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Sprint Cup
HEMBREE: The Name They’re Missing
Smokey Yunick deserves a spot in the NASCAR Hall of Fame…
SPEED.com NASCAR Editor Mike Hembree is a veteran, award-winning motorsports journalist. (File Photo)
The 25 nominees for the next class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame make up an impressive group.
Many of them – probably most – will wind up in the Charlotte, N.C., Hall of Honor in time.
It will difficult for voters, once again, to pick only five from a list that includes such names as Buck Baker, Curtis Turner, Fireball Roberts, Cotton Owens, Wendell Scott, Leonard Wood and Rusty Wallace.
Voters, however, once again won’t have the opportunity to vote for a name that should have been on the first list of nominees but has remained absent throughout the process.
That’s Smokey Yunick – master mechanic, classic crew chief and champion rule-bender.
Yunick’s case is a curious one. He was Chad Knaus before Chad Knaus was Chad Knaus. Long before.
Yunick, who bounced around practically all forms of auto racing for most of his life (he died in 2001, taking many of his secrets with him), was a backyard scientist. He was the most famous NASCAR innovator ever, a man who delighted in dueling with garage-area inspectors. More often than not, they were not even in his division, much less his league.
Going up against Yunick in a contest of wills was nothing to be taken lightly. He smoked a pipe and wore a battered Stetson, and his all-white uniform was a familiar presence in racing garages and infields across the country.
Yet Yunick, proprietor of the aptly named “Best Damn Garage In Town” in Daytona Beach, FL, hasn’t come close to membership in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He’s a member of numerous other halls (including the two other most prominent NASCAR-related halls – in Darlington, SC and Talladega, AL), but he hasn’t made the nomination list for the new NASCAR facility.
Of course, there are other noteworthy names – pioneer engine builder and series organizer Red Vogt, for example – that also haven’t appeared on the nominee list, but Yunick’s absence perhaps is the most obvious.
A self-taught mechanic who led teams to 57 Cup victories, Yunick grew up on a Pennsylvania farm, one that he began running at the age of 16 after the death of his father. Soon, he had built his own tractor from pieces he found on the farm.
After serving as a pilot in World War II, Yunick moved to Daytona Beach, a decision that would impact the rest of his life – and the lives of his adversaries. From a Beach Street garage there, he worked on street vehicles and began the process of innovation that led him into racing competition.
He raced in NASCAR – most notably with driver Fireball Roberts – and at Indianapolis and quickly built a reputation in both environments. He not only looked for the gray areas in the rulebook but he also created new ones.
He famously battled with NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. and his successor, Bill France Jr.
Yunick hammered France Jr. in his autobiography, writing things about the long-time NASCAR president that can’t be repeated on a family website.
This might explain, in large measure, why Yunick remains a non-nominee.
It doesn’t explain, however, why it’s right.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
Many of them – probably most – will wind up in the Charlotte, N.C., Hall of Honor in time.
It will difficult for voters, once again, to pick only five from a list that includes such names as Buck Baker, Curtis Turner, Fireball Roberts, Cotton Owens, Wendell Scott, Leonard Wood and Rusty Wallace.
Voters, however, once again won’t have the opportunity to vote for a name that should have been on the first list of nominees but has remained absent throughout the process.
That’s Smokey Yunick – master mechanic, classic crew chief and champion rule-bender.
Yunick’s case is a curious one. He was Chad Knaus before Chad Knaus was Chad Knaus. Long before.
Yunick, who bounced around practically all forms of auto racing for most of his life (he died in 2001, taking many of his secrets with him), was a backyard scientist. He was the most famous NASCAR innovator ever, a man who delighted in dueling with garage-area inspectors. More often than not, they were not even in his division, much less his league.
Going up against Yunick in a contest of wills was nothing to be taken lightly. He smoked a pipe and wore a battered Stetson, and his all-white uniform was a familiar presence in racing garages and infields across the country.
Yet Yunick, proprietor of the aptly named “Best Damn Garage In Town” in Daytona Beach, FL, hasn’t come close to membership in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. He’s a member of numerous other halls (including the two other most prominent NASCAR-related halls – in Darlington, SC and Talladega, AL), but he hasn’t made the nomination list for the new NASCAR facility.
Of course, there are other noteworthy names – pioneer engine builder and series organizer Red Vogt, for example – that also haven’t appeared on the nominee list, but Yunick’s absence perhaps is the most obvious.
A self-taught mechanic who led teams to 57 Cup victories, Yunick grew up on a Pennsylvania farm, one that he began running at the age of 16 after the death of his father. Soon, he had built his own tractor from pieces he found on the farm.
After serving as a pilot in World War II, Yunick moved to Daytona Beach, a decision that would impact the rest of his life – and the lives of his adversaries. From a Beach Street garage there, he worked on street vehicles and began the process of innovation that led him into racing competition.
He raced in NASCAR – most notably with driver Fireball Roberts – and at Indianapolis and quickly built a reputation in both environments. He not only looked for the gray areas in the rulebook but he also created new ones.
He famously battled with NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. and his successor, Bill France Jr.
Yunick hammered France Jr. in his autobiography, writing things about the long-time NASCAR president that can’t be repeated on a family website.
This might explain, in large measure, why Yunick remains a non-nominee.
It doesn’t explain, however, why it’s right.
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED
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