History The Truth About Smokey Yunick's 7/8-scale Chevelle

Unquestionably one of the most entertaining books I've ever read![/QUOTE]

Agreed. One of the best racing books ever.

 

I love those books and actually enjoyed the WW2 stories and jungle hopping more than the racing stuff!

 

He stated in his book that Richard Childress had pulled the tape measure on his Chevelle and to ask him about the car's size? Further mystifying the story...

 

Indeed. You can see how many of these guys became adrenalin junkies as a result of their war experiences.

 

The other teams were cheating more than Yunick because they were winning the races and he wasn't...They kept quiet,Yunick hated Nascar officials and was vocal about it ,so they came down on him about rules.

 

I attended a couple seminars Smokey gave at PRI and other shows. The room was full each time with many standing to listen to his tales. I also attended both auctions at his shop 20 plus years ago. They were some of the most memorable times of my life. He was certainly larger than life and a lot of fun to be around. Not only was he brilliant but also had a great sense of humor.

 

Just like to thank Bill for posting these threads. Always interesting stuff, and Smokey stories never get old. I could read this stuff all day. Smokey's tale of the Mexican road race I read somewhere had me LAMO, thanks Bill.

 

Smokey was a big reason for that happening! He had a ton of rules revised for his cars, not just in NASCAR either.

His Circle Track column is well worth going back and reading. If you believe all of Smokeys responses, he'd tried everything before anyone else did ANYTHING.

 

In the late 70s ( or whenever it was he was dabbling with All Proof synethetic oils ) I called his shop phone to ask a few questions. I don't think he was the one who answered, but in seconds he was on the line. He spent way too much time on the phone with me. Later I pestered him a bit thru the Circle Track column. Seemed like He was always accessible. Now I only have Kevin Cameron left to annoy.

Although Joe Sherman hangs around speed talk.

 

Got to go out and read his book! This is a great post.

 

There's another entire story.

 

Thanks for all your support.

 

Never heard these, awesome.

You and me, brother. Origin of the templates, as somebody said.

Of course, had heard the story of the fuel line running up and down both sides of the car, but had not heard about the BB. Cool!

 

Yep, can't recommend his book enough. Fun and informative!

 

Wow, THERE'S a name I haven't heard in a long time. I grew up not understanding Kevin's tech articles in Cycle Magazine

 

He's still writing good stuff for Cycle World, biggest reason I subscribe.

I've always enjoyed learning from the great minds in all forms of motorsports since I started following them in the 50's. Kevin and Smokey are among the all time greats.

Ed

 

Ol JR. could be creative too. the Banana car had some trick stuff going on. He took an inch out of the frame, so the car set at stock hight but was a inch lower.

 

I heard the car in question didnt race, went back to the shop, was sold became a short track car for a few years, and than was restored and in someone collection.???

 

One of the all-time greatest technical writers. Has a real gift for it.

 

Yes, that's how Smokey told it. He said the third and last car was sold to a short-track racer. It then burned in a shop fire and some years later was recovered from a city dump. Smokey restored it and this is the car that exists today -- has been owned by Floyd Garrett and was at Bruce Canepa's for a time.



.

 

Great point. No question about it. Smokey knew that every minute racers spent thinking about his stuff was a minute they weren't thinking their stuff.

 

I remember a number of years ago, maybe the mid 70's, I think it was Hot Rod magazine that published a story about Smokey innovative interpretation of the NASCAR rulebook. I really wish I could find this article again because it was great reading. It talked about his exploits clear back to the days of racing Hudson Hornets. I do remember some of the things they told in this story. Here are just a few. The rules stated that the engine had to be centered between the frame rails so that it couldn't be off set to the left to help in the corners. The rules didn't say that the frame had to be in the center of the car so Smokey moved the whole frame to the left and extend the A arms on the right and shortened them on the left so that things appeared normal from the outside. It told about how he would grind his own cams to make the engine run in a reverse direction of rotation so that the torque of the engine would help force the left front corner down in the turns. It told about his creative ways of getting a little more fuel on board. I wish I could remember all of his ideas but it was a long time ago that I read the story.

Doc

 

bombs away

 

I was right up front at Sema seminars ......the best part about going to vegas was hanging out with Smokey and Linda Vaughn

 

docmike next time your at a swap meet (or Ebay) look for a copy of Circle Track Nov. '88 They did a re print of the article a few years ago which i DO have I just cant find it right now. I think it's the one with the black and gold '66 chevelle on the cover.

 

Another trick was putting lead shot shot in the frame rails. Then, on the parade laps, the driver would move down to the apron of the track and open up a trap door and let the shot fall out on to the apron and roll into the grass.

That was Junior Johnson.

 

That got caught.

 

The lead-shot-in-the-frame-rails-thing was a Gary Nelson production, so they say, that became sort of popular. Not so many years ago, you could walk along the back stretch at some tracks and still find bird shot in the grass -- the areas that are generally paved over now.

In the story, we try to make the point that Smokey has become a current-day American folk hero -- a focal point for the great story-telling tradition. Pretty cool when you think about it.



The Truth About Smokey Yunick's 7/8-scale Chevelle |Mac's Motor City Garage.com


.

 

Here's more on the reverse rotation angle...


http://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/2013/07/28/another-look-at-smokey-yunicks-reverse-torque-special/

 

Surely there are more, but I know there was one big story on the Chevelle in the October 1987 issue of Circle Track. Referenced and quoted in the article below:

The Truth About Smokey Yunick's 7/8-scale Chevelle |Mac's Motor City Garage.com


.