I think it was 1961 or 62 at the AHRA Nationals at Green Valley, TX. Chet was running a twin engine "Olds" aluminum motored car on fuel. He had run his tires into the threads. We loaned him ours for a run. He was one hell of a nice guy and would give you the shirt off his back. When he finished with the tirem he insisted on he and his guys making the swap back for us. He then gaves us some tuning tips and we went on the runner up in AA/F Comp Coupe. Thanks Chet...........RIP my friend
RIP Chet. Wow theyre all leaving us one by one. Such is life. Ironically, Im about to order one of his cams for my project. Godspeed.... Rat
Very sorry to hear this. Was at his store recently and sorta saw it coming. RIP Chet, a true racers racer
in 1966 I was stationed in Ft Sam Houston in texas in the 4th army AG data processing unit . There was a Dave Herbert stationed with me and cclaimed that Chet was his uncle can anyone shed some light on Dave?? I t has been very hard to find most of these guys who proabbly went to Nam about the same time as me
chet u wear a great inovator in ower industry a true brain and for that u have many friends in the auto world around the world we will miss new things from your great mind have fun with your friends and god bless u and to your family my condolances
That's sad news. I was talking to a friend of mine who raced for Chet in the late 50's-early 60's just a couple of weeks ago about Chet's declining health. Another legend gone, but not forgotten. RIP Mr. Herbert. May you live on through the loping cams of hot rods everywhere.
Probably one of the more interesting characters of the 20th Century, Mr Herbert Deserves all the thoughts and praise . I first read of him in Far off New Zealand around 1962 where I saw pictures of him in his chair next to a six cylinder coupe where he had not only ground the cam but made the rods and pistons too. He wasn't just a cam grinder but an accomplished engineer who had been a mad Harley street racer before polio got him in 1948,paralysing him front the chest down . At an early age, Chet's parents visualized a musical career and bought him a trumpet . . . something that he eventually traded for a motor scooter. He said his uncle, a mechanic, was instrumental in switching his career from the performing arts to mechanical parts. While at one of the first drag races at Santa Ana (1950), his rider (he couldn't recall his name) broke the track bike record of 101-mph with a 103 mph shot. Another of his riders, Al Keys, increased it to 121.62 mph, which was one of the fastest speeds by anything at Santa Ana or anywhere else. Then, Ted Irio powered Herbert's "Beast" to a record 129.49 mph. n addition to landmark race times, Herbert had a hand in some of the most inventive cars that ever appeared on a drag strip. In 1960, he built a three-engine, Chevy gas burner that Allen "Lefty" Mudersbach drove to a 9.36 ET and 163.63 mph. In 1962 he and Roy Steen put together two twin nitro-burning, injected F-85 Olds V8s in a Top Fueler, one of which Jeep Hampshire drove to an 8.10 San Gabriel Raceway record. The same year, he put driver Zane Shubert in a side-mounted 450 cubic inch Chevy, rear-motored sidewinder. Shubert said in a later interview that the car would launch great, but any time after a couple hundred feet it would hook hard to the left or right. That project was shelved. But he was told that NHRA had changed the rules on the 5-inch bore center, and that 4.9 inches was the new limit. Chevys and Chryslers were both 4.8. Angrily, Herbert built a two-valve, 4.9-inch bore center Ford engine, with Ralph and Spike Gorr putting it into a Top Fueler and Billy Williams in his alcohol Funny Car. During this period, there were no cam grinders who built roller cams, so Herbert decided to do it himself. He went to the local Sears store, bought a lathe and turned it into a cam grinder, punching out a couple of bump sticks and dynoed it in a "circle car". Bill Johnson, a friend of Herbert's who had an Indy 500 car, told him to go with a Hilborn fuel injector. In interview i read a couple of years ago .. he said "It turned out 275-280 horses, more than an Offenhauser," "The car qualified third in a Texas Champ Car race. The roller cam worked to a 'T' and everyone wanted a roller cam after that." And that's roughly how Herbert got into the cam business. "Nobody made roller cams for about 10 years," said Chet. "It was about 1959 or '60 before anyone else made them. Take away the roller cams and Zoomie headers from a Top Fueler, and see how it performs. You'll probably lose a full second." On the drag racing front, Gary Cagle drove the Herbert Cams/Torco Oil fueler to top speed of the meet at 180.36 mph at Bakersfield's first Smokers' U.S. Fuel and Gas Championships in March of 1959. On May 31st of that year, Robert "Jocko" Johnson and his incredible streamliner ran the sport's best elapsed time with an 8.35-second run at 178.21 mph at Riverside Raceway. So everytime you think of Zoomie headers or see them on a winning car you will know who it was thought of the idea. may he be remembered .
