Chester \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chet\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Herbert, a member of the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame who helped develop an exhaust header that blew smoke away from a dragster\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s rear tires to improve traction, died Thursday. He was 81.<\/p>\n
Herbert died of pneumonia at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, according to Sara Fensterer, a spokeswoman for Herbert\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s son, Doug, who followed his father into professional drag racing. The elder Herbert lived in nearby Villa Park.<\/p>\n
Herbert was stricken with polio at age 20 and lived the rest of his life in a wheelchair, paralyzed from the chest down.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153My grandmother told me he was so wild about racing, that if he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have polio to slow him down, he probably would have died,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Doug Herbert said in a statement. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153When my dad was 12, my grandma bought him a trumpet and hoped he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d learn to play. But he traded the trumpet for a Cushman motorscooter and it was life in the fast lane ever since.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n