From our friends at Huff Motorsports:
The first half of 2020 saw local driver Steve Huff’s team and Team Carrell, Huff & Barger in international news with the success of becoming the world’s first and only 200 MPH electric drag car in history, then backed it up when the team increased the speed to 201.37 MPH at Pacific Raceways in Kent in August.
The team intends to take the car back out this year for some exhibition runs and to bring down the ET and be the first to break the 6-second barrier.
As if this wasn’t enough, the Team was also honored by the City of SeaTac with a proclamation naming Sept. 22, 2020 “Steve Huff Motorsports Racing Day.” It is an honor and with great pride that our team has been recognized for our work in the community and the successes at the races. Thank you Mayor Sitterley and the City of SeaTac.
Now for the other side of the coin…It’s with a heavy heart that we are announcing that Steve’s long term back pain has finally been diagnosed as a very rare cancer that has spread from his left Kidney to his Lymph Node and Spine along with a double tumor growth in his L3 vertebrae. Advanced Urothelial Carcinoma (a type of cancer that affects cells in the urinary tract) is the official type of cancer, which affects only a very small percentage of the urinary tract cancer diagnosis and of those the majority of the patients are in their 70’s.
As of last week, Steve has completed a full course of radiation therapy to help relieve the pain in his lower back. The radiation (SBRT) treatments performed by Dr. Simon Lo and team at UW Medical Center. Steve is happy to say he is a real biker now, he got his first 3 tattoos, for the laser sights for the radiation treatment. We won’t know the full outcome and results of the radiation on his spine for a couple of months, but his pain has been significantly reduced now that the L3 tumors are no longer growing and causing pressure. We always look for the good in any situation, and the good news as of 2 weeks ago is that the lesion on his spine has not compromised the integrity of his vertebrae to a point of failure. So racing is still possible!!
From Dr. Gabrielle Zecha, PA-C MHA:
“From the moment I met Steve, I was struck by his upbeat and generous approach – even in the face of an unthinkable and life-altering diagnosis. He has a relentless focus on positive outcomes and helping others that will help him navigate the ups and downs of cancer care. Support of his “people” will help him maneuver through some of these challenges. Even when he was in terrible pain, he managed to laugh and, strikingly, was talking about how he could continue his quest to help others. He is a remarkable human with an amazing attitude and while I am not a religious person, I love this quote from Proverbs ‘As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.’ It perfectly sums up the essence of Steve.”
Steve started his first round of chemo last week, and will continue with a treatment plan that extends for the next 6 months. All cancer treatments are ever-changing and updated for each patient, so the work will continue and the treatment will be modified to fit how Steve’s body reacts.
As we all know, Steve is one hell of a racer and fighter and he will beat this. Steve is Faster Than Cancer! Our racing team is now adding the world’s best cancer team at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance and UW Medical Center, and we JUST WON’T QUIT. Steve will continue to help and support all of the children’s programs & community he can, but this year Steve is going to need to ask for the help and support of all of you, his Team. It’s been about 60 days without being able to do any fundamental work in the race shop and the next 60 days aren’t looking much better right now.
From Steve:
“45 days ago I was diagnosed and my life stopped. Everything stopped. It felt like my heart stopped. It has taken all of those 45 days to try and write something to share with all of you. But the words escaped me and I’m at a loss, a rare occasion for me. Simply put, I’m scared, an even rarer state for me.
“I have never been afraid of a challenge and beating the odds is something I have done my entire life, but I already see that this is different. First, my friends need to know that I am okay and I plan on being here for a while longer. This year is going to be special, I will need everyone’s help and support.
“I am so blessed to have these amazing people from UW Medical Center and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance here in our own backyard and they are the best in the world. My team is working to prolong my life and reduce my pain, which leading up to the diagnosis in November had me literally collapsed on the floor unable to move on many occasions.
“I wish I had time and energy to personally call everyone with updates. Jill will be sharing information on how you can get updates on my treatment. As of now, I expect to be back in the shop in a couple of weeks and start preparing for the 2021 race season and probably having a head shaving party to start this year off right. This is the fight I’ve trained for my whole life, I’ve got the best team and we are going to win. I will learn to live with this and then figure out how to beat it, just like I always do.
“I’m thankful I got to spend time with some very special loved ones over the past few weeks & Christmas, I hope to see more of you very soon.”
No one ever likes sharing news of this magnitude, especially in this format, but it was made clear to us that Steve needs separation from communications about his illness and that’s where Jill Andrews is stepping in, just like she does with all of the racing team communications.
Directed through Jill, Steve would love to hear from you with well wishes, messages, letters, drawings, etc! Communications can be mailed to the Race Shop, address below, email Jill at PR@SteveHuffMotorsports.com or message the Facebook & Instagram pages @SteveHuffMotorsports.
We are going to set aside certain times of the day to read through communications, instead of having everything coming directly to Steve throughout the day. We all know he would love to talk to all of you individually, but the doctors are letting us know that this isn’t the best for his treatment and recovery.
JOIN STEVE’S TEAM AND HELP HIM
For financial support, we have an account set up for donations to help during Steve’s treatment and recovery. Here is the link or there is link on the Gear Page or on the DONATION PAGE
Huff Motorsports Race Shop
20820 International Blvd.
SeaTac, WA 98198
“You are all a part of the Huff Motorsports Team. You are all a part of helping Steve through this hurdle as we continue to look towards the future, plan for racing, and we will eat this elephant like all the other ones…one bite at a time.”
Read our previous coverage of the colorful, fast and furious Steve Huff here.
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