Welcome Return For Pro Nitrous’ Mike Castellana

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Mike Castellana wasn’t sure if the day would ever come, but he couldn’t have thought of a better birthday present.Celebrating his birthday last Friday, Castellana returned to the race track with a clean bill of health after fully recovering from colon cancer.He has only raced once in the ADRL since last July, undergoing surgery after the Independence Drags and then a rigorous chemotherapy process after Dragstock in September, which proved to be his last race of 2010.Castellana went through 12 chemotherapy sessions but decided in December he felt up to racing at the start of the 2011 season.With a beaming smile in the pits and the cancer behind him, Castellana was thoroughly enjoying his birthday celebration at Royal Purple Raceway.That he was able to celebrate with his extended racing family made all that much sweeter.“It’s great to be back and out here again,” Castellana said. “To be back with my racing family, it’s a lot of fun. “Things are getting back to normal.”Normal is a tremendous improvement from where things were for Castellana, a New York native.His doctors spotted the cancer quick enough so it had not moved throughout his body and turned more severe.The cancerous portion was removed immediately, but it did move into Castellana’s lymph nodes, meaning he had to undergo chemotherapy treatment.That was an exhausting process, but it proved beneficial, as it killed all of the remaining cancer, and Castellana has since declared himself cancer-free.“The surgery took the cancer out and the chemotherapy killed it. It’s time to get back to normal,” Castellana said.The 12 chemotherapy treatments were draining for Castellana, but he was amazed at the outpouring of support from his fellow ADRL racers.While each treatment would wear him down and leave him fatigued, the kind words he received were always a boost and consistently left him feeling refreshed and energized.In a sesnse, the words of encouragement were a major help and played a part in him returning to the track in time to race at CarSafe Dragpalooza VII presented by LenMar Motorsports.“Through the whole thing, it was always great to hear from everyone,” Castellana said. “It always gave me a boost and lifted me up a little. I just want to thank everybody for the support.”Castellana impressed right out of the gates as well, going 3.97 during his first qualifying pass and 3.90 in his second.He ended up qualifying in the No. 5 position, defeating Bob Rahaim in a first-round matchup. In the quarterfinals, Castellana had his best performance of the weekend, going 3.85 at nearly 195 miles per hour. It wasn‘t enough against eventual winner Khalid Al-Balooshi, but the loss hardly took away from the significance of the moment for Castellana.“I’m just happy to be out,” Castellana said. “I’m just trying to enjoy things.”Castellana’s return also had a profound effect on the entire Al-Anabi Racing team.Longtime friend Shannon Jenkins is tuning Castellana’s car in 2011 and he was obviously enjoying having his teammate back in the pits.That went for everyone in pits, who were thankful Castellana was healthy enough to return to the sport - and friends - he loves.“Me and Mike have been together for 12 years and we couldn’t have a better friendship,” Jenkins said. “We go way back and we understand what each other wants with the car and out at the track.“It’s great to have him back, but more importantly it’s great to have him healthy.”(Photos by ADRL/Richards)

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