DAMN! Just asked Donny Johansson about him on Tuesday. He said Chet had been in IC for weeks, and that now he had pnuemonia...
Ran across this very well written article on the late Chet Herbert. Borrowed from: The Village News Inc. 127 West Elder Street, Fallbrook CA 92028 <table style="border-bottom: 1px solid black; margin-bottom: 3px;" width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td>Drag racing pioneer p***es ultimate finish line </td><td align="right"> </td></tr></tbody></table> Courtesy photo.Drag racing pioneer Chet Herbert (in wheelchair) with Zane Schubert and two of their friends. <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr><td style="border-bottom: 1px solid black;">C.J. Sparkplug Stewart</td></tr><tr><td valign="top">Special to the Valley News</td></tr></tbody></table> Friday, May 8<sup>th</sup>, 2009. Issue 19, Volume 9. Born on March 4, 1928, Chester Chet Herbert grew up in the Southern California racing scene and p***ed away on Thursday, April 23, at the age of 81 from complications of pneumonia. Owner of Chet Herbert Cams and the inventor of the Zoomie exhaust pipe, Herbert continually set new racing standards for performance and power in the early days when the sport of drag racing was in the beginning of being the organized sport it is today. Herbert suffered from the effects of polio at age 20 and was paralyzed from the chest down for the remainder of his life. He spent six months in an iron lung before rolling on to new aspects to improve many facets of horsepower and high performance. My dad was my hero, son Doug Herbert wrote in a press release. He taught me so much about how to be a strong and determined person. Despite the fact that he had polio and was in a wheelchair for much of his life, he never let that stop him from doing anything. He proved to everyone that he could accomplish whatever he set his mind to, which taught me that, no matter how tough something may seem, if you fight hard enough, you can overcome it. I always looked up to him. Im glad I had the opportunity to follow in his footsteps and be involved in a sport that he helped to invent. After Dougs sons, Jon and James, were killed in an automobile crash in January 2008, he and his father started working on a project together: a streamlined car in which Doug wants to set a land speed record at better than 500 mph this summer on the Bonneville Salt Flats. Some of my best memories with my dad were made over the past year, Doug said. We had grown much closer since my boys died I will miss my dad very much. I am lucky to have many wonderful memories of him that I will always cherish. Locals remember Chet Herbert When I was 11 years old we lived in Santa Ana and Chet lived across the street from us, Zane Shubert of Lake Skinner recalled. He was 11 years older than me and would come get me to take me to the drag races at the Santa Ana Drag Strip on the weekends. I started working for him when I was 13 years old at his muffler shop and worked there for three years, til I was 16. Hed tell you anything. As a matter of fact, I even drove a car of his in exchange for all the work wed do to the vehicle. Ive carried him, dropped him, pushed him, you name it, moving him around. I remember one time a bunch of us flipped a boat sideways in the ocean. Chet broke a bunch of ribs in the crash. We all swam back to the boat and got back to shore. It was hard for me to imagine the amount of pain he must have been in when I lifted him from under the arms to put him in the car. Chet never whined about anything. Another time in the early 1970s we had this radical boat that was 21 feet long and only four feet wide. We were at Golden Avenue by the Queen Mary hanging out with the offshore ski racers. We decided to take the boat out to test it. It was a fibergl*** tunnel boat with the center cut out and the two sides molded back together. The ski racers thought we were nuts. That thing took off quick with the two of us in it. We instantly flipped it nose-high. Im sitting in the boat with water up to my chest, idling the motor, and Chet was floating in the water like a rag doll face-down. He rolled over and popped up laughing harder than Id ever seen him