[jsteed7]

Knowing about John's struggle has been a big deal since I found out, but now its out to the public its really been heavy on my heart & mind. For some that don't know, the team & I have parted ways as teammates, but not as friends.. Jarett & I stressed that when we sat down to discuss the closing moments of my time with them that regardless where we went, we wanted the door of communication to remain open & not come to know each other as strangers.

Rewind back to February of last year, John & Jarett took a gamble on a small town guy with little experience & hired me as their mechanic and crew guy for their professional sprint car operation. What an experience!

Aside from the racing, there's a lot of time spent together whether it's in the shop, lunches, travelling in the truck, hotel stays, & the dreaded 3am car washes. In those moments you don't realize how close you become & become your own little family as you handle everything from late night rebuilds to the feature wins like above that make life that much sweeter.

John is probably one of the smartest & hardest workers I've ever met. Day or night, he is wired with energy & will do whatever it takes to be help others & make those extra strides to get him where he wants to be. I've said this before, & I'm sure I'll say it a hundred more times in my life, but I will never truly understand why bad things happen to good people. With all the butt chewings with my mistakes to the heartfelt advice & conversations we've had, his actions are always to the best of intentions.

Just like anything else though I have no doubt in my mind that he will fight. Tell him he won't or can't do something & I'll be damned if he won't prove you wrong lol. Anything to beat the odds & show that nothing is impossible.

John & family you guys are in my thoughts & prayers & have for some time. I will never be able to thank you guys for the things you've done for me, all the help, experiences, hospitality when I visited your house, & so much more. In the event that there is any type of event to raise money or awareness for his cause, let me know & I'll be there to help in any way I can! Go kick cancer ass buddy!