Three-time NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Top Fuel champion Larry Dixon has been one of the sport’s best drivers for nearly 20 years.
What we didn’t know at any point was that Dixon had a bigger fight on his hands in late 2014: a fight with throat cancer.
Dixon shared his cancer story for the first time this week, via two outlets: the Indiana University health blog website and with WRTV sports director Dave Furst in Indianapolis.
“I immediately thought of my kids,” Dixon, a husband and father of three, said via a post for the IU website. “I knew I had to put on a brave face and fight this not just for myself but for my family.”
Dixon completed his final treatment in January 2015 and returned to a Top Fuel Dragster later that year. He had a major crash at Gainesville roughly a year ago this week. Fortunately, not long after that, he scans showed no signs of cancer.
You can read the full story of Dixon’s telling his story for the first time via the IU website as linked above, or, in this video interview he did with Furst in Indianapolis.