Win a Ford Mustang - Incredible Story behind this
Wednesday, March 7th, 2007EAST MOLINE, Ill. – As he lay dying, 19-year-old Jacob “Jake” Littrell made one final request of his newfound friend: “Don’t forget about me and my car.”Jeff Stealy hasn’t.
He made a promise to Jake two years ago – just before the LeClaire, Iowa, native lost a courageous four-year battle with cancer – though it would be perfectly understandable if Stealy didn’t make good on it.
You see, after donating roughly $30,000 in parts and over 250 hours of labor transforming Jake’s beloved 1985 Mustang from a rusting heap into a super-fast sportsman drag racing car, Stealy was faced with a serious challenge of his own.
Just 13 months after Jake passed away on March 5, 2005, Stealy, one of the preeminent engine builders in the sportsman and Pro Stock drag racing ranks, was diagnosed with Stage 4 adeno lung cancer.
The 40-year-old father of two – who isn’t a smoker – was stunned after learning he had a five percent chance of survival.
But time spent with Jake had helped prepared Stealy for this, helped to give him a fighting spirit.
“When the doctor told me that less than five percent of people survive five years with this type of cancer, I said, ‘Bull, that ain’t happening. I’m not going anywhere. I have a lot of things to do,” Stealy said. “I’ve got Jake’s car to finish, I want to see my kids grow up, I want to see my business going.
“I’m not letting anybody down, plain and simple.”
Jake Littrell was just like millions of other teenagers: he loved cars and going fast.
Whether he was watching drag racing on TV, attending races as a fan, or, in the final years of his life, being an occasional competitor (when his health allowed), he was completely taken with challenging the quarter-mile drag strip and the guy in the other lane.
His favorite place in the world was nearby Cordova (Ill.) Dragway, where he first caught the drag racing bug when his father took him there around age 6.
Jake idolized some of drag racing’s biggest names, including Shirley Muldowney, Kenny Bernstein and John Force – all of whom he was fortunate enough to meet and spend time with. Even being in a body cast and wheelchair didn’t stop him from wanting to be around the sport he loved so much, the sport he dreamed of competing in professionally.
Jeff Stealy had his own drag racing dreams. Following in the footsteps of his father Jerry, a very successful sportsman racer, Jeff found his own success behind the wheel. He also would go on to oversee operations at the family’s engine-building shop, Stealy Performance Racing Engines, in East Moline, Ill., just a stone’s throw from Jake’s home.
Stealy and Littrell’s paths first crossed in 2004, less than six months before Jake died. Jake came to the shop seeking some engine help for his prized 1985 Ford Mustang. When Jeff heard about the young man’s illness, he didn’t just lend engine help, he also rallied friends and peers in the racing industry to help make Jake’s blue machine a success on the quarter-mile.
During the first few weeks Stealy had his car, Jake made periodic trips to Stealy’s speed shop to check on the progress of the complete overhaul of his ride. Even with the nearly 20-year difference in their ages, the pair became fast friends and spent hours hanging out, talking about drag racing and how to make the car faster.
But as the disease continued to spread, those trips became less frequent. Eventually, Jake no longer had the strength to make the 15-minute trip from his house.
Jake wouldn’t live to see his pride and joy’s completion. Even so, Stealy was not going to let Jake’s memory fade.
“Something deep down inside me just told me to do it,” Stealy said. “I’ve always been one to try to help people out when I can. That’s just the way I’ve always been. I really wanted to try to make Jake’s dream come true. That was my goal.”
Jeff knew Jake only for a short time, but the young man and the challenges he faced all the way up to his death had a profound impact upon Stealy’s life.
Even when Stealy underwent several grueling eight-hour chemotherapy sessions that robbed him of both his hair and strength, what Jake went through served as his motivation.
“Fixing Jake’s car was a big part of my inspiration not to let this disease beat me,” Stealy said. “I had things to do like fixing Jake’s car. I didn’t have time to worry about cancer, not after all the things and the tough life that kid went through.”
Jake Littrell was first diagnosed with osteosarcoma on May 2, 2001. After exhaustive treatment, he went into remission in 2003 – only to have the cancer reappear three months later.
Jake and his father, Jeff Littrell, spent more than a year looking for a fixer-upper car to serve as transportation for Jake, but more so as an opportunity to get Jake’s mind off his disease.
“He kept showing me ads, but for one reason or other, they just weren’t the right one,” Jeff Littrell said. “Either they were too much or had too many miles on them or would have just required too much work. I told him not to worry, that when the time was right, we’d find the right one.”
That happened in Spring 2003. Father and son found what would become Jake’s pride and joy, a beat-up but still perky 1985 Mustang, purchased for $500 from a recently-widowed elderly woman.
It would take more than a year of work – time spent together Jeff Littrell says he will forever cherish – before the car was race-worthy, but Jake tried not to let that challenge and his disease get the better of him. He dreamed of one day opening up his own speed shop and eventually finding himself on the National Hot Rod Association circuit, competing with some of the same stars he idolized growing up.
“He had it timed out,” Jeff Littrell said with a slight smile on his face, recalling the positive mindset that rarely faltered in his son. “Not many kids at the age of 18 have an idea of what they wanted to do, and then he had the hardship of dealing with the cancer. He was just such a positive kid. You could really see him growing into his own man.”
Jake made his last quarter-mile run in his beloved Mustang on Nov. 6, 2004, four months before his death. He raced as hard as his frail body would allow him, coming close to his goal of 100 mph, but falling just short.
It was on that same run that the engine in his car blew up, prompting the fateful meeting with Stealy a few days later, wondering if he could help fix the car.
Stealy immediately went to work, trying to help this sick young man see his dreams realized before it was too late. It almost happened.
