There can never be another just like him. He is a hero of Folk History who really shines. Examining his turbo Indy car tells me in every detail there was a giant intellect that really knew exactly what he wanted in its design. He actually escapes description. We can all say a lot of nice things and that’s important stuff. It’s impossible to capture all of the nuances about this guy. He taught me how to read and understand patents. I studied his Hot Vapor Engine design patent until I understood the way it worked by the feel of imagination imparted to me. It trained my mind for analytic pursuits. The only reason I went through that is because I trusted in him that he wouldn’t let me down by the end of it. I never met him. But, I reckoned with his genius in small part. He was an amazing guy who had a brain which worked for him.
I went to the elementary school across the street from Yunick's garage. Bill France Sr. was also a car mechanic before NASCAR. I believe he was incredibly envious a Yunick's creativity.
What I hope is you get a film made of Smokey. Can bet you that it would be a home run. Thanks you for letting us all know that one great man can change this great big world. Thanks.
I agree that Smokey's life story would make a great movie. He inspired me as a young man to become a mechanic.Soon I will retire, and after turning wrenches for 30 years I still see that Mr Yunick was far ahead of his time.
Smokey Yunick was to car racing what Kelly Johnson (designer of the SR71 blackbird) was to aviation. Both were geniuses who thought way, way outside the box, and built or designed superior products.
Smokey is a true Legend in motorsports. His Innovations, especially the ones that no one could put a handle onto, should earn Respect from every and any Racer!
He the kind of guy that you wish you could have work for. he came from a time when engines and racing was so new. a true hero in racing and off the track and I bet he had some cool stores from his time in WW2 wish I could have work for him.
Smokey Yunick has been my mechanical hero for a long time. He also approached things as I do, which is the common sense approach. His use of common sense is what set him apart and made him so far ahead of his time. I learned so much from him by reading his book "Power Secrets" cover to cover several times. There will never be another Smokey. Nobody will ever fill his shoes. He was and always will be Yunick the Unique.
You probably dont care but does someone know of a trick to log back into an instagram account?? I was dumb lost my password. I would love any tricks you can offer me!
@Damian Tommy i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site thru google and I'm in the hacking process now. Takes quite some time so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
This Michigan boy had the pleasure of speaking with you Dad in the early 90's when I called the shop in Daytona Beach looking for answers to an unusual problem I was having with a 454. He was most gracious and his advise led me to the ultimate solution. Bless his heart !
I meet Smokey a few times in my life, he was always with his very nice and well dressed wife. She always carried the worlds biggest thermos and supported him to the end. Rest assured there is a great women behind every great man.
Smokey is a true American hero in so many ways , from his service as a B17 pilot to his many briliant contribution,s to the automotive world , few have done what he has. His life story needs to be told so young men and women understand the number of people that have learned from him. I can tell you I have read every word he has ever written, What an amazing American hero . I sure hope I can meet him in heaven when my time comes.
I am happy to say I did meet this iconic tech.I got to shake his hand and to this day his autographed picture hang on my living room wall.A RACING ICON !!
My Hero along with Tesla, Brunel,Laithwate,Bert Munroe,Joseph Whitworth and many other visionaries that were "Hands On" guys that would think outside the box and never gave up God Bless you Smokey
In popoular science magazine. He had a thing going called "ask Smokey". Some of his answers to readers questions my mind still refer back to. Been a John Deere mechanic for 40+ years. Actually went to school to be a car mechanic, got a job working on diesels after school.
Hey the way I see it he was the best kept secret in performance motorsports.....he was a true master....he said he was a test engineer pilot ill bet he got a chance doing that to be around a lot of brilliant out of the box type of innovators...that put him far ahead of the curve....
A true genius!! NASCAR was built on him and those like him. Bill France wouldn't have been a dog terd beside the road without him!!! He wouldn't last a day in todays NASCAR!!
