Five-year-old Addilyn will see her creativity take center stage at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend, as her winning livery design hits the track during the DESDER Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS.
What started as a blank canvas has turned into a special moment for one young motorsports fan, thanks to a season-long initiative from GT World Challenge America drivers Slade Stewart and Andy Lee.
Throughout the 2026 season, the duo invited young fans to put their creativity to the test by designing a special livery for their BMW M3 GT3 Evo race car. Rather than handing out traditional hero cards, Stewart and Lee distributed cards featuring a blank outline of their BMW, encouraging young fans to create and submit their own designs.
The initiative gave the next generation of fans an opportunity to become part of the team in a unique way, with the winning design set to be brought to life for the Indianapolis 8 Hour.
After collecting submissions throughout the season, the team opened the designs to a vote, with five-year-old Addilyn ultimately earning the winning honors.
For Stewart and Lee, who have spent the season competing with their unmistakable Sparklefarts livery, the contest was an opportunity to give something back to the fans who have supported them throughout the year.
"We came into the season running Sparklefarts, and we wanted to do something special for our fans," Stewart explained. "All season long, we've been handing out hero cards and allowing people to submit their drawings. Ultimately, we put it to a vote, and five-year-old Addilyn won. We couldn't be happier for her and how the livery turned out. It's amazing to see her design come to life."
The experience didn't end with the announcement of the winning design. Addilyn was invited to join the team as the cars were being wrapped, giving her the opportunity to see her artwork transformed into a full-scale racing livery.
She even got to lend a hand in the process, personally applying some of the decals to the front of the car, adding her own finishing touches before its on-track debut.
For Lee, seeing the finished product exceeded expectations.
"It's an awesome livery, and I think it's incredibly creative," Lee said. "I wasn't sure exactly how it would look on the car after seeing the drawing, but seeing it in real life is so much fun. She even got to apply some of the stickers herself, so she was part of not only creating the design but actually putting it on the car. It's going to be really special to represent her this weekend."
The special livery made its competitive debut at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where Stewart and Lee will be joined by BMW factory driver Jesse Krohn for the eight-hour endurance contest on Saturday.
