THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 29, 1997 TAG: 9701290668
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BOB ZELLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 95 lines
Four thousand, five hundred people receive paychecks from car-dealer and NASCAR Winston Cup car owner Rick Hendrick.
On Monday, each one received a letter from the boss.
``I want to share a deeply personal matter with you because I regard all of you as family,'' Hendrick wrote.
It wasn't about the federal indictment. No, this didn't have anything to do with his fight for his freedom. This was about a fight for his life.
``I have been diagnosed with a rare but treatable form of leukemia,'' Hendrick wrote. ``This disease was detected in its early stages.''
Hendrick started chemotherapy Tuesday. He will receive six months of treatment with alpha interferon for chronic myelogenous leukemia, a form of bone-marrow cancer.
``My doctors believe that the treatment has a good chance of forcing the disease into remission,'' Hendrick wrote. ``There will likely be side effects for some period of time.''
As Hendrick's letter reached employees all over the United States Monday, his attorneys filed a motion in U.S District Court in North Carolina asking that his federal bribery trial be moved from Asheville to Charlotte.
In light of Hendrick's condition, his chemotherapy treatment program and its possible flu-like side effects, ``it is my professional opinion that it would be medically unacceptable for Mr. Hendrick to spend any significant period of time away from Charlotte,'' cancer specialist Dr. Steven A. Limentani wrote in an affidavit supporting the motion. There was no immediate judicial ruling.
Although Hendrick will start with chemotherapy, a bone marrow transplant most likely will be his only hope for a cure, doctors say.
``This is a disease that is fairly treatable in its early stages,'' said Dr. Bayard Powell, director of the leukemia service at N.C. Baptist Hospital's Bowman-Gray School of Medicine in Winston-Salem. ``But its natural history is that it progresses toward acute leukemia and gets more difficult to control.''
On average, this takes four to six years, he said. ``In the chronic phase, the treatment of choice would include a bone marrow transplant, since that gives him his best chance of long-term survival and cure,'' Powell said. At Hendrick's age, the chance of a cure ``could vary from 30 to 60 percent,'' he said.
Hendrick found out about the cancer on Nov. 18 - two weeks before indictment on charges related to the American Honda corruption scandal.
But he kept his illness a secret, even while making public appearances in connection with his race team. On Feb. 10, he joined his team at the Hendrick Motorsports complex for the Charlotte Motor Speedway NASCAR media tour.
He looked drawn and tired and he had bags under his eyes, but his demeanor was upbeat and he was as articulate as ever as he talked about the upcoming NASCAR Winston Cup season. He also spoke about the indictment.
``It has been a distraction,'' Hendrick said. ``I wish it hadn't happened and the timing of it didn't help, but I'm ready to get it behind us and get on with it.''
At the time, writers assumed that his comment about the timing referred to the fact that the indictment occurred on the eve of the triumphant New York banquet to celebrate the Winston Cup championship won by his driver, Terry Labonte. Obviously, the timing comment had other significance, too.
``One thing you learn in life is that things come along now and then and you have to deal with them,'' Hendrick said on Feb. 10. ``It's the price you pay when you get a lot of publicity and you've done well.''
He was unavailable for comment Tuesday.
Ironically, Hendrick already has a working knowledge of leukemia. In 1993, soon after Ray Evernham joined Hendrick Motorsports as Jeff Gordon's crew chief, his son, Ray Jr., was diagnosed with leukemia.
Hendrick, known for his generosity and his personal touch, ``was with them every step of the way,'' as the youngster went through treatments that put the disease in remission, according to a Hendrick friend who asked that his name not be used.
``Rick has spent his life taking care of people and now they're rallying behind him,'' the friend said. ``And the teams are going to rally behind him. This is going to be a season they do it for Rick.''
``It's extremely unfortunate, and difficult to understand why Rick has had this kind of misfortune,'' Hendrick driver Ricky Craven told Chevrolet's Ray Cooper Tuesday. ``I'll give him every ounce of my support and in any way I can, like he has always done for me.''
NASCAR President Bill France issued a statement saying he was ``stunned and saddened,'' adding, ``News of something like this tends to put life into perspective.''
In his letter to employees, Hendrick wrote, ``I want to stress that I am determined with your help that this will not affect our successful operations.''
Hendrick, who owns three NASCAR Winston Cup teams, won his first championship in 1995 with Gordon and added a second this year with Labonte.
His empire includes 66 automobile dealerships with $2.2 billion in annual sales, including a number of Honda dealerships.
On Dec. 20, he pleaded innocent to a 15-count federal indictment on charges of money laundering, mail fraud and conspiracy for allegedly paying off Honda executives so he could buy dealerships and have a steady flow of Honda automobiles, which were in short supply in the 1980s. Hendrick was released on $1 million unsecured bond. No trial date has been set, but it is not expected to happen until the summer or fall.