More Than a Car Show for the Judah Family

By Misty Cryer

Rumble on the Pecos, a car show hosted by the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce, took place June 5-6. It included a cruise, a movie showing of American Graffiti at the Cavern Theatre, vendors, judging, and an awards ceremony. As with all car shows, fun was had, awards were given, bragging rights were granted, but for the Judah family, things were a bit different.

The family of the late Lynne Judah entered his fully restored 1955 Chevrolet, which took first place with the Dirt Dobbers and also received a Top 50 Rumble on the Pecos award for 2026. The car was presented in honor of Lynne by his son, Shawn Judah, daughter-in-law, Terri Judah, granddaughters, Shawni Graham and Tori Judah, and great-grandson, Payton Lopez.

This car has a story, shared by the family. “The story goes that at the age of 14, Lynne traded some of his family pigs for a 1955 Chevrolet. The car didn’t run at the time of the trade, but Lynne was a skilled mechanic and was able to get it running. Over time, he continued rebuilding and restoring the car to what it is today. At one point, Lynne had to sell the vehicle, but was able to purchase it back, and owned it until his passing in 2020.”

Terri said Lynne, whom she and her girls lovingly call “Pops,” was a mechanic by trade.

About his dad, Shawn said, “He was his own kind of person.” He said Lynne was very particular as a mechanic, which is something that he heard from people at the car show who knew him. He said he shares the stories his dad told him, and he has no reason to doubt them, but he doesn’t know whether his dad was putting him on.

As a mechanic himself, Shawn said, “Most of my starting out, tinkering around, watching your dad, learning stuff was in his garage with that car and his tools.” He said, “That car always held his attention.”

When Lynne retired, he started working on the car, taking it apart, and planned to do some upgrades, but he was unable to finish them. People repeatedly asked Shawn about the car. Shawn said Mildred Bradley was a very close friend and neighbor. At her funeral, everybody was asking Shawn about the car, encouraging him to work on it, and asking what he was waiting for. “I thought, you know what, next time somebody asks me about that car, it’s going to be parked outside,” said Shawn.

He said he started tinkering with it. “At one point in time, it had no steering, had no brakes.” He said that put him in a bind because he couldn’t get it out of the garage.

As luck would have it, Shawn said he met one of Lynne’s friends from the past, Leo Evans. With the help of his cousin and uncle, Shawn said they were able to get the car out and transported it to Leo, who helped him get it running.

“The car that was at the show, me and dad actually entered that in the high school drag race class when I was in high school,” said Shawn, adding that he remembers winning a trophy.

Terri said Shawn put a brand-new motor in the car. “Pops made him promise that he wouldn’t race it.”

Shawn added, “It does not have a big block.”

Lynne was a member of the Dirt Dobbers in his younger years, said Shawn. Once the club was reestablished, both Lynne and Shawn became members, he said.

“My entire life, my dad and my grandpa have spent their days in his shop, restoring the car together, having a Budweiser, and blaring Lynyrd Skynyrd,” said Tori. She said that at the car show, people stopped by, recognizing the car and telling them stories about Lynne. “We’re all still crying from how special this was to us and how much it meant to us. I think we’ve made Pops pretty proud,” she said.

“It is really cool that my daughters got to be involved in that,” said Shawn. I would like to thank everybody who has come out here over the years, who has ever laid a hand on that car, or who has just come by to say ‘Hi.’ I just can’t say thank you enough. If you’ve laid a finger on this car, we’re extremely grateful,” he said.

This is the second year that the Chamber of Commerce has hosted this show, previously put on by the CARS Club for 30 years, said Chad Ingram, CEO of the Chamber. It was rebranded this year to Rumble on the Pecos, he explained, adding that the CARS Club, Dirt Dobbers, and Artesia Car Club all gave awards at the show.