Cycle News

CN III ARCHIVES BY LARRY LAWRENCE T here are many ways of supporting racing. From as casual to watching the races on TV, helping with the ratings, to going to races and even buying racing merchandise. And then there's guys like "Digger" Helm at the other end of the spectrum – a man who's dug deep into his pocket for close to 20 years helping to do his part to try to keep the sport of flat track thriving. The love of racing goes deep with Helm. He started riding and racing in the late '50s and steadily worked his way through the ranks. He became part of the legendary Bakers- field Bomb Squad, a seriously fast quartet of motorcycle rac- ers - Helm, Sid Payne, Dave Palmer and Clark White – who ran out of the gritty blue-collar town of Bakersfield, California. The Bomb Squad, or simply The Bombers as they were called by motorcyclists in their hometown, emerged from the dusty tracks of the Kern Valley to become one of the most famous wrecking crews of the early 1960s. According to former AMA road racing great Ron Pierce, who grew up watching the Bomb Squad, "Digger may have not been the most naturally talent- ed rider of the group, but he was a hard worker and over time became a highly respected and fast racer." Helm traveled with the great AMA Grand Nation- al Champion Joe Leonard the last season Leon- ard raced motorcycles before moving on to Indy Cars. When Leonard moved on it was Helm who bought his Harleys and hit the Grand Nationals full- time as national number 57. TTs and short tracks were Helm's favorites. He won the Pacific Coast TT Championship three times and even won the Indiana TT State title one year, but since he wasn't from Indiana, the prize mon- ey and the trophy went to the second-place rider. Digger scored a slew of strong fin- ishes in the early '60s with a sixth at the prestigious Laco- nia Road Race in '63 and an eighth at the Lincoln (Illinois) Half-Mile in '62, his high-wa- ter mark in the Nationals. He retired from motorcycle racing in the mid- 1960s and raced stock cars for a time, but he never lost forgot his first love of motorcycle rac- ing. Later in life when he was financially able, he decided to give back to the sport in any way he could and boy did that support ever blossom. "When Dave Despain was starting his Dirt Track Hall of Fame I was involved in supporting that because I thought that was really cool," Helm said. "And then that went away. I had already set aside this money for the following year that I was going to give to Dave and I got to thinking who out in California, might really be able to benefit from some sponsorship. "At Du Quoin one year I met Johnny Murphree before the race. He was from over here in Paso P134 THE MAN WHO TAKES "SUPPORT

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