Best Damn Garage in Town: The World According to Smokey

by Smokey Yunick

3 Volume set with slipcase, 1,100 pages, 409 photographs and illustrations, all black and white, weighs 11 pounds, indexed. Smokey got the idea for writing a history of stock car racing after giving a talk to explain racing to a group of kids at Lowe’s Motorspeedway, around 1995. He realized that all the people who were a part of the early days were dying and most of the ones who were still alive were too involved with racing to be able to tell the real stories. He started writing this book as a history of stock car racing and ended up with look at American history of the past 60 years through a very unique set of eyes. The first volume, Walkin’ Under a Snake’s Belly, covers Smokey’s life outside racing, beginning with growing up in Neshaminy, Pennsylvania on a farm, dropping out of high school to take care of the family and going off to World War II as a B-17 pilot. The war stories are told through the eyes of a young man who believed all that the Army Air Corps taught him, but he had a mind of his own and was also hell-bent on having fun at all costs. (If that meant irritating a few generals, then that was just par for the course.) After the racing years, Smokey ended spending most of his time working on his inventions and working in the oil and gold fields of Ecuador. Along the way, Smokey had a knack for finding fun and adventure everywhere he went. Alcohol, women and speed were his main addictions - he eventually gave up alcohol, but never did give up the other two. The second volume, All Right You Sons-a-Bitches, Let’s Have a Race, chronicles the stock car racing years in living color. The warning on these books, that they are not to be read by those under 18 unless they are with a grandparent who can translate the social and moral implications of the stories, is not to be taken lightly. (Smokey even includes his own dictionary to explain the terms that racers used in the early days to the uninformed.) Smokey and his band of merry compatriots were racers and there were only two things on their mind when the sun went down – women and booze. Smokey had his share of both during 15 years of racing, when racers were looked down on as the dregs of society. Nothing could stop his dream of being the fastest at the sport he loved, no matter what happened along the way – the sign of a true racer. During his years in stock car racing, Smokey fell in love with a mistress that he would visit every May for over 20 years – The Indianapolis 500. The first half of the third volume, Li’l Skinny Rule Book, covers his love of this famed event and the wonderful stories of the days before the big corporate sponsors; when it was just men and their machines, sleeping on the floor in the garage and most times coming home with nothing. As the title implies, Smokey loved Indy because the rules were so simple. His inventive mind and knack for thinking way outside the box were at their best when Indy was involved. The second half of the third volume, Eatin’ an Elephant, covers his years of inventing inside and outside of racing. Smokey’s 10 patents don’t begin to cover the breadth and depth of his inventing. His work with the car companies and on the racetrack led to a host of developments that have improved surface transportation for everyone. The value of some of his ideas and inventions, like his famous hot vapor engine, were never fully realized. Many books have been written about the last 50 years of American history, but few are this entertaining, revealing and introspective all at the same time. Real stories from World War II, stock cars, the automotive industry and the Mexican Road Race are just a few of the elements in Smokey’s autobiography. They combine to make Best Damn Garage in Town…The World According to Smokey one of the most interesting books in a long time.

Genres: Cars

1100 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2001

About the author

Also know as Henry Yunick

Reviews

[Gregory Howe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conquestador


Best Damn Garage in Town…The World according to Smokey

Volume 1

Walkin’ Under a Snake’s Belly
(MY SO CALLED LIFE)

By Henry “Smokey” Yunick

When reaching 75 years of age Mr. Yunick had spent five of them collecting, verifying and compiling the facts and pictures that comprise the three volumes that make up this most compelling biographic tale. Not solely a biography, these volumes comprise a history of stock car auto racing as the man, the myth, the legend experienced it from its beginnings until the current century in which we find ourselves.

