Cristal Kulungian and Billie Brown want to be more than wives on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag

Racing tour.

Cristal, wife of Pro Stock Motorcycle crewman Tim Kulungian, and Billie, wife of Top Fuel racer Antron Brown, want to be women who make a difference.

This weekend, as the tour heads into Memphis, Tenn., for the NHRA O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals, Kulungian and Brown intend to make
a positive investment towards the well-being of those in need, medically.

They have organized a blood drive at Memphis Motorsports Park during this weekend’s race in an effort to replenish the blood supply for the local Memphis blood center all the while conducting bone marrow testing to help the National Registry with finding suitable donors for those on waiting lists.

Cristal Kulungian and Billie Brown want to be more than wives on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag

Racing tour.

Cristal, wife of Pro Stock Motorcycle crewman Tim Kulungian, and Billie, wife of Top Fuel racer Antron Brown, want to be women who make a difference.

This weekend, as the tour heads into Memphis, Tenn., for the NHRA O’Reilly Mid-South Nationals, Kulungian and Brown intend to make a positive investment towards the well-being of those in need, medically.

They have organized a blood drive at Memphis Motorsports Park during this weekend’s race in an effort to replenish the blood supply for the local Memphis blood center all the while conducting bone marrow testing to help the National Registry with finding suitable donors for those on waiting lists.

“I am asking each race team to commit two people to donate blood for this drive,” Brown said. “This can be a team member, a spouse or a visiting friend or family member. We are also looking for any Pro drivers who are willing to donate a fraction of their time for autographs near the Blood Drive center.”

This blood drive and marrow testing is in honor of Lilly Belle Kulungian, the youngest child of Tim and Cristal Kulungian. Lilly Belle was born with an extremely rare disease called Malignant Infantile Osteoporosis, a disease that had never before been diagnosed in Alabama. The rare and deadly illness requires a bone marrow transplant because it closes the Marrow canal - preventing blood production and requiring regular blood transfusions to stay alive.

Fortunately for the Kulungian’s, at the time, their four-year old daughter Delilah turned out to be a perfect match for Lily Belle, who spent her first year of life in a hospital fighting for her life. She is now home and doing well.

Had Lilly Belle waited through the National Registry, she might not have lived long enough for the transplant.

Kulungian recently distributed a letter to the racing community as a means of letting them know how inspirational their support was.

 “We would like to thank the NHRA family for being so supportive of our daughter over the past year and-a-half,” Kulungian said. “The teams and Bob Frey have really come together to help us through this life-changing ordeal.”

“It will be such an exciting thing but even more so, it will save lives,” said Kulungian. “We hope that this drive will be the largest numbers ever entered in the registry at a single Bone Marrow drive. We want to thank the NHRA for supporting such a cause that can save so many lives.”

The drive will take place on Friday, October 2, from 11:00am- 5:00pm and Saturday, October 3, from 10:30am-4:30pm.

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