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Members of NASCAR teams fulfill wish and attend funeral of 5-year-old

nick bromberg
College football and motorsports writer
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Members of numerous NASCAR teams gave us a great example of unity and being there for one another as a country with their actions Tuesday.

5-year-old Jake Leatherman died Nov. 2 after fighting myelomoncytic leukemia. He had become a big NASCAR fan and his mother asked WBTV in Charlotte for help in getting people from Sprint Cup Series teams to attend his funeral.

From WBTV:

“I want to give my son the sendoff he deserves,” she wrote. “He recently got into NASCAR and absolutely loves Richard Petty. He loved calling him ‘The King’. But Jake loves a lot of the other cars as well. The Lowe’s car. The M&M’s U.S.A. car. Lots of cars. He loved them all. I was wondering if you knew anyone who would be willing to come in uniform and help carry my baby?”

“Jake never got the chance to go to a race,” Crystal wrote. “I know it seems an odd ask, but we’d love to honor Jake this way. It would mean so much. We’d greatly appreciate any ideas.”

She signed her note, “Love and hugs, Crystal.”

Team members responded in their firesuits.

It’s a busy week as teams get ready to jet across the country to Phoenix for the penultimate race of the season. It could have been easy to ignore the request. Instead, it’s a great reminder that we’re all in this together and that being kind to one another goes a really, really long way.

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Nick Bromberg is the editor of From The Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!