If I had to describe in one word the experience of reading this first of the three volumes that comprise Mr. Yunick’s literary opus I would say, “refreshing”. So much of the information presented about racing today is sanitized pabulum for the masses, designed primarily to inform but spun in such a way as NEVER to offend anyone in any way, shape or form. You can hardly blame the authors and their editors. They have jobs to keep and wives and children to feed. It would be folly to alienate the sources from which they derive most of their income. They must play it safe and can’t afford to “call a spade, a spade” except in matters of the sport’s rules, the sanctioning bodies’ actions or lack thereof and other such technical matters &c. When dealing with their opinions of the sport’s personalities, most if not all follow the herd in lock step. Condemnation or praise is often a universally presented public relations’ presentation offered in a single voice with few dissenting opinions, at least for public consumption anyway. Mr Yunick’s writings are exactly the opposite, unfiltered honest appraisals set forth from his point of view and from an individual with absolutely NOTHING to lose. No public relation’s spin cycle here ladies and gentlemen, this is raw unexpurgated text, thoughts, ideas, opinions and truths bubbling up from the depths of true genius. Mr Yunick lived it, the question is, “Can YOU handle it?” You can’t if you are easily offended. This is not a politically correct work by any stretch of the imagination whatsoever and in that respect it’s refreshing to me too.

Farmer, motorcycle daredevil, inventor, mechanic, salesman, carpenter, welder, aviator, so many experiences packed into a relatively short period of time fill Mr. Yunick’s life prior to the start of the Second World War. Mr. Yunick led a somewhat vagabond existence but always relied upon his wits and chutzpah to get him through the interesting incidents he encountered. Accounts of Army Air Corps training, fight school, appendicitis, B-17 training, Marrakesh, Foggia, Ploesti, Rome and all manner of people, places and things are recounted in the author’s recollections of his experiences in World War Two. Yes, Mr. Yunick is a hero of America’s Greatest Generation. Amazing stories abound and are told in Yunick’s unique stark no-nonsense style. To put it mildly, once again nothing is left to one’s imagination. Yunick’s next journey takes him over India, Burma, Nepal to China and also to the Philippines and Okinawa. Some might find the story of his return to America after the war somewhat raunchy but it’s no different than earlier stories to which Mr. Yunick has treated us. Other than the prominent re-telling of Mr. Yunick’s carnal escapades this entire work’s tone reminds me of how my father talked, Yunick’s expressions, choice of epithets mirror my dads. It must be a common language of those who fought and lived during the 1940s. One stark difference between Mr. Yunick‘s service and my fathers was that Mr. Yunick was much more financially rewarded during the conflict as he wound up with 125 thousand dollars at the end of his Air Force career, the money was kept in a tea can and was buried in Daytona, FL for fifteen years.

Mr. Yunick substituted the world’s conflicts for his own post war, first settling in New Jersey with a new wife he shortly migrated to Florida and seemed less than enthralled that his life mate accompanied him. It was in Florida where Yunick’s racing dream was born, what else could a man do who had flown so fast while experiencing the thrill of victory so often in such far away places?

It was around this time that the author met future NASCAR luminaries Marshall Teague and Fireball Roberts, Bill France Sr. figures prominently in this tale of course but as Mr. Yunick explains he and France weren’t the best of buddies. An interesting explanation from Yunick’s point of view about the formation of the NASCAR organization is included. The narrative jumps around a bit in this section of the first volume as the author regales us with tales of interaction with police, sponsors, latter day visits to Daytona International Speedway, Chrysler, Ford and Chevy engines. Mr. Yunick does tend to wander in and out of a sequential recreation of his past experiences but it’s not hard to follow and is always quite entertaining.

Whatever you may think about the author nobody can say he does not love animals, (especially ****, actually an ocelot). A fine recounting of a pet alligator and its interactions with friends and visitors is hilarious!

