October 21, 2006: The High Speed Motorsports/SilverThin Bearings Nostalgia Top Fuel Team was the featured event at a fund raising car show that took place in Lompoc, California on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006. The park was filled with 125 classic cars, hot rods and motorcycles, a top fuel dragster, an alcohol dragster, and nostalgia funny cars - all in support of local resident, mechanic, car and bike enthusiast Josh Heilbron who is stricken with several forms of cancer and faces an uphill battle to recover. The medical bills are mounting so several local car-enthusiast friends decided to organize a Benefit Car Show to help him out. Some appeals were made and the HSMS boys answered the call in a big way. Also his friends, and most of the business community came out to give support and raise money to help him in his battle. The show sold over 1800 raffle tickets, 480 chicken dinners, and raised over $11,800 on Josh’s behalf.

You ask- where the heck is Lompoc? It is a small Central California Coast town not far from the city of Santa Maria in Santa Barbara County. It is known for its beautiful fields of commercially grown flowers, wine grapes and nearby Vandenberg Air Force Base. Local residents are accustomed to having their windows rattled at times from the sound of rocket motors boosting military and civilian payloads into space from Vandenberg. But a different roar came to downtown Lompoc on this day- the sound and feel of a 3,000 HP nitro burning engine at close range. Trust me…this got everyone who attended the festivities at Ryan Park in Lompoc pretty excited.

 

Not Just Another Car Show 

By Nancy Temple Rodrigue
author of HIDDEN MICKEY - "Sometimes Dead Men DO Tell Tales!"

Lompoc, California.  Coastal mountains.  Flower fields.  Wine tasting.  Nitro methane fumes.  Wall murals.  Ocean breezes. 

Wait a minute.  Something doesn’t fit… Mountains – check.  Flowers – check.  Ahh. Nitro methane fumes and the screaming whine of a top fuel dragster revving out.  Not something normally heard in Lompoc, a quiet community of about 42,000.

But, October 21, 2006 wasn’t a normal day for Lompoc.  It was the day over 2000 local residents and visitors came for the Josh Heilbron Benefit Car and Cycle Show.   Ryon Park was filled with 125 classic cars, hot rods and motorcycles, a top fuel dragster, an alcohol dragster, and nostalgia funny cars - all in support of local resident, mechanic, car and bike enthusiast Josh Heilbron.  Josh, age 28, has been battling an aggressive cancer that spread throughout his body.  His friends, and most of the business community, came out to give support and raise money to help him in his battle.  The show sold over 1800 raffle tickets, 480 chicken dinners, and raised over $11,700 on Josh’s behalf. 

Ryon Park visitors got to examine up close and personal Choppers, Model A’s, T- Buckets, GTOs, T-Birds, Chevys, Woodies, Vickies, and Drag Boats.  Some entrants drove 175 miles from Los Alamitos in Southern California.  Others drove even further from Bakersfield in the Central Valley to be here. 

 

Ron Anzalone brought his 1923 T-Bucket Dragster, the “Tea Pot”, a straight 6 cylinder that does the quarter mile in 9.28 seconds.  Besides handing out pictures and autographs, Ron played a video of his latest runs at the 15^th Annual Hot Rod Reunion at Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, California.  The Tea Pot was gleaming and ready for another show the very next day in Las Vegas.  As soon as the Lompoc event ended, Ron had to start out on this 400 mile trip.  Everyone was thrilled Ron could still come out and support Josh. 

Sean Bellemeur came with the Las Vegas Plaza Hotel & High Speed Motorsports AA/FD Top Fuel Dragster, meeting and greeting the public with his crew.  The highlight of the day came when the winner of the Hot Seat Raffle got to sit behind the wheel and then fire up the dragster – something just about unheard of in a small, local car show.  But it wasn’t ‘unheard’ for long.  After the smiling winner suited up in protective gear, the engine lit up.  As the decibel level rose, ears were plugged and eyes started streaming as the nitro fumes drifted over the crowd.  But not one person backed away.  The envious spectators cheered and clapped when he climbed out. 

 

Ron and Sean were asked why they would come to a little town like Lompoc with their nationally known cars.  Both men – and members of their teams – have had family or friends touched by cancer.  They didn’t even hesitate when they were invited.  They both said, “We’ll be there.  What do you need?”

