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JOLIET, Ill. – In most ways, Wyatt Zender is your typical 9-year-old. Quiet and a bit shy around strangers, but not opposed to answering a question or two. And just as likely to pause midway through a response, gaze up from underneath his ball cap and ask, "Wait. What?"Wyatt is also a cancer patient. Not so typical.
But he is, and he's now off chemotherapy. He and his family are here this weekend at Chicagoland Speedway, celebrating their first trip to a NASCAR race and, oh yeah, by the way, that paint scheme on Kasey Kahne's car this weekend? Wyatt came up with the design.
"I just thought it looked lucky," he said of the paint scheme that features sponsor Great Clips, crayon-looking blues and yellows with red numerals. Kahne, driver of the No. 5 Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports, certainly hopes that's the case. He's one of 16 drivers in this year’s Playoffs and today is the Tales of the Turtles 400, Race No. 1 in the Round of 16.
With the typical honesty of a kid, Wyatt adds that, "No, they're not my favorite colors," when asked about the scheme.
Wyatt was diagnosed with Hodgkin Lymphoma earlier this year after his mom noticed a lump on his neck. He underwent treatment at Seattle Children’s Hospital and recently was able to stop chemo treatments. While in the hospital, he entered a Great Clips contest to design the paint scheme for Kahne’s car; the contest is helping to recognize the Strong Against Cancer platform at Chicagoland this weekend.
When he found out his design had been chosen, Wyatt said, "I was like ‘Holy cow! I can’t believe I won!' I was so excited I won and I was just wondering, 'Do I get to go to Chicago?'"
Kahne, 37, is making his sixth Playoff appearance and his first since 2014.
"I designed some Sprint cars (when I was a kid); they didn't look that good," Kahne admitted.
"I thought he did a great job with the look of the car. I thought it was really cool and I know he put a lot of time into it."
Kahne became involved in the Strong Against Cancer program through Seattle Children’s while partnering with Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson to raise funds for charity.
"He's (Wilson) always been a huge advocate of Seattle Children's so when we did a golf tournament, we worked on it together," Kahne said. "At that point I understood a lot more about the hospital and what it did for kids. … Our tournament, The Drive, worked well and we were able to make some great donations.
"To do a program like this with Great Clips is unbelievable. It's unbelievable for Wyatt and his family to be able to come and hang out, and get to see his car."