Mr. Yunick is nothing if not a world traveler, accounts of his foray into Cuba are included in this tome, continuing south later in life, the author’s peregrinations take him to the jungles of South America in search of gold and oil, Ecuador holds a special place in the author’s heart. Once again animal stories figure prominently in the telling of this tale, pictures of sea lions, lizards, tortoises and stories of anacondas grace the pages. The river, native inhabitants and the jungle itself are well documented, in 33 jungle dwelling years, Mr. Yunick seemingly experienced it all, even a volcanic eruption.

A brief foray into the rarified air of higher education and Embry-Riddle seems to have soured the author a bit after losing his friend Jack Hunt to cancer, although Mr. Yunick was awarded a Ph.D.

A chapter on helicopters appears next, the author would frequently land his in the NASCAR garage area much to his own delight and the consternation of Bill France. Always seeking, always learning, Mr. Yunick gained awareness of the aerodynamic ground effect and took advantage of this phenomenon in his Indy car designs!

Indianapolis in 1975 was Mr. Yunick’s last race as a competitor, his team finished tenth and he was bitterly disappointed. Yunick recounts other failures in designing engines to use alternative fuels but takes pride in his employment with Circle Track magazine as a feature writer. As an innovator, he worked with such well known companies as Carborundum and Buick. He continued to work on hot vapor cycle engine prototypes an idea he had been working on for over thirty years, deals for production came close to fruition but ultimately failed, the patents for his invention are ultimately retained.

At a 5:00 PM meeting in 1987 the “Best Damn Garage in Town” is closed for reorganization. In his sixty-ninth year of his life, Mr. Yunick was able to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted and however he wished to do it, so many unfinished experiments…so little time. In February of 1988 the collection of parts and accumulated sundry equipment went up for auction, only about five percent of the merchandise was sold but fans literally bought the clothes off of Mr. Yunick’s back!

Public speaking engagements for automotive parts manufacturers like Champion Spark Plugs and ARP Fasteners are now a welcome distraction, the author attends Indy Car and NASCAR events as a manufacturers’ representative too.

In 1995 Mr. Yunick’s ability to hear was lost from what appears to be ultimately alleged malpractice, many operations later the author is able to get by using hearing aids.

As an author Mr. Yunick excelled at providing magazine readers of several publications help and guidance for a wide variety of questions. He published a book entitled Power Secrets. Internecine battles with publishers and editors proved overwhelming and when the sage asked for more compensation he was canned. He cautions readers against being brainwashed by these publications for their profit without regard to any factual accuracy.

The chapter about eleven rose bushes is a tribute to Mr. Yunick’s dogs for the most part, paragraphs describing business dealings intrude once and awhile but generally the touching segment is an homage to Great Danes and Airedales.

A few pages document Mr. Yunick’s visit to the Goodwood Festival an event he highly recommends. He has a great respect for the history of the automobile’s evolution.

Chapters devoted to Mr. Yunick’s relationship with his last wife, his family ties, his ultimate demise and Dale Earnhardt, the man who inducted Mr. Yunick into the International Motorsports Hall Of Fame conclude this first volume. Much of what comprises the last few paragraphs is pretty much of a rant against the lack of safety and the sanctioning bodies’ control of information.

Nothing of what I’ve written here can give one a clear sense of what it’s like to read this volume. It’s compelling, interesting yet mystifying, treasured and a real treat to “get into the head” of what I feel anyway, is a true genius. As I am not a genius perhaps I don’t understand some of the authors motivation at times but being able to be that proverbial “fly upon the wall” to see the totality of a life lived on the edge and in the midst of greatness is an honor and a privilege.

A lexicon of terms used throughout this volume is included as an appendix at the end of this work, it is just as scandalous yet marvelous as the main body of text itself.

I’m truly looking forward to completing the next two volumes of this compendium.

[Cindy And · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it when it first came out and I bought it (2001) re-reading it now - wow just finished after several weeks. Still classic Smokey. Lots of insights into life, the planet. people, politics (national, local and in racing), as well as some really good insights into what makes race cars work, explained in everyday language.