Smokey Yunick was a legend AHEAD of his time. Believe it. He invented MANY technological designs in the automotive industry, that is still being used to this day.......although Smokey never got any publicity for it. The auto makers he worked for to bring them innovations took all the credit.
When I was 10 years old I read a book "How to build a hot rod small block" written by Bill Fisher & Bob Waar. The book had Smokey on the inside page had him over a bow tie this is one of the things that started my love of working on engines. I still have the book to this day. Im 36
Such a great job on this piece! Thank you Rick, Jim, everyone at SEMA and Loyalty. I tried hard not to watch at the banquet because I didn't want to cry- it was a real treat to find in my web referrals today. Thank you all for making such a wonderful tribute to Smokey.
Musicians and racers were a lot alike.. they all helped each other and shared information. now that they are both a money game there is 100% division between all racers and performers.
I was very talented at sports when I was a kid but what I did know yet was I loved motorcycles and cars because they hadn't come into my life yet cars at least,so in high school by chance my local school was back by Ford so it was basically what is today know as a technical high school so being a good athlete my metal shop teacher who was a helicopter pilot in viet nam,and the coolest person I met,did not give me any wait in class because atheletes flounder in shop class,so he was happy to see that I was interested in learning his agenda...more so than auto shop which shocked a lot of people too I guess that this athlete was seeking auto and metal shop technics,either way I have learned a lot metal shop and gone on to have an Auto painting business with a focus on doing things the right way and the best way,and when I go there wouldn't be any real technical trades people left so who do I give the keys to the shop too,because people just work and play on the computer and forget that hands on is most important...because u have to think and it makes u think....THANKS
I had a friend who worked for a NASCAR team. He told me when Smokey walked into the garage at the racetrack, everyone stopped what they were doing as to see what team he would visit.
WOW, huge new respect for him. After I read an article wherein he claimed that drum brakes were superior to disc brakes I more or less wrote him off. His humanity was a wonderful read.
I remember watching the news channel covering the time trials at Indy and that car with the driver sitting outside the frame was crazy. Talk about dangerous, wow.
Thanks for the video Trish. Smokey was a true mechanical genius in every sense of the word. I'd have to say in terms of my idols Smokey ranks number 1 and Big E would be 2nd.
@@dukecraig2402 Baz was an amazing rider and a brilliant bloke. Britten was an engineer and builder who saw things nobody else could see, then built things nobody else could catch.
I know Danny @hillcountry machine and performance in Springbranch north of San Antonio TX and would love to see that hot vapor gas engine back in that little red Chrysler. Would make for an awesome UA-cam video. 🇺🇸 God Bless Smokey.
@@dukecraig2402 was more than just Fieros. He was working on a deal with Chrysler as well. The man mentioned in my original comment OWNS the car along with alot of his notes tools and even prototype parts. Smokey felt like Danny was the man most deserving of these things before his death. Look him up/call Danny, you wont be disappointed.
The Fiero is just a better know project of his. Most have no idea the Chrysler was just as big of a project. Call Danny he's a video of the engine running while on the stand. He'd be happy to share it with you
Yes carrol Shelby can’t hold a light to Smokey in my book and no disrespect to carrol but GM should have more than 1 car with atrubutions for him there should have been a chevelle and a Camaro and a Camaro Z/28 with some kinda recognition for the motor he built or rather invented to beat the hemi being a 302 for the 1965 Daytona win the year after the hemi swept 1,2,3rd place in 1964 if there was any drive in nascar he was it I’m not talking about driving the car I’m talking about heart, soul, and backbone with innovation, charisma, ad the ability to accelerate it all in his head and bring it to life and then make it work! His inventions his wisdom ad all the other things like cutting up and joking around all the time is so much inspiration to me just think if he would have been in the time and same team with dale sr and Richard Childers ? What do you think would have happened there ? I can say myself if you would have listened the others in the sport would been saying well let’s go see how bad we get beat this weekend or damnit after 1 decade you think them guys would at least let some one else win a championship! Or headlines in the newspapers saying GM won so many races and has sold so manny cars made so much money they’ve bought controlling interest of ford and dodge ! With the ability to go around all the rules and build a car like smokey and a driver like earnheart and Richard Childers ability to see air and run a race team the way he did it would have been no holds bar also with GM backing sponsership nascar officials would have not known what to do they would have look like the umpires in MLB throwing there finger up in the air screaming your outta here ! Yeah there some greats out there but remember there are a certain few out of the greats that are the greatest ! The worst thing about it is is some of them are not give any or even half the credit and recognition they rightfully deserve smokey is one of those ! Hats off to the man behind the best damn garage in town !
