Jerry Helm | Coupeville Sports

Posts Tagged ‘Jerry Helm’

Rattle the rims, punch the pedal

Posted in auto sports, tagged auto racing, Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue, Evergreen Speedway, Jerry Helm, NASCAR on August 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Jerry Helm, and some of his progeny, meets the public. (Sylvia Arnold photo)

Sometimes he puts out the fires, and sometimes he starts them.

Metaphorically speaking…

Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue Chief Jerry Helm spent this past weekend laying down rubber and scorching the racetrack while driving the #27 car.

Battling against a packed field, he claimed fourth place in a NASCAR street stock main event, part of a strong rookie season for the father of three.

Ready to rumble. (Photos courtesy Jerry Helm)

“Solid day at the track yesterday,” Helm said. “Fell back to fourth behind some very talented drivers with fast cars but settled in thanks to the spotter/coach in my ear, Gene Watson.

“His calm voice in my ear helped settle this rookie down and focus on driving the wheels off the car.”

Helm, who will be in action at Evergreen Speedway Aug. 31, also sent props to his crew — Matthew Garstin, Wyatt Waldron, Gary Garstin, and Jerry Helm, Sr.

And the sponsors who keep the speed-happy driver punching the pedal through the metal?

They would be Tiger Construction, Fisherman Jack’s, The Muse Whiskey & Coffee, and North48 Real Estate.

Zoom, zoom.

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Fire chief burns up racing track

Posted in auto sports, tagged auto racing, Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue, Fisherman Jacks, Jerry Helm, NASCAR on May 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Jerry and Lindsey Helm hang out with the family’s ace mechanic, Kasen, who just celebrated his second birthday.

They’re finding their groove.

Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue Chief Jerry Helm and his crew continue to surge to the front of the pack in the world of auto racing.

Helm’s first-hand report from the track:

Race #4 update…

Following the previous race, the race team went to work on the #27 car.

The goal, find some speed and shave seconds.

After some engine maintenance by Michael Matros, and suspension and tire adjustments by Phillip Brotemarkle and Shawn Calkins, the #27 car showed up ready to run.

Practice session went well as we worked to fine tune braking and alignment settings.

In the heat race, the car felt great. Setting a team best lap time of 18.39 seconds.

We qualified and started 9th for the 15-car main event.

After a long and extended race, riddled with wrecks and yellow cautions, we had worked our way up to 5th place with four laps to go.

On the last lap, we drove the car in deep and passed two cars on the inside of turn 1. This made for three car wide racing going into turn 2.

The adjustments the team made to the car really showed in this moment.

The look of speed.

The car hooked up, got traction, and shot out of turn 2 in sole position of third place with half a lap remaining to the checked flag.

Holding off the cars behind for the final two turns, we crossed the line in third place. Although, that’s not quite where the drama ended.

NASCAR track officials announced that the car behind us (that we had passed during the race after all the caution restarts, and again on the final lap) was awarded third place.

After a discussion with the NASCAR track officials, they agreed with us, and officially scored us correctly in third place.

Because of the time it took to figure this out, we missed our chance to stand on the podium for the television cameras, get our trophy, and thank our friends, families, and sponsors.

However, we are very thankful that the NASCAR track officials made the right call in the end.

While we wait until the next race to get our trophy, we want to thank everyone for the kind words of encouragement and support through an emotional roller coaster of post-race events.

Thank you to Tiger Construction, The Muse Whiskey and Coffee, Fisherman Jacks, and North 48 Real Estate for keeping us on track.

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One family, all the success

Posted in auto sports, taekwondo, tagged Central Whidbey Island Fire and Rescue, Evergreen Speedway, Finley Helm, Jerry Helm, Lindsey Helm, Scotlyn Helm, taekwondo on April 14, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Coupeville’s Finley (left) and Scotlyn Helm collect medals and swag at a Canadian taekwondo tourney. (Photos courtesy Lindsey Helm)

It was an action-packed weekend for the Helm family.

Dad Jerry, Central Whidbey’s Fire Chief, was busy revving his engine as a stock car racer at Evergreen Speedway, while mom Lindsey, Coupeville Elementary teacher extraordinaire, was off to Canada to kick some fanny.

She took daughters Finley and Scotlyn with her, and the trio brought home nine medals from a taekwondo tournament of champions in Surrey, British Columbia.

“Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!”

The tourney marked Scotlyn’s first time competing internationally, and Finley’s debut in a black belt ring.

Lindsey earned gold medals in combat sparring, X-Treme weapons, and sparring, while Scotlyn copped first-place in weapons.

Overall, the trio amassed four golds, three silvers, and two bronzes.

All your medals will be ours.

Back in the USA, Jerry, racing for the second time this season, logged his fastest lap times as a driver, ultimately finishing sixth in the main event.

Afterwards, he paid tribute to his support crew.

“Another amazing night from my pit crew, Michael Matros and Philip Brotemarkle,” Jerry Helm said.

“They knocked it out of the park once again on getting the car set up to run with the best.”

Jerry Helm puts the medal to the metal. (Photo property Evergreen Speedway Photographs)

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Burnin’ up the track, a lap at a time

Posted in auto sports, tagged auto racing, Central Whidbey Fire, Jerry Helm, Street Stock Dads, Tiger Construction on March 31, 2024| Leave a Comment »

When Jerry Helm revs his engine, his fan club comes running.

The fire captain is burning up the track.

Even when his equipment fails to fully cooperate with him.

Overcoming a snapped front spindle, Central Whidbey Fire and Rescue head honcho Jerry Helm scrambled to pull his racing car back into shape Saturday, then unleashed holy heck on the track.

Is it just me or does this broken piece look like it’s complaining to the world?

“Opening night turned out to be challenging for us,” Helm said. “Got hit hard during qualifying.

“Huge shout out to Dirk Kruiswyk for running out to his shop for a spare to get me back out for the heat race and main event.”

Racing the clock, Helm and his crack pit crew proved you can slow down a Cow Town legend, but you can’t stop him.

“Huge shout out to Michael Matros, Philip Brotemarkle, and Max Waldron for the amazing pit work getting it swapped out just in time for the heat race,” Helm said.

Not that his night went 100% smoothly from there, as he promptly got hit during the main event as well.

This time, Helm had his rear tire blown clean off its rim.

Never fear, however, as the pit crew was there to save the day.

“After being towed off the track, my superstar pit crew were ready for me when the tow truck got me back to my pit stall,” Helm said.

“They had tools and my spare tire waiting for me,” he added. “They had the tire and rim swapped out before the tow truck even set me down.

“And to the screams and cheers from my racing family, I was able to get back out and finish the race.”

Daughters Finley (middle) and Scotlyn Helm, superstar racers in their own right, came out to support pops.

While it was a tough day for the #27 car and its team, just finishing was the real win.

“Given what we were dealing with, I’m amazed we were still able to finish the race,” Helm said. “Definitely a team effort.”

Backed by the smell of burnt rubber, he gave shout outs to Mike Shimek, Austin Lee Camp, and Tyler Hill for their assistance, and Scott Isenhart and Tiger Construction for their support.

You can catch Saturday’s racing action by tuning in to KSTW – Channel 11 next Sunday, April 7 at 5:00 PM, when #wqmastreetstockdads will be featured.

While Helm didn’t make the podium (this time), his cousin, Mike Shimek, did.