laugh. That was fun. Lets do it again, he said. We were screwing around with that boat for the next six to eight months. Thats when I went into business with him. One day I said to him, Weve got to make some money. Im tired of being poor. Thats when he hired Chester Chet Vetter. Chet was one of the first to run nitrous oxide in his Harley Davidson motorcycle, [which] was named The Beast. He was also known for a fuel mixture called Chester Ester. It was an ever-evolving mixture of nitro-methane, or laughing gas, alcohol, with ether or sometimes some acids. It smelled horrible when it burned. He got the idea after reading that the Germans used nitro methane to fuel their World War II torpedoes. A note about The Beast: in 1950 it shattered all quarter-mile drag racing records at 129 mph. The Beast was faster than any car at the time. Now while the other guys were screwing around with rocket fuel, Chet had Ron Hammel running [what I call] laughing gas nitro methane, Shubert continued. The street guys actually started that racing trend. And some other guys were messing around with a gasoline and dynamite mixture that had to be constantly mixed so it wouldnt settle or it would float the bowls in the carburetor in a very dynamic explosion. Chet Herbert was not interested in what happened yesterday. All he wanted to focus on was today. He didnt spend money on the high life. Designing [performance parts] was his entertainment. Valerie Shubert, Zanes wife, added, Chet Herbert never complained. It would be easy to feel sorry for yourself being confined to a wheelchair at such a young age. Not Chet. His motto was If you really want something, figure out a way to get and he did. Larry Cook, a former resident of Lake Elsinore, is a team member of Bad to the Bone race team (pro dragster cl***) in the American Harley Davidson Racing ***ociation with more than 600 other Harley owners. Back in 1987 or 1988 Herbert made a couple of cams for my Kona, a big block jet boat, said Cook. He was a very special person for sure. He really cared about motors. Ill never forget, I was supposed to meet him at 2 p.m. somewhere in Orange County. Well, traffic was a mess that was before cell phones. I didnt end up meeting with him until around 3:30 p.m. Oh, he yelled at me. I dont like waiting around! or something like that, he said. He was really mad at me. I just laughed at him, and Im still laughing to this day. Chet helped out a lot of the smaller race teams that didnt have a lot of money. The big teams could afford to spend money on better cam shaft profiles and blueprinting. Chet would share the knowledge with the smaller race teams. He wasnt one of those builders who wouldnt share the information unless somebody paid him the big bucks. I would love to have half the knowledge that Chet had when it came to motors. Thoughts from all over the map Roy Steen, owner of Race Car Specialties in Idaho Falls, ID, remembered meeting Herbert in 1959. I used to live in the San Fernando Valley, he said. Every Friday wed go to Chets shop to get ready for the weekends race. I also remember his primitive fuel mixtures. One time he said to us, You guys spend every penny on that car a twin F-85 Oldsmobile motor, all aluminum block. Come race for me and Ill give you guys $100 a week and Ill buy all the parts, Chet said. A hundred bucks a week back then was outstanding. That paid for our fuel, food and entry fee. He really took care of us. By the 1960s ninety percent of all the drag racers ran Herbert Cams. [Herbert was] probably one of the most honest guys around. If he said something he would probably regret it tomorrow because hed have to live up to it. He was very creative and a little impatient at times. Ill never forget the Streamliner [Herbert] built for the Bonneville Salt Flats, added Roys adult son, Clayton Steen. It was 30 inches wide, 30 inches high and 36 feet long. It had four motors each with Herbert Cams and did an amazing 365 mph back in 1994. Jerry Hart, the son of deceased drag race icon C.J. Pappy Hart, a founder of the first drag strip in the world, Santa Ana Drag Strip, recalled, In the early days Chet was famous for his work on motorcycles. Then he started doing