If they made a movie it would sort have to be like a Forrest Gump movie because he was everywhere and how would they do the adventures with the women . The girls would take up 3/4 of the movie.
A movie of Smokey, Hollywood would ckuf it all up! It would be cool if they could even get it close to right. There are far too many good stories to put in just one full length film.
man i would like to see more stuff on this guy...a movie probably wouldn't do him justice simply for the fact that it would gloss over his accomplishments....then there'd be the chick deal to draw wimmen...much rather stick with documentaries
Larry: From what I can remember about that engine, it was super charged or turbo charged (maybe both), had no radiator because it was made to run HOT, over 400 degrees F. Completely vaporized the air/fuel charge before it was in the cylinder. He got very high power outputs and fuel mileage out of this engine. The engine was pretty much treated as a hoax, partly because Smokey wouldn't let anyone see how it worked. I think he was trying to get rich off the idea, can't blame him for that. I don't think any part of that design was every used in another engine design of the time.
Great video! I was wondering if somebody could tell me what it is that Bill Sr or Jr, didnt like about Smokey? I had heard someone say that Smokey was banned from NASCAR, during his era? I don’t understand why dough, You would think Bill would want a man like Smokey in his racing series, Innovating it & what not. Thanks for reading & I genuinely would like some insight , so any at all would be mucho appreciated.
If you look up some of the ingenious ways he got around regulations, it seems like one of the main reasons might have been because the rule book would have to be reworked every race since he was too damn clever and would always find an end around solution to limitations. Just speculation, however, I have no primary source info
Smokey would read the living hell out of the Rule Book,Find the Loopholes and Design his Race Cars To Perform.......Simple as that.......Bill France always had an issue with exessive innovation,......and , on many occasions brought forth accusations of Cheating.......when ,in fact there was no rule made yet ,to be broken.
And we can all bet the farm that whatever music YOU chose......would also "junk the video" for others. Get over it man. That music wasn't bad at all. Anybody that doesn't like acoustic guitar is a flake anyway.
There can never be another just like him. He is a hero of Folk History who really shines. Examining his turbo Indy car tells me in every detail there was a giant intellect that really knew exactly what he wanted in its design. He actually escapes description. We can all say a lot of nice things and that’s important stuff. It’s impossible to capture all of the nuances about this guy.
He taught me how to read and understand patents. I studied his Hot Vapor Engine design patent until I understood the way it worked by the feel of imagination imparted to me. It trained my mind for analytic pursuits. The only reason I went through that is because I trusted in him that he wouldn’t let me down by the end of it. I never met him. But, I reckoned with his genius in small part. He was an amazing guy who had a brain which worked for him.
I went to the elementary school across the street from Yunick's garage. Bill France Sr. was also a car mechanic before NASCAR. I believe he was incredibly envious a Yunick's creativity.
What I hope is you get a film made of Smokey. Can bet you that it would be a home run. Thanks you for letting us all know that one great man can change this great big world. Thanks.
I agree that Smokey's life story would make a great movie. He inspired me as a young man to become a mechanic.Soon I will retire, and after turning wrenches for 30 years I still see that Mr Yunick was far ahead of his time.
Great idea.
