CONCORD, N.C. – All month long, Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s gloves have been accented in blue to help raise awareness for autism.
It’s part of The Dale Jr. Foundation’s Driven to Give Gloves initiative, and the race-worn gloves will be auctioned off to raise funds for Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s clinical and research programs.
He’ll wear the blue gloves both at Bristol and Richmond to close out the month. And this weekend at Bristol, Earnhardt will honor a very special fan on his Chevy.
Tristen Cooper, a 10-year-old who was diagnosed with autism as a toddler, will have his name featured above the passenger door of Earnhardt’s No. 88 Nationwide Chevrolet SS.
Cooper, who loves NASCAR, has received care through Nationwide Children's Hospital's Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders. Like Earnhardt, he has a sports career of his own – he earned second-place in the baseball throw during the 2016 Special Olympics Summer Games in Columbus, Ohio.
Nationwide Children’s is America’s largest pediatric hospital and research center with all care provided regardless of a family’s ability to pay.