Evanston Boy Will be 'Miniature Driver' for NASCAR's David Gilliland Sunday

A 7-year-old Evanston boy will be the “miniature driver for a day,” cheering on NASCAR Sprint Cup driver David Gilliland during Sunday’s race at the Chicagoland Speedway.

Jack Benjamin, who was diagnosed with biliary atresia - a rare liver disease which occurs in one in twenty thousand newborns - when he was two months old, was provided the honor that tops off an annual fundraising campaign for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, according to the Chicago Tribune. the 17th year that Oklahoma City-based Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores run the CMNH, which are month long events that help raise funds for 170 children’s hospitals across North America.

There is no cure for Benjamin’s disease, but he went underwent a liver transplant within a week of his diagnosis and has been on what is being called a “miracle” road to recovery by doctors. The boy is now a second grader at Orrington Elementary School.

As for Benjamin’s prediction for Sunday’s race:

“David Gilliland is going to win,” he said.

more via the Chicago Tribune