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Once considered among the most talented of upcomng talents a serious crash in 1997 derailed a promising career. Since then many obstacles have arisen this being the latest.
Best of luck to Tim, both on the track and off.
Tim Steele's last race was back on July 19 at his "home" track, Berlin Speedway in Marne, Michigan.
Since then, he has dealt with sponsorship problems, personnel issues and personal obstacles…chief of which included overcoming a dependency on prescription drugs.
"I had to come to grips with the fact that I was hooked on the pain killers (oxycontin) and I had to finally do something about it," said Steele, a three-time ARCA RE/MAX Series champion. "So I checked myself into a clinic in Troy (Michigan) a couple of weeks back and now I'm totally clean and plan on staying that way for the rest of my life.
"The whole problem dated back to the big crash I had testing the (Winston) Cup car at Atlanta back in '97," said Steele of his Nov. 5,
1997 practice crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway behind the wheel of a Bud Moore-prepared Ford. Steele had to be cut out of the mangled car and the accident left Steele with multiple wounds, but the most severe being a closed head injury. The consensus among witnesses was that Steele was fortunate to have survived the crash.
"The pain I had from that one was so great that I had the doctor give
me something for it," Steele continued. "Most of the pain in all the bones and joints went away after that crash, but I had a couple more run-ins with concrete walls since then that irritated some of those prior injuries.
"But the biggest thing for me was the fact that I continued to have headaches that hurt so bad that I would just about say, 'go ahead and shoot me and put me out of this pain,'" said Steele. "The headaches would come and I'd fall back on taking the pain medication.
"It wasn't until Dawn (his wife) started doing some research on her own that we finally determined what my big problem was. It turns out that this is the absolutely worst drug possible for anyone who's ever experienced a closed head injury. The thing was that the drug, while entering and exiting my system, helped to bring on the headaches. I took them thinking that I was getting relief, but it was only adding to the problem. It was just one big vicious cycle that I was tied up in.
"We immediately started looking for help and found the clinic in Troy," said Steele. "It was a hard time and a tough deal to go through, but I knew I had to do it.
"But probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life is to come clean and publicly admit that I've had a drug problem. I'm doing that now and we're hoping that my going public with it all might help others out there.
"It's like an epidemic in the world today and statistics show that one out of three narcotics users become addicted. But it's nice to know that there's help out there and light at the end of the tunnel," said Steele. "I know that the problem is behind me now and it can be the exact same case for others."
Steele cited the following internet web sites as being perhaps most important in his handling of this health issue: www.oxyabusekills.com and www.detox911.com.
Steele is planning a return to ARCA competition this week at Lowe's
Motor Speedway.
"I can't wait to get back," said Steele, "Rest assured that I know how
fortunate I am to be able to come back."
Best of luck to Tim, both on the track and off.
Tim Steele's last race was back on July 19 at his "home" track, Berlin Speedway in Marne, Michigan.
Since then, he has dealt with sponsorship problems, personnel issues and personal obstacles…chief of which included overcoming a dependency on prescription drugs.
"I had to come to grips with the fact that I was hooked on the pain killers (oxycontin) and I had to finally do something about it," said Steele, a three-time ARCA RE/MAX Series champion. "So I checked myself into a clinic in Troy (Michigan) a couple of weeks back and now I'm totally clean and plan on staying that way for the rest of my life.
"The whole problem dated back to the big crash I had testing the (Winston) Cup car at Atlanta back in '97," said Steele of his Nov. 5,
1997 practice crash at Atlanta Motor Speedway behind the wheel of a Bud Moore-prepared Ford. Steele had to be cut out of the mangled car and the accident left Steele with multiple wounds, but the most severe being a closed head injury. The consensus among witnesses was that Steele was fortunate to have survived the crash.
"The pain I had from that one was so great that I had the doctor give
me something for it," Steele continued. "Most of the pain in all the bones and joints went away after that crash, but I had a couple more run-ins with concrete walls since then that irritated some of those prior injuries.
"But the biggest thing for me was the fact that I continued to have headaches that hurt so bad that I would just about say, 'go ahead and shoot me and put me out of this pain,'" said Steele. "The headaches would come and I'd fall back on taking the pain medication.
"It wasn't until Dawn (his wife) started doing some research on her own that we finally determined what my big problem was. It turns out that this is the absolutely worst drug possible for anyone who's ever experienced a closed head injury. The thing was that the drug, while entering and exiting my system, helped to bring on the headaches. I took them thinking that I was getting relief, but it was only adding to the problem. It was just one big vicious cycle that I was tied up in.
"We immediately started looking for help and found the clinic in Troy," said Steele. "It was a hard time and a tough deal to go through, but I knew I had to do it.
"But probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life is to come clean and publicly admit that I've had a drug problem. I'm doing that now and we're hoping that my going public with it all might help others out there.
"It's like an epidemic in the world today and statistics show that one out of three narcotics users become addicted. But it's nice to know that there's help out there and light at the end of the tunnel," said Steele. "I know that the problem is behind me now and it can be the exact same case for others."
Steele cited the following internet web sites as being perhaps most important in his handling of this health issue: www.oxyabusekills.com and www.detox911.com.
Steele is planning a return to ARCA competition this week at Lowe's
Motor Speedway.
"I can't wait to get back," said Steele, "Rest assured that I know how
fortunate I am to be able to come back."
