Cancer Hero: Laurie Strano

Riding with NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Driver: Todd Gilliland

Why Cancer Hero Was Nominated: Why We Nominated: Laurie has long enjoyed NASCAR and has enjoyed traveling all over the US to tracks with her family and children. Given her love for the sport, this was an opportunity for us as her family to recognize her as the hero she is. She has fought through much adversity during her battle with cancer and we know this will bring her much joy and energy to continue her journey to be cancer free.

Story: Laurie’s battle with cancer began in January of 2022 with constant pains in her side. Eventually, she decided it was time to consult a doctor and that is when she was informed she had a cancerous mass on her kidney. There were also relatively small spots on her lung and other adrenal gland, which were also assumed to be cancerous. While this was challenging news to hear, Laurie was resolute that she was willing to do whatever she needed to to spend more time with her kids and family. She attended regular visits with her medical provider and began taking radiation medications in an attempt to reduce the size of the mass so they could surgically remove it.

Eventually, after 8 months of treatments, Laurie had one of her kidneys and adrenal gland removed. The surgery went flawlessly but as they were ending, she developed a blood clot in one of her arms. This led to another surgery. Ultimately it was a 12 hour day of preparation, operation and recovery but the cancerous mass was removed. Over the next couple of months, her health seemed to fluctuate drastically between feeling fine and terrible. Unfortunately, in November of 2022, her health took a drastic turn for the worse as her remaining adrenal gland was not functioning properly, causing a host of medical issues. She lost a significant amount of weight and we all worried for the worst. But as she has throughout this whole battle, she persevered and recovered quickly. After November, her health swung back to a positive direction. Today, she continues her radiation medication, in the hopes of eliminating the remaining spots of cancer in her body. Each time she has scans done to evaluate, they come with good news that the spots are shrinking or disappearing. In July of 2023, Laurie learned she was going to be a grandma and this made all of her efforts so much more worth it. We don’t know how long this journey is but we know for certain that Laurie will continue to fight for a cancer free life.

Cancer Hero: Michelle Stotesbury

Riding with NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Driver: Cole Custer

Why Cancer Hero Was Nominated: Michelle passed away in 2021 from a long battle of metastatic Breast Cancer. She worked NASCAR races for over 15 years from Richmond to Homestead. It’s an honor for the third year to support the Foundations and honor Michelle.

Why Driver Was Selected: Cole is a fighter like Michelle and anyone who races for Stewart - Haas is a fan of ours.

Cancer Hero: Thomas Ebel

Riding with NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Driver: Jesse Love

Why Cancer Hero Was Nominated: Husband, Father, Brother, race fan, and fisherman. Diagnosed suddenly with stage 4 cancer in August of 2022, and lost the short and hard-fought battle in February of 2023. Recently retired, spending summers in Minnesota with my mother enjoying the outdoors, fishing, and watching NASCAR. My Father is one of the reasons I have a passion for motorsports and gave me the opportunity to follow my dreams of working in the industry. I grew up going to NASCAR races with my mom and dad and watching them on TV every weekend. Now that I am employed in the industry, I always looked forward to talking to him after races to recap the weekend. Before he left, he promised that he would always be watching and what better way than letting him ride on the roof, I know he will already be watching.

Why Driver Was Selected: I work for Tricon Garage and want to honor him by riding with us for the weekend.