No. 42 AdventHealth Chevrolet Accented in Pink to Highlight Breast Cancer Awareness, Honor Local Survivor
Overland Park, Kan. (Oct. 16, 2020) – The No. 42 Chevrolet, driven by Matt Kenseth, takes on a new look and picks up a passenger this weekend at Kansas Speedway as Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) and AdventHealth race to highlight breast cancer awareness. The No. 42 AdventHealth Chevrolet will include pink accents to honor and celebrate breast cancer patients and remind women to be proactive about their health. Over the passenger door, the car will also feature the name of a local breast cancer survivor, Kirstin Blocker, who was treated at the AdventHealth Cancer Center Shawnee Mission.
Prior to getting on track, as a way of showing support and gratitude for the work done by AdventHealth’s care teams, CGR and Ross Chastain, who has driven for AdventHealth this year, stopped by the AdventHealth Shawnee Mission campus with Ross Chastain to unveil the car and do burnouts in the parking lot. Kirstin Blocker and her family were in attendance to help unveil the car. Additionally, Chastain and Kenseth virtually met with patients to hear their stories and show their support. The virtual visits were made possible thanks to Caregility, a CGR partner that provides an all-in-one telehealth platform enabling agile and effective care for patients everywhere.
NOTES OF INTEREST:
- The Power of Pink – On Oct. 16, 2019, Kirstin Blocker felt a lump in her underarm. The then 44-year-old mom of five was in great health, an avid exerciser and had no family history of breast cancer. Seeing all the pink Breast Cancer Awareness Month promotion encouraged her to schedule a mammogram, just to be safe. On Nov. 8, 2019, one day before her 45th birthday, Kirstin was diagnosed with Stage III metastatic breast cancer. In total shock of her diagnosis, she became a patient of the AdventHealth Cancer Center Shawnee Mission the next day and began an intensive treatment plan that included chemotherapy, radiation, and a double mastectomy. Today, one year after finding her initial lump, Kirstin has no evidence of the disease. She is passionate about sharing her story because she knows there are many women who may have the same thoughts she did, but who won’t schedule a mammogram until it’s too late. She wants to encourage all women to be proactive about their health, especially her four daughters.
- Helping People Feel Whole – AdventHealth, one of the nation’s largest faith-based health systems, is actively engaged in helping people in the Kansas City area fight breast cancer, and other cancers, through the expert care teams at the AdventHealth Cancer Center Shawnee Mission. The center is a nationally recognized cancer treatment facility, with physicians having access to a wide range of care resources, including disease-specific and evidence-based treatment guidelines, safety practices, and professional education. AdventHealth Cancer Center Shawnee Mission collaborates with other nationally recognized cancer centers, bringing together decades of expertise, multidisciplinary care, and research to provide patients in the Kansas City region with the highest level of care possible.
QUOTEBOARD:
- Dr. Simran Elder, High Risk Breast Clinic Medical Director, AdventHealth: “We are so grateful to Matt and Ross and the entire Chip Ganassi Racing team for their willingness to highlight breast cancer awareness in Kansas City this weekend. Kristin Blocker and her family are an inspiration to many others currently fighting or who will soon fight breast cancer, and we look forward to honoring her on the No. 42 car at Kansas Speedway on Sunday, Oct. 18,” said Simran Elder, MD.
- Ross Chastain, NASCAR Driver, AdventHealth: “It was great to be at AdventHealth Shawnee Mission today to honor the many women who are fighting breast cancer and to celebrate with those women who have thankfully beat cancer. It’s not always an easy topic to discuss, but hopefully the No. 42 car will be a good reminder to everyone to take an active role in monitoring their health. It was also nice to thank the great care staff at Shawnee Mission for the work they do every day to support patients in this area and help them feel whole.”
About AdventHealth Cancer Center Shawnee Mission:
AdventHealth Cancer Center Shawnee Mission is a nationally recognized cancer treatment facility. The physicians at the cancer center can access a wide range of care resources, including disease-specific and evidence-based treatment guidelines, safety practices, and professional education. AdventHealth Cancer Center Shawnee Mission collaborates with other nationally recognized cancer centers, bringing together decades of expertise, multidisciplinary care, and research to provide patients in the Kansas City region with the highest level of care possible.
About AdventHealth:
With a sacred mission of Extending the Healing Ministry of Christ, AdventHealth is a connected system of care for every stage of life and health. More than 80,000 skilled and compassionate caregivers in physician practices, hospitals, outpatient clinics, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies and hospice centers provide individualized, wholistic care. A shared vision, common values, focus on whole-person health and commitment to making communities healthier unify the system’s 50 hospital campuses and hundreds of care sites in diverse markets throughout almost a dozen states.
For more information about AdventHealth, visit AdventHealth.com, or //Facebook.com/AdventHealth.
About Chip Ganassi Racing:
Chip Ganassi has been a fixture in the auto racing industry for over 30 years and is considered one of the most successful as well as innovative owners the sport has anywhere in the world. Today his teams include three cars in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES and two cars in the NASCAR Cup Series. Overall his teams have 19 championships and over 225 victories, including four Indianapolis 500s, a Daytona 500, a Brickyard 400, eight Rolex 24 At Daytonas, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ganassi boasts state-of-the-art race shop facilities in Indianapolis and Concord, N.C., with a corporate office in Pittsburgh.
For more information log onto www.chipganassiracing.com