There were 24 trophies awarded at the end of the show.  One of the trophy winners was Dale Adams of Santa Maria with his military-green 1923 Indian Scout motorcycle whose top speed is a screaming 43 mph.  Dale is seen at many of the local car shows dressed out in an old flight jacket and green half helmet.  When not riding around the show area, the one-cylinder Scout is propped up on its stand, drawing a lot of attention and praise. 

 

Another trophy winner, in the Custom/Handcrafted Cars category, was a viper blue 1967 427 S.C. Cobra owned by Harold Gumm of Lompoc.  That was probably the first of many awards the beautiful car will be winning in the years to come. 

 

In the days leading up to the show, there was worry that Josh might not be well enough to attend.  He had been admitted to the hospital to undergo more chemotherapy and radiation, and was just released the day before the show.  It was hoped that he would pick the winning raffle tickets, hand out the trophies, and be the first to sit behind the wheel of the dragster.  However, that didn’t happen.  He was a little too tired to do all of that, so Josh chose his step-mother to take his place in the Plaza Car.   While she was sorry Josh wasn’t up to it, she was delighted for the opportunity.  His 6-year old daughter Brianna helped with the raffle tickets.  

As he was being pushed around the park in his wheelchair, Josh was overwhelmed by the number of people who had come out in his support.  There weren’t many dry eyes when he tried to thank everyone around him for all they had done. 

The next day when Josh was speaking to one of the organizers of the event, he said, “Next year when we do the show for somebody else with cancer, I want to work with you guys.”

Yes, the money raised was wonderful, but the love, support and hope it gave Josh are the things that are important.   No one can make the hurt go away, but each of us can give support and encouragement.  Everyone was glad to be there.  That’s what it was all about.

Here are a few more scenes from this day of fun and good will.

Photos and text by Bob Brown

 
The big picture shows mostly local cars. Joshua appears to have many friends who brought out their cars for a little show and shine. Spectators could vote for their favorite car and a silent auction was also held to help with the fund raising. A first class chicken Bar-B-Que, park style, was held starting around noon and the portions were hefty. Mmmm!

Brett Johansen with one of the many visitors who got to sit in the car.

Toward the back of the park was the High Speed Motorsports car and support trailer just the way it appears at the races. The only difference here is that there were lots of trees and grass to make for a nice setting instead of the usual asphalt. It was a relaxed atmosphere for the crew, having time to enjoy things as they worked.

 

Around 11AM, the car was to be fired for the first time. Bellemeur gets in.

Brett squirts the methanol into the injector while Rian Konno prepares to disengage the blower start motor.

Brett watches the readout on the data computer. The blower pulley is spinning quite fast although the camera's flash freezes its motion

As the crowd gathers and the engine comes up to temp, the crew watches and listens to make sure all is functioning OK.

With the valve turned to change from alky to nitro, the exhaust is now quite visible. Brett whacks it and the unsuspecting crowd are startled by the violent spike in the noise level.

With slicks spinning rapidly, Sean prepares to pull the brake handle while Brett gets ready to shut the engine down.

"Between round" maintenance included pulling the valve covers and some adjusting. Here, Roger McMartin gives the rockers a squirt of Sure Shot.

While Roger works the right side, Rian Konno goes through the important steps of checking and adjusting the valve clearance under each rocker. I love the adjustment tool that you see used so commonly in the pits at the races. Once the locking nut on the rocker is loosened and the proper gap set with the feeler gauge, a second specialized tool restrains the adjustment screw from turning while the locknut surrounding it is re-tightened. Ingenious.

 

High Speed Motorsports CEO Dale Singh and his wife, Amelia are ardent supporters of the team. It is fun to see the joy on their faces when the crew is doing a fireup. Dale is an integral part of the crew, always ready to do what needs to be done for the team's "big picture". Amelia shares her husband's enthusiasm and is always present when the team is on the road.

One of the other featured cars at the show belongs to Ron Anzalone of Los Osos, CA. Ron brought his beautiful "Teapot" '23 T to the fund raiser. As you can see, it runs an in line 6 cyl. Chevy 292 engine bored to 306 with Sissell injection. The car is a regular NE3 competitor at Goodguys and NHRA Nostalgia events. It moves right on down the track pretty quickly, posting a best of 9.34 and 142 mph. And, it looks superb in doing so! The sound from the 6 is quite unlike the familiar B-8 we're all accustomed to hearing. You KNOW when he's on the track.