Great story, you must be SO PROUD of your Dad....!!!👍
Smokey Yunick was to car racing what Kelly Johnson (designer of the SR71 blackbird) was to aviation. Both were geniuses who thought way, way outside the box, and built or designed superior products.
Trish, for 30 years I've wished I would have gotten to meet and talk with your dad. I loved how his mind worked. Thanks for sharing with all of us!
Smokey is a true Legend in motorsports. His Innovations, especially the ones that no one could put a handle onto, should earn Respect from every and any Racer!
One of the greatest innovators of oir time. Not enough is spoken about him.
He the kind of guy that you wish you could have work for. he came from a time when engines and racing was so new. a true hero in racing and off the track and I bet he
had some cool stores from his time in WW2 wish I could have work for him.
Smokey Yunick has been my mechanical hero for a long time. He also approached things as I do, which is the common sense approach. His use of common sense is what set him apart and made him so far ahead of his time. I learned so much from him by reading his book "Power Secrets" cover to cover several times. There will never be another Smokey. Nobody will ever fill his shoes. He was and always will be Yunick the Unique.
Still love this video! Such great memories of your dad at the PRI shows and working together at Circle Track Magazine as contributors in the 1980s.
Why is this man's life not a movie? He was an innovator and so far ahead of his time. We all owe him a debt of gratitude.
You probably dont care but does someone know of a trick to log back into an instagram account??
I was dumb lost my password. I would love any tricks you can offer me!
@Rex Clark instablaster :)
@Damian Tommy i really appreciate your reply. I got to the site thru google and I'm in the hacking process now.
Takes quite some time so I will get back to you later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
@Damian Tommy It did the trick and I actually got access to my account again. Im so happy:D
Thanks so much you really help me out !
@Rex Clark no problem :D
I wish Ken Burns would step up and tell Smoky,s life story, He is a true AMERICAN HERO.
This Michigan boy had the pleasure of speaking with you Dad in the early 90's when I called the shop in Daytona Beach looking for answers to an unusual problem I was having with a 454. He was most gracious and his advise led me to the ultimate solution. Bless his heart !
They can have my "Power Secrets" book when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.
I meet Smokey a few times in my life, he was always with his very nice and well dressed wife. She always carried the worlds biggest thermos and supported him to the end. Rest assured there is a great women behind every great man.
Smokey is a true American hero in so many ways , from his service as a B17 pilot to his many briliant contribution,s to the automotive world , few have done what he has. His life story needs to be told so young men and women understand the number of people that have learned from him. I can tell you I have read every word he has ever written, What an amazing American hero . I sure hope I can meet him in heaven when my time comes.
,,,,awesome words of tribute to the man.............
I am happy to say I did meet this iconic tech.I got to shake his hand and to this day his autographed picture hang on my living room wall.A RACING ICON !!
Smokey was an idol of a racer, engineer, inventor, and last but so far from least--MAN!
a great national treasure. smokey was the best. genius,dad,innovator,veteran,truly a wonderful person.thanks mr. yunick
My Hero along with Tesla, Brunel,Laithwate,Bert Munroe,Joseph Whitworth and many other visionaries that were "Hands On" guys that would think outside the box and never gave up
God Bless you Smokey
Trish, thank you for sharing this video with us!
In popoular science magazine. He had a thing going called "ask Smokey". Some of his answers to readers questions my mind still refer back to. Been a John Deere mechanic for 40+ years. Actually went to school to be a car mechanic, got a job working on diesels after school.
one of smartest car guy's ever
Hey the way I see it he was the best kept secret in performance motorsports.....he was a true master....he said he was a test engineer pilot ill bet he got a chance doing that to be around a lot of brilliant out of the box type of innovators...that put him far ahead of the curve....
A true genius!! NASCAR was built on him and those like him. Bill France wouldn't have been a dog terd beside the road without him!!! He wouldn't last a day in todays NASCAR!!
Smokey = Legend. The best.