“I actually had the car somewhat ready the weekend prior to his death and was going to have Jake sit in the passenger seat so that he could experience the thrill of hitting 100 mph,” Stealy said. “Unfortunately, he was too sick to do it. Mentally he was there, but his body just wasn’t able to do it.”
By that point, everyone in the Littrell household, including Jake, knew his time was short.
“Near the end, he started pushing racing away,” Jeff Littrell said. “It was the reality that he wouldn’t be able to see the car. When they came to pick up the shell of his car … so they could start working on it and put it on a trailer, he stared out the front window looking at it and that was when he died. That was his freedom. That was it right there.
“And then, that last week or so before he died, it really hit us. He told me that Thursday before he passed away, ‘Pop, I’ve run all out of race.’ I knew it was over then.”
That Stealy would so selflessly help Jake out isn’t surprising. It’s his nature, his employees say.
But there are a few interesting twists to this story that make it seem almost predestined that Stealy and the Littrells would come into one another’s lives.
“Our first names are Jeff and our sons’ names are Jacob,” Jeff Littrell said. “It doesn’t get any more ironic. A few weeks after Jeff found out about his cancer, I just couldn’t believe it. Hollywood couldn’t write a story like this.”
Even their respective diseases were eerily reminiscent of each other.
“Jake had a bone tumor that went to his lungs, while I had a lung tumor that went to my bones, with the lower part of my back,” Stealy said.
Watching the two Jeffs – Littrell and Stealy – interact with each other, you’d swear they’ve known each other their whole lives. Jeff Littrell even accompanied Stealy to his first chemo treatment.
“It was one of the hardest things I’ve done in a long time, but I had to,” Jeff Littrell said. “Jeff [Stealy] was there for us with Jacob, and I wanted – no, make that, I had to – be there for him when he needed support the most.”
Jeff Littrell knew a strong bond had developed between his family and the Stealys, particularly the link between Jeff and Jake.
“I just wish Jeff and Jacob would have had more time to know each other,” he said with another smile on his face. “They were two peas in a pod. There was nothing more than Jake would rather breathe than race fumes, and it’s the same with this guy. If they could do it 24/7, that’s what they’d do.”
Stealy is nothing short of ecstatic after receiving his most recent medical update.
The same cancer that his doctors said was virtually unbeatable had all but disappeared from his system. The lung tumor? Gone. The bone tumors? “Pretty much non-existent,” Stealy says, adding that the damaged bone area is healing well.
“I’m pretty much in remission now,” Stealy said. “All the doctors can see now is just some very small scar tissue.”
Stealy credits two new recently approved cancer medicines – Avastin and Tarceva – as being keys to his recovery. There also is, of course, Jake’s impact.
“It’s good that we can combine the two, as far as letting people know about this new cancer product, as well as letting people know about Jake, the car, the whole story,” Stealy said. “It just sort of meshes and [lets] people know not to give up.”
Which is something Jake Littrell wouldn’t do.
“In the small amount of time I knew him, I watched him go through a lot,” Stealy said. “He never gave up. He just worked through it. I was praying one night and I told Jake I’m not going to give up for him, for my kids or for myself.”
The most recent prognosis has Stealy ready to resume his racing career. Even while undergoing chemo treatment, he competed in the prestigious U.S. Nationals last September, qualifying well and advancing several rounds before eventually having to step out of the seat.
But with his most recent news, Stealy already is making plans to get back behind the wheel in April.
Although humble, Stealy takes great pride in the good deed he did for Jake Littrell. A huge smile crosses Stealy’s face when he relates that Jake would have been thrilled about the last time his car was raced, last October, back at Cordova Dragway.
“It topped out at nearly 140 mph in just over 7.5 seconds, a personal record for that car,” Stealy said. “Before he died, Jake told me, ‘I just want you to take it, race it and do good with it.’”
Stealy’s connection with Jake didn’t end once the car was completed and successfully raced several times.
Even though it was their son’s car, the Littrells decided last fall that given all the work and effort he had put into it, Stealy should keep the car or try to find it a new home with someone who could appreciate it and care for it how Jake would have.
Stealy came up with a better idea to honor Jake’s memory and also help the still-grieving family.
With the massive six-figure debt that the Littrells still face from Jake’s illness – not taking into account Jake’s father being seriously injured in a work-related accident four years ago that has allowed him to perform only odd jobs since – Stealy is in the process of raffling off Jake’s car.
At $100 per ticket, Stealy hopes to raise close to $50,000 to give to the Littrells. He had planned to complete the raffle last month, but sales have lagged: only half of the 500 tickets printed have been sold.
That effort continues. In the meantime, Stealy can’t help but think, but know that Jake is watching over him and has helped him in his own cancer fight – one in which Stealy has been nothing short of a medical miracle, beating a cancer that is virtually unbeatable.
“From the moment I was told I had this thing, and that only five percent live five years, I wasn’t going to let it beat me,” he said. “I was going to be in that five percent because I’m not going nowhere.”
Stealy is thankful for the time he still has with his two young children, 5-year-old Jake and 7-year-old Samantha, but he also still feels Jake Littrell’s presence, thinking of him almost like another son.
“Jake will always be in our hearts,” Stealy said. “I don’t know of a better thing to honor him with than this deal that we’re doing for him now.
“Jeff [Littrell] knows I’ll do anything I can to help him and to help keep Jake with us.”
For more information on Jeff Stealy’s efforts, click on stealyperformance.net or go to paypal.com and search under jeffstealy@yahoo.com. Each ticket is tax-deductible.Veteran motorsports writer Jerry Bonkowski is Yahoo! Sports’ NASCAR columnist. Taken from Yahoo News-
