11 Year Old Battling Leukemia Has Dream Race Day

Break out the tissues, ladies and gentlemen. This one is going to hit you hard in the feels, especially of you happen to have kids, like I do, that are close to this young man’s age.

Eleven year old Caleb Hammond is a warrior, one who I’d have to say is far braver than just about anybody else on the planet. You see, young Caleb made the decision to face death, to stare his mortality in the face, knowing full well that its a stare down he’ll almost certainly lose.

Rather than have his body racked by continued treatments, Caleb chose to end the chemotherapy intended to combat his Leukemia, opting to spend what time he has left enjoying his life. Knowing full well that his time with them is of great importance, the community at Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, IA rallied to pull together an awesome event called Caleb’s Dream.

Like many young men – and ladies, to be fair – across the nation and around the world, Caleb has always dreamed of driving a race car. With a little help from the tight-knit group of racers, crews and fans the speedway was able to make that dream come true, and Caleb had his chance to climb behind the wheel of a legit dirt track car and take to the track.

Decked out in full race gear, Caleb slid through the window of his #46•7 car and headed out onto the half mile dirt oval to go head to head with the very guys he looks up to for a few laps of high speed action. From the looks of the video, the veterans had nothing for the young gun as Caleb managed to hold them off and take the checkered flag. Afterwards, there was the obligatory winner’s circle celebration with photos and the trophy presentation.

We send all of our love and prayers to Caleb and the Hammond family as well as all of those touched by this young man’s courage. We wish Caleb as many full days of being an 11 year old as possible during his journey and we hope to see more stories like this about this amazing young man!