce Whitson and Gary Bryce Whitson. The Whitson boys raced together for many years in their youth on local tracks around the midwest with their first races beginning in 1998. Around 2010 both boys decided to hang up their helmets and traded in their cars for racing simulators on the iRacing.com platform. In 2014 Bryce and Gary formed Whitson Motorsports on the iRacing.com Racing Simulation. This allowed them to continue their love of the sport while furthering their professional careers, Bryce an engineer and Gary a pharmacist.

Early in 2016, at the age of 34, Bryce got the opportunity of a lifetime and accepted a position at Hendrick Motorsports as an Aerodynamics Engineer. This career was a dream come true for Bryce as he always wanted to make a living in racing and this position allowed Bryce to work for one of the top teams in NASCAR. As Bryce began to learn the ropes he was afforded the opportunity to meet many of the drivers and crew chiefs he had watched on television throughout his youth. Through the 2016 and 2017 seasons he continued to gain responsibility and respect throughout Hendrick Motorsports. However, after successfully helping to launch the 2018 Chevrolet Camaro in August 2017, Bryce was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.

Following his diagnosis, Bryce underwent multiple chemotherapy treatments through the remainder of the year. His condition forced him to stay away from the work he loved. The team at Hendrick Motorsports put their full faith and continued support behind Bryce as he battled through the early stages of the disease and treatment regimen. At the time of diagnosis it was made clear that Bryce would need a stem cell transplant. His only living brother, Gerry Brent Whitson, was only a half match and was much older than Bryce, making Gerry and unsuitable donor. This meant that they would have to search elsewhere to find someone to donate the stem cells needed to save his life.

In January 2018, Bryce received a stem cell transplant from an anonymous donor that was found through the National Marrow Donor Program (BeTheMatch.org). The NMDP maintains a database of donor DNA that is used to find a potential match for stem cell transplant recipients to help cure multiple types of cancers and bone marrow failure diseases. In addition, NMDP provides funds to reimburse donors for travel expenses, provide payments for missed work, and cover the cost to transport donor stem cells all around the world.

Thanks to BeTheMatch.org and the NMDP, Bryce is currently recovering at home and is hopeful that he will be able to return to his dream job in 2019 and beyond. Bryce will be competing with Whitson Motorsports during Laps For Leukemia. You can watch an in-car view of all of our races on the Whitson Motorsports Youtube and can catch up with the team on the Whitson Motorsports Facebook page.