“We Are Grateful for the Times We Had” – NASCAR Community Joins Hands to Bid Farewell to a “Relentless” Smile

Tragedy struck the NASCAR community recently, as a young motor racing fan lost his battle to a long-time illness. According to Denise Whitlatch, her son Dakota had been suffering from a rare and sometimes debilitating heart condition. The young Iowa native was diagnosed with a hypoplastic left heart. This is an extremely rare heart defect that left him without a left ventricle. His mother revealed that the right side of his heart has to do all the work for him.

Dakota was a massive NASCAR fan and his favorite driver was Kyle Busch. Sadly, his mother has revealed that young Dakota passed away earlier, and the community shared her grief. Many people like Speedway Motorsports president Marcus Smith and Kaulig Racing president Chris Rice. Even the likes of Stewart-Hass Racing, Rick Ware Racing, SS-Green Light Racing, and veterans JJ Yeley and Brett Griffin expressed their condolences.

Dakota had an incredible NASCAR connection

Back in 2009, the Make-A-Wish Foundation granted his request to visit the Daytona International Speedway. Dakota desperately wanted to watch the July 4th night race, the Coke Zero 400. Since his favorite driver was Kyle Busch, Make-A-Wish made it possible for Dakota to meet his idol.

As per skirtsandscuffs.com, his mother, Denise, said, “Going to the race was his wish, but meeting Kyle was an added bonus. We had a scheduled time and our wish granter coordinators down in Florida were there to meet us and said, ‘Ok at this time we’re going to go meet Kyle.’ So we went to his motor coach, and they had called and said ‘I will be there shortly. Make yourself comfortable’.”

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“Well, out pops this TV from his motor home and there are lawn chairs sitting all about and a barbecue grill. So Dakota, being Dakota, says, ‘Ok I’m going to sit down!’ So he sits down and we’re waiting for Kyle and Kyle pulls up on his golf cart and Dakota’s eyes just light up and he runs up to Kyle and gives him a big hug!”

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Who is Dakota Whitlatch, the lifelong stock car racing fan?

As mentioned before, the child was diagnosed with a rare heart condition. As a result, he spent much of his life in hospital and had multiple heart surgeries. In one particular surgery, he had a pacemaker put in to help ease the process. The ordeal began around May 7th, when he showed signs of cellulitis on his legs. Later on, he developed a fever, which began spiking, so he was admitted to the hospital.

After some time, the child was moved to the ICU before being rushed in for emergency surgery. A day later, his mother sent a fresh update, revealing that he was out of surgery, but the danger hadn’t passed. According to her, his heart and kidneys were sick, and the doctors were also working on his leg. Soon, things took a turn for the worse when his heart rate skyrocketed. It got to a stage where he had no sensation in his lower extremities and had low blood pressure. Then he suffered from a seizure but quickly recovered. The last update was that young Dakota was with Jesus.

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