The NASCAR community is rallying around veteran reporter and historian Rick Houston, who recently announced he has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
Houston, a well-known face in the garage area, working for Winston Cup/NASCAR Scene in the 1990s and 2000s, first announced the diagnosis on X in late July, posting that “I am not in any pain. I am not scared. I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know Who holds tomorrow.”
The post also added that he is ready for the tough battle ahead, one that has become all the more trying as he later learned the cancer had progressed to stage 4.
Even then, this has not kept Houston from continuing his historical NASCAR work through The Scene Vault podcast. Since his diagnosis, Houston has uploaded three new episodes of The Scene Vault, as well as a handful of YouTube videos.
In one of these videos, titled “As Real and As Raw As It Gets,” Houston shared that he first felt the need to go to the doctor following the celebration of life for his longtime Scene Vault co-host, co-worker, and friend Steve Waid, who passed earlier this summer.
After visiting a doctor for an MRI, Houston said that since seeing the report that he had cancer, while there have been emotional moments, he is in good spirits, adding a powerful statement that:
“I’m not scared because I know where I’m going. Whether it’s next month or next year or 20 years from now, I’m going home and I’m going to get to see my mama again and I’m going to get to tell her all about her grand babies, and I’m going to get to tell her about Jeanie and I’m looking forward to that.” — Rick Houston
As Houston said during that video, he has been overwhelmed by the reaction from his friends and the community as a whole, and it’s easy to see why.
His initial social media post about his cancer diagnosis garnered over 100,000 views and hundreds of posts, with support coming from across the sport, admiring how brave and joyful Houston has been during such a trying moment.
Eric Estepp of Out of the Groove responded to that post, saying, “Love the fight. Praying for you, Rick,” while NASCAR legends like Kenny Wallace joined in saying, “Love you Rick and praying for you.”
Alongside his confidence, Houston is also driven to finish a project he started long ago, preserving the NASCAR scene archives on a digital platform.
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