CONCORD, N.C. -- A unique decal for an important cause will be on the door panel of William Byron’s No. 24 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 1LE this weekend at Sonoma Raceway.
ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, is a degenerative disease that affects the nerve cells responsible for the voluntary muscle movement in the body. The disease has no known cure and the average life expectancy after a diagnosis is between two and five years. Scott and Dave Lloyd, who have worked with Hendrick Motorsports’ Track Attack program, decided to start the nonprofit Racing for ALS after Dave was diagnosed with ALS in 2017.
They hope that Byron running the decal on his Chevrolet will bring awareness to ALS and help fund crucial and necessary research to find a cure for the rare disorder.
“We are so humbled, grateful and thrilled to have one of the fastest cars on track helping us spread ALS awareness and speed to a cure,” Dave said.
The motor neuron death from ALS slowly starts to paralyze the voluntary muscles, eventually leaving the person immobile and unable to eat, drink or breath on their own. For 90% of ALS cases, there are no identifiable causes and are considered “spontaneous.” Only 10% of ALS cases are caused by inherited genetic mutations.
Dave, a married father of two, first noticed something wasn’t right when he was having trouble moving his thumb and hands in 2017. Initially thinking it was from being on his phone too often, Dave underwent six months of extensive testing that ruled out other disorders. Since there is no defined ALS test, Dave and his family received the difficult news in October 2017 that he was suffering from the disease.
“It can impact anyone, regardless of age, race and gender,” Scott Lloyd said. “When my brother was diagnosed, the quote from the doctor that stuck with us was, ‘We know about ALS today what we knew about cancer 100 years ago.’ Other than a handful of miraculous healings, there is no cure. It’s a two-and-a-half-year life expectancy, and to not know more about that disease is just staggering.”
Scott and Dave decided to push up the bucket-list items they had saved for retirement and started racing cars together until 2019, when Dave physically was unable to race anymore. Dave said when he was in the car, he didn’t think about the disease and he was able to have fun and be in the moment. Those times together fueled the brothers to start the organization and bring funding and awareness to ALS.
Even though Dave can’t be in the car anymore, he said the support of people cheering him on and urging him to use his platform to try and find a cure for the disease has kept him going.
“When we first did this, it was about he and I going out and having fun,” Scott said. “As we started racing, everyone in the racing community was just so amazing. Everyone we’ve met is just phenomenal. The question we kept getting was, ‘How can we help?’”
The brothers started doing videos on ALS facts, such as how one person every 90 minutes is diagnosed with the neurological disorder. It snowballed into starting their own charity in conjunction with racing where 100% of the donations are given to ALS research. Now in its third year, the organization has raised more than $240,000 for a cure. The Lloyds hope the bright red decal on Byron’s Chevy will bring further awareness to ALS and fuel the need to find a remedy.
“When fellow NASCAR fans see our Racing for ALS logo on the car, I pray they’ll construe it as nothing less than proof of miracles,” Dave Lloyd said. “Scott and I turned both the dark journey through ALS and the Racing for ALS mission over to our Lord Jesus. The chance meetings and inexplicable coincidences that have since blessed our race to a cure culminated in an extremely productive relationship with Hendrick Performance’s Track Attack program.”
Check out the decal on Byron’s No. 24 ride this Sunday when he starts third at Sonoma Raceway. The race will begin at 4 p.m. ET and air on FS1.