Stealy’s resolve: E.M. man continues building car after lung cancer diagnosis

Posted online: October 16, 2006 12:58 AM
Print publication date: October 16, 2006
By Amy Thon, athon@qconline.com

Photo: Gary Krambeck

Professional drag racer Jeff Stealy looks over the 630 horsepower 360 cubic-inch small-block Ford engine of the 1985 Mustang drag racing car he built for Jacob Littrell, a 19-year-old who died of cancer in March 2005. The car is being raffled off.

When Carol and Jeff Littrell ride down the track in the drag race car built for their son, they can feel his spirit along with them.

"He's been riding down the track with us," said Mr. Littrell of LeClaire. "He's with us. It's just awesome."

The car has been a bittersweet project for Jeff Stealy, 40, of East Moline and owner of Stealy Performance. Mr. Stealy helped Jacob work on his beloved Mustang before the 19-year-old died of a bone cancer called osteosarcoma in March 2005. Although the car wasn't finished in time for Jacob to see it, Mr. Stealy continued to work on the car and finished it this summer, despite being diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in April.

"I met (Jacob) when he came in with his mom to have some engine work done by us," Mr. Stealy said. "I just decided to try to get him some engine parts to try to help out his project. It just snowballed."

By the time the car was finished, all of the leading manufacturers in the motor sports industry from around the country had donated parts for the car, Mr. Stealy said.

"I just wanted to see him have something to look forward to driving when he was feeling better," he said.

While Jacob was alive, Mr. Stealy and others in the local racing community pushed to finish the car in time for him to drive it. But after Jacob died, they continued to work on the car so it could be raffled off.

"We wanted to make it as nice as possible," Mr. Stealy said.

Jacob became interested in drag cars at a young age. Mr. Littrell said he often took Jacob and his sister Lauren, now 16, to the Cordova Dragway Park.

"We used to go out to the races on the weekends. We'd walk around the pits and look at the cars," Mr. Stealy said. "He was just into cars. He was always wanting a Mustang. He was Mustang crazy."

Jacob was diagnosed in May of 2001, but during the summer of 2003 and part of 2004 he was feeling better and was able to work at the drag strip in Cordova.

"The people out at Cordova drag strip took him under their wing," Mr. Littrell said. "They really helped out and really took care of him and all loved him."

Although he couldn't be right down in the staging area, he worked in the hut where drivers came to pick up their time slips, Mrs. Littrell said.

"It was heaven for him," she said.

Mrs. Littrell said she wished her son had met Mr. Stealy sooner. "They were like two peas in a pod," she said.

Despite his fatigue from the cancer treatments, Jacob continued to be involved as the car was built.

"I would actually take parts over to him so he could see them," Mr. Stealy said. "He would stop over to where the car was being built when he was feeling better. He would get pretty tired because he was on oxygen."

Jacob picked out the color and got to see the car painted and the wheels on it, Mr. Stealy said.

"It's been a fun project. It's been a long project, a lot of hours put in it, not only myself, but some other people as well," he said.

Mr. Stealy started racing when he was just 13 years old and opened his high performance automotive machine shop in 1993.

Mr. Stealy underwent four heavy sessions of chemotherapy after his own cancer diagnosis and now takes medications to continue shrinking the tumor. His prognosis is good.

"The lung tumor is pretty much gone," he said.

Since his diagnosis, Mr. Stealy has remained positive, despite his doctor's telling him that just 5 percent of patients with his diagnosis live five years.

"I told him I was going to be in that 5 percent," he said. "I knew I was going to beat it."

The Littrells said it was hard for them to see Mr. Stealy's illness. "We know what goes on all too well," Mrs. Littrell said.

"The irony of the whole thing was hard to deal with. I still shake my head," Mr. Littrell said.

Although Mr. Stealy didn't race his own car this season because of his illness, he was able to take a few trips down the track in Jacob's car, including an appearance at the World Series of Drag Racing at Cordova.

"He wanted me to race it a few times is what he told me," Mr. Stealy said.

"He wanted us to win," Mrs. Littrell said.

The car will be raffled once all of the tickets have been sold.

About the car

--1985 Mustang Coupe

--Ran 9.98 seconds down the quarter mile this summer at 134 mph.

--$30,000 in donated parts

About the raffle

--500 tickets will be sold at $100 a piece

--For more information, call Stealy Performance at (309) 792-3333.

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