Long live Smokey Yunick.
Taking care of those puppies…
That’s the Smokey Yunick we knew. I was a kid at most but tough men with soft hearts will never be forgotten.
A Legend in his own time!!
Smokey Yunick was a legend AHEAD of his time. Believe it. He invented MANY technological designs in the automotive industry, that is still being used to this day.......although Smokey never got any publicity for it. The auto makers he worked for to bring them innovations took all the credit.
When I was 10 years old I read a book "How to build a hot rod small block" written by Bill Fisher & Bob Waar. The book had Smokey on the inside page had him over a bow tie this is one of the things that started my love of working on engines. I still have the book to this day. Im 36
Such a great job on this piece! Thank you Rick, Jim, everyone at SEMA and Loyalty. I tried hard not to watch at the banquet because I didn't want to cry- it was a real treat to find in my web referrals today. Thank you all for making such a wonderful tribute to Smokey.
I don't see a movie being made that does Smokey justice , cause it wouldn't paint a nice picture of Bill France
EXACTLY
Helluva man. I love hearing his stories.
Musicians and racers were a lot alike.. they all helped each other and shared information. now that
they are both a money game there is 100% division between all racers and performers.
My dad was of that cut of leather....I miss him.
I was very talented at sports when I was a kid but what I did know yet was I loved motorcycles and cars because they hadn't come into my life yet cars at least,so in high school by chance my local school was back by Ford so it was basically what is today know as a technical high school so being a good athlete my metal shop teacher who was a helicopter pilot in viet nam,and the coolest person I met,did not give me any wait in class because atheletes flounder in shop class,so he was happy to see that I was interested in learning his agenda...more so than auto shop which shocked a lot of people too I guess that this athlete was seeking auto and metal shop technics,either way I have learned a lot metal shop and gone on to have an Auto painting business with a focus on doing things the right way and the best way,and when I go there wouldn't be any real technical trades people left so who do I give the keys to the shop too,because people just work and play on the computer and forget that hands on is most important...because u have to think and it makes u think....THANKS
I had a friend who worked for a NASCAR team. He told me when Smokey walked into the garage at the racetrack, everyone stopped what they were doing as to see what team he would visit.
A true American spirit, a leader, an innovator and not afraid to speak his mind, we could use a bit more of Smokey's qualities today.
WOW, huge new respect for him. After I read an article wherein he claimed that drum brakes were superior to disc brakes I more or less wrote him off. His humanity was a wonderful read.
Your interviews/ comments are excellent. I hope you will assemble all the Smokey interviews etc on 1 you tube page.
I remember watching the news channel covering the time trials at Indy and that car with the driver sitting outside the frame was crazy. Talk about dangerous, wow.
Great piece, he was and still is a huge insperation to me. I am always thinking outside of the box so to speak
Ya gotta gotta give Smokey credit, true genius. Learn about him, he was real, great story.
His book is also worth a read to learn about his colorful life.
Thanks for the video Trish. Smokey was a true mechanical genius in every sense of the word. I'd have to say in terms of my idols Smokey ranks number 1 and Big E would be 2nd.
Smokey Yunicks, the man from outerspace
smokey just rocks thank you smokey
People ask me to name a hero, for me it's Smokey. A special mind.
Smokey Yunick and Max Balchowsky, hero's of American motorsports, they both showed the world how to go fast.
@@dukecraig2402 Frank Gardner and Phil Irving. An amazing kiwi named John Britten. Cheers from South Australia.
@@davejennings5140
Sorry, but when it comes to motorcycles (and I'm 100% motorcycle) Barry Sheene's my hero.
@@dukecraig2402 Baz was an amazing rider and a brilliant bloke. Britten was an engineer and builder who saw things nobody else could see, then built things nobody else could catch.
@@davejennings5140
I know, but if you were a kid in America in the late 70's Barry Sheene was like James Bond on a motorcycle.