I had quite a long talk with Ron. He described building the parts for the throttle linkage on his lathe a couple of rainy winters ago. He chose not to fire the car at this show, as it requires quite a lot of cleanup to get the shine back on the chrome, and he was signed up to do another show the following day.

In his youth, he was a neighbor of the Mazmanians, and pretty much grew up at the drags with Big John & Co.

It was planned that Josh Heilbron would be taking the seat in the HSM car for their mid-day fire up. But, as the time neared, it was felt that with his precarious health condition, it might be a danger to him to be in the car (nitro fumes, etc.). So, the seat was offered to his dad, Chuck Lee. Chuck promptly suggested that since his wife (Josh's step mom) Mona had been quite excited all morning about the dragster being there, that it would be fitting if she were to take the seat instead. Here you see her receiving instructions about what to expect with the fire up of the beast.

Dale Singh helps her up onto the tire for her entrance into the cockpit.

 

The requisite "I was here!" photo.

 

Sean settles her in, installs the butterfly steering wheel and explains the procedure.

As she puts the earplugs in, Rian Konno engages the blower starter onto its mounting frame to prepare for the start.

 

Sean helps adjust the mask.

Once again, Sean gets her masked up while crewman Roger McMartin announces to the audience what to expect. He explains the difference between the alky portion for the first minute or so and then nitro portion of the fire up.

Eyes closed and white knuckled, she waits…

 

Rian hits the starter and WHAM, its running!

 

Sean watches the controls just to be sure….

 

Brett watches the crowd reaction when he whacks the throttle.

 

Looks like Mona's got a fume leak!

 

Game over! Brett squirts the juice in the injector to begin the shutdown procedure.

 

Total elation! The mask comes off… ahhhhh, fresh air!

After shutdown, Sean went over to talk with Josh Heilbron, our Man of the Day. I don't know the story behind the HSM hat, but it looks like an old favorite with signs of heavy use.

Mona is beside herself after she gets her feet on the ground. Brett has that look of - "nothing can compare to it, can it?"

A few other items of interest at the show were this pair of Mercs with Santa Paula Fire & Police emblems on the doors. Probably enough protection for the whole town back in the 50's.

 

This car easily took the most "elderly" award of the show- its placard stated 1890's for the date. It had a one-lunger engine, and putt putted around the field at a jogging speed.

 

I had to leave before the raffle drawing was made to see who would get to sit in the HSM car for its 3rd and final fire up at 3PM. I'm told that Josh Heilbron's 6 year old daughter pulled the ticket from the hat and some lucky person got it. The important part, however, is that when the day's receipts were totaled up, the result was $11,706.81 to go to Josh and his daughter. As an outside observer, I'd say the High Speed Motorsports Team - Dale and Amelia Singh, the entire crew and driver Sean Bellemeur showed themselves as great Ambassadors for the sport of Drag Racing in this undertaking. Thanks!

 

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More coverage from Lompoc's Nancy Temple Rodrigue
author of HIDDEN MICKEY, the action adventure Disney Novel

 

One of the day's highlights came when the winner of the Hot Seat Raffle got to sit behind the wheel and then fire up the HSMS dragster – something just about unheard of in a small, local car show. But it wasn't ‘unheard’ for long. After the smiling winner suited up in protective gear, the engine lit up. As the decibel level rose, ears were plugged and eyes started streaming as the nitro fumes drifted over the crowd. But not one person backed away. The envious spectators cheered and clapped when he climbed out.

 

 

 

Ron Anzalone and Sean Bellemeur were asked why they would come to a little town like Lompoc with their nationally known cars. Both men – and members of their teams – have had family or friends touched by cancer. They didn't even hesitate when they were invited. They both said, “We’ll be there. What do you need?”

 

Josh Heilbron

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Sadly Josh Heilbron passed away on July 15, 2007 at 29 yrs. old

He was a resident of Lompoc, CA
 many knew him as a local business owner, some as a good friend
He owned/operated Coast Customs, 436 North 8th Street, Lompoc, CA,
where he helped many of us with our Custom Car and Cycle needs.
Josh was a Hot Rod and Cycle enthusiast, and this Benefit Car Show was to assist him with his
massive radiation and chemo-therapy treatments at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara.
We came to his aid by having this Custom Car and Motorcycle Show in his behalf,
giving 100% of all proceeds to him to continue the uphill fight he was battling.

With your support we raised a total of $11,800.00 that directly went to Josh.

Thanks also goes out to Marian Cancer Center and Cruzin' for Life for their support