The "Best Damn Garage in Town Moves Up"

5-9-01
Smokey Yunick dies at age of 77

By Don Mallinson, Editor

UPDATE: book by Smokey published posthumously.

Carbon Press launched Smokey Yunick’s autobiographical history of racing – Best Damn Garage in Town…The World According to Smokey – at the shop where it all began, at a two day event on July 5-6. Over 250 people toured Smokey’s shop, which had been closed to the public for almost 30 years, as part of the festivities. Originally planned as a book launch, the event was changed to be a celebration of Smokey’s life and achievements after he passed away in May after a fierce battle with leukemia.

Smokey’s book has been widely anticipated since he began work on it over four years ago. In the book, Smokey delivers the rich history and incredible stories from the early days of racing as only he can tell them. He wanted to book to be just like the reader was sitting down on the back porch and asking him questions…and that is exactly what he delivered.

Best Damn Garage in Town…The World According to Smokey is currently available in two edition, each containing four sections, totalling 1,128 pages in three bound volumes:

The Collector’s Edition comes with a signed, thumbprinted and numbered certificate that Smokey signed before he passed away. The three volumes are hardbound and stamped with the matching number from the certificate and encased in a gold foil stamped slipcase. The Collector’s Edition is currently selling for $275. The Collector’s Edition is limited to 2,000 copies with over 500 already sold.

The Racer’s Edition is soft bound with a black and gold printed slipcase and sells for $95.

Carbon Press is the publishing company Smokey founded in order to insure his book would be published exactly as he had written it. Carbon Press is headquartered at the “Best Damn Garage in Town” and is currently selling Smokey’s book via the web at www.smokeyyunick.com or via phone at 866.SMOKEY2(766.5392). Carbon Press plans to focus on publishing authors that want their story told without ghostwriters and whitewash.

Smokey's Obit continues now:

It was a 7/8 scale Chevelle (I incorrectly called it a Monte Carlo in the original version of this article) created by Smokey that led NASCAR to create the infamous patterns they use on all cars today.  Here is an excerpt from an article by Karen Van Allen on SpeedFX.com about that car: (thanks to Bill Staib for alerting me to this information)

"'Cheating,' as it were, has been around since the inception of
stock car racing. The year 1966 produced two of the most notorious violations
of rules quite possibly witnessed in the sport of NASCAR racing - and believe
it, or not, both cars passed technical inspection prior to the Dixie 500 at
Atlanta. Junior Johnson's "Yellow Banana" Ford Galaxy and Henry "Smokey"
Yunick's "little" #13 1967 Chevy Chevelle, complete with an offset chassis,
raised floor, roof spoiler, balloon in gas tank and a host of other brilliant
rules book interpretations. NASCAR finally disqualified Yunick's creation in
1968 when it was found to be some 200 pounds underweight."

Read the entire article: "Common Templates: 'Aero Matching' Still Key"
HERE

Smokey Yunick was a real thorn in NASCAR's side.  He was more inventive and just plain good about cheating or "bending" the rules than anyone ever was or will be.

He operated a garage in Florida called "The Best Damn Garage in Town."  He was interviewed on one of the cable channels not too long ago, and his "Best Damn Garage in Town" was still up, but not open (he said he could not hire any good mechanics and could not do the job all by himself so he closed the doors, but kept the building.)

There was an auction several years ago at the garage, but not everything was sold.  In this interview he still had several mystery motors and other trick parts, plus a prototype for a safe movable wall for race tracks (made from used tires cabled together in layers) that was part of his feud with Bill France and NASCAR. Collectors should keep an eye out for notices of the last auction of Smokey's stuff.

NASCAR would not even look at his safe wall system and this was a big part of the war that lasted between Big Bill France and Smokey.

A real character from the early days of racing is gone, now he can start changing the rules "up there" :)

Don Mallinson, Editor

Thanks to Ron Nottingham from the SHOtimes list for alerting us to this story, check out the link to another story about Smokey:

http://espn.go.com/rpm/2001/0509/1193936.html

Ron commented:

"Most Ford guys don't like Smokey, but I read everything that man put out.
Some people are just geniuses, he was really in tune with the internal combustion engine."

Ron N. - Dalton, GA
90 SHO
84 300zxt

Back to the SHO Club home page

Comments? mailto:comments@shoclub.com

SHOclub.com