08-07-08: On Thursday prior to the 37th Nightfire Nationals at Boise, Idaho Mechatronics President., Kent Ross invited over one hundred business associates, special guests and employees to an open house and sit-down BBQ at their main warehouse in Washington. The highlight for all was an up close and personal look at the 3000 horsepower, 250 mph High Speed Motorsports Top Fuel Dragster his company sponsors.

Arriving early, the High Speed Motorsports crew unloaded the car and set up for a display in the back parking lot of the Mechatronics Operating Groups facility in rural Preston. Among those in attendance for HSMS was C.E.O. Dale Singh, C.O.O. Tom Shelar, Brett Johansen, Todd Shappie, Walt Stevens, Pete Palumbo, Rick Shelar, Danny Porche, Chris Graves, Frank Hedge Jr. and driver, Troy Green. Under sunny skies, a good time was had by all and was punctuated by a fire-up with SilverThin Precision Bearings Sales Manager, Kevin McNulty in the dragsters seat.

 

After spending the night in Auburn, WA the team headed east for the 30 minute drive to SilverThin.

10 AM - the 45' HSMS trailer and motorcoach arrived at the SilverThin facility in Preston, Washington.

 

First order of business was to unload the race car.

 

 

 

 

Troy Green began installing the new dual chutes while the rest of the team got ready to set up the awning.

 

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Dale Singh, Kevin McNulty and Kent Ross.

 

 

Following their huge win at the 2008 Fuel & Gas Championships in June, Dale and Amelia Singh had a memorial blanket made for all the crew members. One was taped to the trailer as part of the display.

 

 

As part of the display, the 40" flat screen TV was put into play showing action DVDs of the HSMS fueler in action.

 

The HSMS office/hospitality motorcoach manned by Dale and Amelia Singh.

 

 

 

As the car was being prepped, Kevin McNulty was busy getting the BBQ rolling. With over 100 folks to feed there was a lot of hamburgers and hot dogs to cook.

Green got a little confused when getting into his seat. Actually, he was cleaning the cockpit so guests could get in without getting clutch dust on their clothes.

The teams brand new Donovan block was put out so the visitors could get a visual of what the heart of a billet nitro engine looks like.

Added to the block were the exclusive HSMS billet blower manifold and cylinder heads.

The crew (here Rick Shelar) was always on hand to answer questions and make everyone feel very comfortable with the experience.

When the call for food went out it didn't take long for the line to start forming. There were so many people that it had to be done in shifts.

 

 

Those manning the BBQ also worked in shifts. They had a lot of people to feed in a relatively short period of time.

While the guests and staff had lunch, Dale Singh was preparing for a presentation to Kent Ross including a signed team photo from their win at Bakersfield. First to sign was Brett Johansen.

Frankie Hedge

 

Tom Shelar

With the team photo signed and ready it was mated to a 37th Fuel & Gas Championships Top Fuel winners trophy that was also made especially for Kent Ross and SilverThin.

 

 

 

Troy was kept busy with autographs throughout the day.

 

As the guests finished eating they started to come out to the car.

 

 

Also on hand was Amelia Singh's Seattle based daughter and family. Sandra and Dan and granddauthers Lucia, Olivia and Sofia who loaded into the motorcoach for a family adventure to the race at Boise.

 

The team also took a few minutes to enjoy a great BBQ before the masses came out.

 

Getting ready for showtime.

 

 

 

 

 

One who really showed an interest and asked tons of very intelligent questions was SilverThin salesperson Mara.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With the lot filled with anxious folks it was time for Kevin McNulty to get in the car for the featured fire up. Above he got a pep talk from Kent Ross who as in the seat for the 2006 SilverThin Open House fire up.

 

 

 

Troy explained the procedure to Kevin.

 

 

 

The crowd was ready.

 

 

Johansen and Shelar fired the engine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As nitro fumes filled the air the observers began to get further and further from the car.

 

 

Kevin thanked Dale and Dale thanked Kevin.

 

 

It was then time to present Kent Ross tokens of the teams appreciation for SilverThin's continued support of the HSMS racing efforts.

 

 

 

 

 

Troy Green, Tom Shelar, Kent Ross and Brett Johansen.

 

It was then time for Ross to turn the table and award beautiful cut crystal pieces from SilverThin engraved with the names of Troy Green and Brett Johansen for their outstanding level of performance in the past year.

 

 

 

 

Finally, Ross presented Singh with a sizable check confirming a continued SilverThin sponsorship in a multi-year deal. Great news for the team as they also have long term plans.

 

Ross posed with his SoCal staff who flew in for the event.

 

 

After the presentations, things started to wind down.

 

 

But not before a little more seat time for the guests.

 

 

That's all folks!

 

By 2 PM the set up procedure had been reversed and the rig and crew was off to Boise, Idaho for the 2008 Nightfire Nationals.

 

The 8 hour trip to Boise was not without nice scenery and some very interesting weather that was all over the board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SilverThin Bearings is a division of MECHATRONICS CORPORATION, a privately held marketing, distribution, and manufacturing company that was founded in 1979 to market precision bearings to the aerospace industry. Today, the corporation is comprised of five operating groups that serve diverse markets.

The SilverThin Bearing Group manufactures large diameter thin section ball bearings for the aerospace, industrial, robotics, and distributor markets.

SilverThin bearings are manufactured in the United States in standard configurations, sealed and unsealed, up to 37 inches in diameter. Standard bearings are stocked or in production to meet customer short lead time requirements.

Special bearings are engineered and manufactured up to 37 inches in diameter, some from special materials, to serve the needs of our diverse customer base.

The National Precision Bearing Group distributes airframe control bearings, precision miniature ball bearings, and commercial industrial bearings to the computer peripheral , medical, dental, high technology, industrial, and aerospace markets.

Headquarters for the Mechatronics Operating Groups is located in a 50,000 sq.ft. office and warehouse facility in Preston, Washington. This facility contains a class 1000 clean room with bearing relubrication capability and supports value-added assembly operations with full lot traceability for all operations. The facility has ISO 9001:2000 certification.

The corporation sells through its sales office, sales representatives and distributors in the United States and in various countries around the world. The operating group's websites will give you more specific information about the corporation's products and services.