more work on cars. My dad lived in Lake Elsinore for over 50 years in a tiny little cottage. Chet was a lot like my dad, nothing fancy just the simple life away from the racetrack. My dad had a 1953 Ford with a Herbert Cam. Then he had Chet work on his 1955 T-Bird. After that it was the 1956 T-Bird all had Cadillac motors. They ran well at Bonneville. My mother, Peggy Hart, was the driver. As a matter of fact, my mother was the first woman racer at the Santa Ana Drag Strip. Back then the track was insured by Lloyds of London and they wouldnt let women race. She did race because she was co-owner of the track and paid the insurance bill. Every time I went to Chets shop there was always somebodys Streamliner in for improvements. **** Holts of Westminster has been making speed parts since 1960 in what he refers to as a little speed shop. I used to drag race motorcycles at Santa Ana Drag Strip when Chet had The Beast. I remember that bike, Holts said. I feel very fortunate and relieved to have visited with Chet on the Sunday before he p***ed away, he continued. I dont think I could have lived with myself knowing that I didnt take the opportunity to see him for the last time. Herbert was also an innovator in the business of mail order. Chet was definitely one of the innovators of the mail order performance parts business, said Trip Manley, who co-owns Performance Products with his father in New Jersey. When I was in my early 20s back in 1990 I meet with Chet to ask him for advice on starting my own mail order business. He took me to lunch and treated me like I was a 40-year-old. He talked to me and advised me on a business level. He knew his stuff when it came to mail order. Our company maintains a West Coast presence with a satellite warehouse in Orange and Chet was a very good customer. During a telephone interview, Doug Herbert commented, You know, my dad was Bobby Allisons first sponsor ever. You mean Bobbys dad wasnt his first sponsor? I asked. No, Doug emphasized, my dad was his first sponsor. Chet Herbert was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1993. Memorial and funeral services were held last Saturday, May 2, in Orange County. Herbert is survived by wife Leanne, son Doug, daughter Heather Herbert-Binetti, daughter Tracey Drage and sister Doris, editor of Drag News. He was preceded in death by sister Fay Trout and grandsons Jon and James. Donations can be sent to fund a program dear to the Herbert family, Be Responsible And Keep Everyone Safe (BRAKES), at www.putonthebrakes.com.
Whoa, man! Of all the news I thought I'd hear today, I never thought this would be in the headlines! ~Jason
He helped me when I ran one of his cams in my Ardun...there is a small Herbert Cams decal on my avatar (probably not visible) ..never too busy to give advice, even when he was racing his own cars. Sad that most of the great cam grinders are gone now -- Howard Johansen, Jack Engle, Ed Winfield, Clay Smith, and now Chet Herbert...seems like only Isky is left...sad.
We all have "gearheads" we admire...some are engineers... some are inventors...some are builders and so on. There were hundreds of them. I guess the reason Chet was one of the guys I admired the most was because he was all of them. He was there for the "birth" of drag racing, my favorite sport, and he beat everybody's *** in the early days. I would see his ads and magazine coverage of his race cars and just be thrilled. Then his son Doug moved near me. It was amazing how much a 25 year old Doug looked like a 25 year old Chet...just amazing. When Doug followed his father and joined the ranks of Top Fuel he also became a favorite and a friend. He was also the son-in-law of another local legend...Tommy Grove. When Doug lost his only two sons last year only a few miles from where I live my heart ached for Chet as much as Doug. As a father and grandfather I cannot imagine what they endured. Then I was thrilled to hear from Doug that his father had joined him in a Bonneville project. It did my heart good because I knew how much good it would do for both Herberts. I am truly sorry Chet will not be at Bonneville this year in person but he will sure be there in spirit.
The Jalopy Journal
