Yunick, "Smokey" Henry (USA)
b 25/05/1923 (Philadelphia) - d 09/05/2001 (Daytona Beach)
Legendary NASCAR racing mechanic, who also entered cars in the Indy
500. Jim Rathman won Indy in 1960 in a car Yunick helped prepare, and Rathman's
entry in 1961 was owned by Yunick. Note that his name and date of birth
aren't actually properly known. Smokey used the date off a birth certificate
given to him by a priest in Philadelphia, and at the age of 16 was told
"your name is Henry, Howard or Gregory, take your pick."
Yunick's ways around NASCAR rules are legendary. He built the 7/8th
scale Chevelle that confounded officials at Daytona and ushered in the
body templates now used in NASCAR. One time he drove his race car away
from a late night scrutineering teardown at Daytona, despite officials
having removed the petrol tank in search of where Smokey had been hiding
additional fuel!
Yunick enlisted in the Army Air Corps early in World War II, flying
B17 bombers in Africa, Europe and in the Pacific, caming out of the service
a first lieutenant.
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