Fresno terminal cancer patient gets dream trip to NASCAR race
As he sits in the stands overlooking Auto Club Speedway this weekend, longtime NASCAR fan Danny Mell knows it could be the last time he hears firsthand the roaring engines, smells the burning rubber and sees the checkered flag drop.
No matter.
Mell, a 57-year-old Fresno man who has terminal lung cancer, is as excited as a child on the night before Christmas about his trip to Fontana.
“I haven’t been to a race in so long, it’s, ‘ Yeah!’ ” Mell said Thursday with a fist pump and a huge smile.