Henry “Smokey” Yunick was an American race car mechanic, designer and innovator. With a legendary past, and being known as a bit of a cowboy, fans shared tall tales of his exploits years after he retired. He would push the envelope of racing from the time he entered the sport of racing until he passed away in 2001. From rumors of scaling cars down for competition in his small shop in Florida, called the “Best Damn Garage in Town”, to using longer fuel lines to carry extra fuel to the engine, Smokey was always up to something that would push the envelope of design and ingenuity, driving tech inspection teams crazy.  The rule book was more for finding what wasn’t in the rules than what was, and he felt he would always find a way to work that to his team’s advantage.
​
   Smokey would not only race on all different levels and divisions but he would represent the big three automakers across many different platforms, pushing himself and his drivers to be the best. 

   To many, Yunick was rough around the edges and unpolished in his candor, but he was thoroughly respected all over the country for his ability to solve tough problems with simple answers, even though he considered himself a student of the sport.
​
    For many in auto racing, Smokey Yunick changed the game and pushed other teams to work harder and think outside the box. To call him a pioneer of innovation or an instigator for the time doesn’t come close to summing up his talents as a racer, car builder, engine builder and visionary for the future of the sport. 

• Earned his “Smokey” nickname at 16, racing a motorcycle that smoked
• Flew for the Flying Tigers, then as an Army Air Corps B-17 bomber pilot in World War II logged more than 50 missions over Europe
• Had no formal education, but was considered a top mind in automobile engine design
• Invented a Movable Race Track Crash Barrier, one of nine major patents he held
• Developed innovative reverse rotation engines and reverse flow cooling systems
• Was first to use a wing on an open wheel race car for increased downforce (Indy, 1962)
• Worked with flow bench technology for cylinder heads and intakes on his Smoketron Engine Testing Device
• Headed NASCAR efforts for three factory sponsors; Chevrolet (1955 and ’56), Ford (1957 and ’58), and Pontiac (1959 through 1963)
• Had 61 starts and eight victories as a stock car owner; more than 50 wins as an engine builder, mechanic, or crew chief for stock cars in 1950s and 1960s
• Won two Grand National (Winston Cup today) Championships – 1951 and 1953
• Took cars to Indy ten times between 1958 and 1975, winning the “500” in 1960
• Worked in Ecuador for 30 years in oil drilling and gold mining
• Wrote columns for Popular Science and Circle Track magazines
• In the first group of 20 men inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990
• His fuel mileage engine concepts
• His ability to upset Bill France without notice
• The first cold air intakes for engines
• Specialized intake manifolds