Cancer fight is greatest challenge yet for ‘Hermantown Hammer’
HERMANTOWN — On a chilly evening last October, Darrell Nelson walked into his garage and gently ran his weathered, calloused hands over the smooth hood of his race car.
His wife Missy and their son, Cade, had long since gone to bed, but Nelson needed a moment of solitude in a familiar place, somewhere he could reflect on the prostate cancer diagnosis he had been given just weeks earlier.
"I would come out here because my cars are here," Nelson said. "I'd just think, 'Am I even going to be here next year?' I never told my wife that. I still get nervous because you just never really know when it comes to cancer. You just don't know."
Nelson, now in his mid-50s, spent many unbearable nights in that garage over the next several months as he awaited the results of tests and biopsies to determine the extent of his disease.
Has the cancer spread? If so, how much? The fear of the unknown made every minute of those evenings feel like hours. Night after night, those questions raced through Nelson's mind faster than he ever got around dirt tracks throughout the Northland.
"I knew I had aggressive prostate cancer, something you can heal 90% of the time," Nelson said. "It takes three weeks to get those PET scan results. You can't sleep, you're losing weight and people know something is wrong. I was a total basket case."
When Nelson received the results, the physicians in Duluth referred him to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, a facility that set his surgery date for February. After undergoing a successful surgery, the Nelson family thought the worst was behind them.
That euphoric feeling didn't last very long.
At a follow-up appointment shortly after the procedure, Nelson learned that his insurance company would not pay for the surgery or its subsequent treatments, which included injections and radiation.
"I never thought that my life might depend on insurance, and the company just doesn't care," Nelson said. "We got the surgery and they said they wouldn't pay for it. People have insurance, but they don't know if it's any good. I can't believe it got to that point."
Disputes with the insurance company halted Nelson's treatment. The legendary racer spent more time in recovery worrying about how he was going to finance the surgery than actually healing from the potentially life-changing procedure.
The shocking denial of coverage galvanized the racing community. Twin Ports native Jody Bellefeuille, who has been one of Nelson's closest friends for the better part of two decades, spearheaded a fundraising campaign immediately.
"I put together a GoFundMe," Bellefeuille said. "The fundraising has been unbelievable from people wanting to help. I've seen people from all over the country donating. We've even had people from Arizona giving money. It's been amazing."
For those wishing to donate, the link is still open and can be found here .
Bellefeuille organized the GoFundMe in August and has subsequently raised more than $67,000 that will help cover part of Nelson's medical costs. In total, 426 people have donated and many have left encouraging messages of support.
Although Bellefeuille got the fundraising effort off the ground, he couldn't have done it without the assistance of Harry Hanson, Jamie Reberg, the Erickson family, Randy 'Arch' Archambeau and many others who donated countless hours of their time.
The GoFundMe is one of multiple streams of donations that have helped Nelson begin offsetting more than $100,000 in medical bills. Sales of stickers with Nelson's signature number 44 along with a light blue ribbon — the signifying color for prostate cancer — have also raised money.
"I get pretty emotional thinking about it," Nelson said. "I just really have to thank Jody and the guys. It takes special people to do something like that. The racing community has been so good to me and the support is bigger than I ever could have imagined."
The incredible outpouring of support helped Nelson resume his treatment this fall. Throughout the final days of September and opening weeks of October, Nelson is scheduled for daily trips to Rochester for radiation to continue treating his cancer.
"Thanks to those people, I was able to go back to the Mayo Clinic," Nelson said. "I'm back on my treatment and we're on the upswing. I don't know how I'll ever be able to thank Jody for all that he has done for me."
The last dozen months have been the most trying of Nelson's life, and when the days were darkest, he always turned to racing and his family to keep him forging ahead.
After having surgery in February, Nelson was back in his Modified and Late Model race cars by May, just one month after the season began. Most would have taken a year off, but Nelson needed the sport.
It was the kind of medicine he couldn't find in a hospital.
"Racing takes your mind off of it," Nelson said. "I work a lot, but it's not the same. When I climb in that car, I only focus on racing, and it absolutely helps. Then when you run good, you feel good, you sleep better those nights. I just needed to race."
When Nelson got back on the track earlier this year, even his biggest rivals were excited to see him. Before every race, competitors from all walks of life made their way to Nelson's trailer to welcome him back to dirt tracks across Minnesota and Wisconsin.
The Hermantown Hammer, a nickname he was given at a race in Florida in 2009, was back. It was the return of perhaps the most dominant racer that northern Minnesota has ever seen.
Nelson has won hundreds of races and has amassed thousands of dollars in career winnings. He's the all-time wins leader at Superior's Gondik Law Speedway and he has claimed 11 titles at the annual Silver 1000 in Proctor, one of the most prestigious, stacked racing fields in the Midwest.
"There is nobody who has ever gone around these tracks better than him," Bellefeuille said. "It's his drive and determination, he just never gives up. Whether it's in a race car, at work or battling cancer, this guy just has more fight than anybody I've ever met."
While the racing community celebrated Nelson's return to action, few matched the joy of seeing the legend back in his iconic number 44 car doing what he loves more than his son, Cade.
"It's been awesome to see him beat the cancer up," Cade said. "He's still been racing and the whole racing community has come together for him. Cancer is a really bad thing to have, but we've had a lot of great people by our side through it."
Cade has been a steadying presence for his father, a role he has shared with Nelson's longtime pit crew member, Mike Meger. A native of Cloquet, Meger has worked alongside Nelson for nearly two decades and has been instrumental to his success.
"There are a lot of times that it's just me and Darrell and the two cars in that shop," Meger said. "I expected this kind of support (for Darrell) from racing guys because they all know what kind of guy he is. He's always there for people, always willing to help."
While the racing community generally knows what Nelson is going through, they have no idea of the true extent. Ahead of the Silver 1000 on Thursday in Proctor, while most relaxed or were drinking with friends, Nelson was in Rochester undergoing radiation.
It was the third consecutive day in which Nelson underwent treatment. After a 7 a.m. session at the Mayo Clinic, he and his family made the trek back north for the Silver 1000, where he suited up with the hopes of defending his late model title.
"When we were making appointments, Missy told the guy we had to have early radiation on Thursday," Nelson recalled. "We needed to race the Silver 1000 that night. We didn't want to miss it."
Although Nelson came up short of winning back-to-back late model titles, as he finished in 11th place, simply being there racing while surrounded by his friends and family was a win.
All of the pain, trials and tribulations that Nelson has endured, he hopes that sharing his battle with prostate cancer publicly will encourage others to get their prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests, with the hope that lives will be saved by catching it early.
"I hope if anything good comes out of this, it's that I can help somebody else," Nelson said. "I hope to help people with insurance and get their PSA tests. That will make me feel better, if I can help somebody avoid going through what I've gone through."
Next October, when the weather gets cool again, Nelson is going to walk into that same garage as he did two years ago, but he won't be thinking about cancer. Instead, he'll be dreaming about the next time he'll drive those cars into victory lane.
