Dateline: 05/09/01

Auto racing lost one of its living legends this week, when it was announced that Henry "Smokey" Yunick had gone to join Dale Earnhardt, Fireball Roberts and a host of other racers. Smokey was there for the first Daytona 500, and by the way he was at this year's as well, the first Southern 500 and many other "first" races at NASCAR's old, traditional tracks. In the early days of stock car racing, you could always find Smokey. You just looked for the crumpled up cowboy hat. No $500 Stetson for Smokey, this hat looked like it had been run over by the entire field of 80 cars that started the first race at the "new" Darlington race track.

Smokey was a mechanic's mechanic. He owned what he termed "The best damn garage in town," and he meant every word of it. It was from that garage that the small-block Chevrolet engine appeared and changed the face of racing forever. Twice he was named NASCAR's mechanic of the year, and won two Grand National Championships, in the days before Winston Cup. But his career wasn't limited to NASCAR. Smokey's cars also won the Indy 500 and numerous drag racing events in the early days of the NHRA. In short, if it had wheels, Smokey would race it. His nickname, in fact, came from a "smokin' Indian" motorcycle that he used to race in his younger days. As a result, in 1990 he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.

But above being a master racing mechanic, Smokey was a spinner of tales. Not tall tales, however, but "back porch" memories of the early days of this sport we love so well. For example, he told of a time at Darlington, before the days of racing tires, that teams started running out of rubber and the fans began offering them the tires and wheels off of their passenger cars, so that the races could continue. He often pointed out that this behavior was influenced, in part by the fact that a new "tonic" called Hadacol, was being sold to the fans by a "snake oil salesman from Luzzeanna," and it had enough alcohol in it to power the midget that Smokey raced occasionally. By the end of the race, a total of 635 "tars" were blown, and the racers headed home, leaving fans sitting in the mud hole that served as a parking lot with their cars sitting up on old wooden boxes.

Smokey was a unique individual, and his stories will live forever in a book that he recently published, Best Damn Garage in Town, and which he sold and autographed at Daytona this year, while taking a break from fighting the leukemia that eventually took his life. The book, now offered in only special editions, will go on sale this summer, and gives probably the best inside look at the early days of racing that's on the market today. It's sure to be a winner, just as its author was. If you're a fan of any kind of racing, this book is a must read.

Funeral services for Smokey Yunick will be held at the Ormond Funeral Home on State Road 40, Daytona Beach, Florida, at 1:00 pm Saturday, May 12, 2001. His family has requested, in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to the Stewart Marchman Treatment Center at 386-947-1300, 3875 Tiger Bay Rd., Daytona Beach, Florida 32124. Since there's no Winston Cup race this weekend, I ask you to take a moment and remember this true legend of racing. Then just sit back and picture the race that's going on Sunday at "Pearly Gates Speedway" this weekend. All your old favorites will be there, and if my instincts are correct, The Intimidator will be in victory lane and he'll have one of Smokey Yunick's small-block Chevy engines under the hood of the #3.