Thank you for this work!
From the UK
Boy, I sure know what ur sayin, he was was one heck of a person !
id love to pick this guys brain such a innovative and interesting persin
What a fantastic video, made my day, thanks.
I know Danny @hillcountry machine and performance in Springbranch north of San Antonio TX and would love to see that hot vapor gas engine back in that little red Chrysler. Would make for an awesome UA-cam video. 🇺🇸 God Bless Smokey.
It was Pontiac Fiero's that he modified into hot vapor engines.
@@dukecraig2402 was more than just Fieros. He was working on a deal with Chrysler as well. The man mentioned in my original comment OWNS the car along with alot of his notes tools and even prototype parts. Smokey felt like Danny was the man most deserving of these things before his death. Look him up/call Danny, you wont be disappointed.
The Fiero is just a better know project of his. Most have no idea the Chrysler was just as big of a project. Call Danny he's a video of the engine running while on the stand. He'd be happy to share it with you
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Notable B17 Mechanic
He was a genius
Because the people in racing are nervous of the things he knew and the light it would put on them!
Yes carrol Shelby can’t hold a light to Smokey in my book and no disrespect to carrol but GM should have more than 1 car with atrubutions for him there should have been a chevelle and a Camaro and a Camaro Z/28 with some kinda recognition for the motor he built or rather invented to beat the hemi being a 302 for the 1965 Daytona win the year after the hemi swept 1,2,3rd place in 1964 if there was any drive in nascar he was it I’m not talking about driving the car I’m talking about heart, soul, and backbone with innovation, charisma, ad the ability to accelerate it all in his head and bring it to life and then make it work! His inventions his wisdom ad all the other things like cutting up and joking around all the time is so much inspiration to me just think if he would have been in the time and same team with dale sr and Richard Childers ? What do you think would have happened there ? I can say myself if you would have listened the others in the sport would been saying well let’s go see how bad we get beat this weekend or damnit after 1 decade you think them guys would at least let some one else win a championship! Or headlines in the newspapers saying GM won so many races and has sold so manny cars made so much money they’ve bought controlling interest of ford and dodge ! With the ability to go around all the rules and build a car like smokey and a driver like earnheart and Richard Childers ability to see air and run a race team the way he did it would have been no holds bar also with GM backing sponsership nascar officials would have not known what to do they would have look like the umpires in MLB throwing there finger up in the air screaming your outta here ! Yeah there some greats out there but remember there are a certain few out of the greats that are the greatest ! The worst thing about it is is some of them are not give any or even half the credit and recognition they rightfully deserve smokey is one of those ! Hats off to the man behind the best damn garage in town !
He could build engines that is for sure
Ole Smokey
If they made a movie it would sort have to be like a Forrest Gump movie because he was everywhere and how would they do the adventures with the women . The girls would take up 3/4 of the movie.
A movie of Smokey, Hollywood would ckuf it all up! It would be cool if they could even get it close to right. There are far too many good stories to put in just one full length film.
man i would like to see more stuff on this guy...a movie probably wouldn't do him justice simply for the fact that it would gloss over his accomplishments....then there'd be the chick deal to draw wimmen...much rather stick with documentaries
he comprehended,enuff said
myUcleKarlWelded4SmokeHollyHillHero👌
love this video...
Thank you.
Wonder why the fossil fuel industry wasn’t interested in his 3cyl, 250hp, 50mpg Motor?
Hot vapor engine? Did i hear that right?
Larry: From what I can remember about that engine, it was super charged or turbo charged (maybe both), had no radiator because it was made to run HOT, over 400 degrees F. Completely vaporized the air/fuel charge before it was in the cylinder. He got very high power outputs and fuel mileage out of this engine. The engine was pretty much treated as a hoax, partly because Smokey wouldn't let anyone see how it worked. I think he was trying to get rich off the idea, can't blame him for that. I don't think any part of that design was every used in another engine design of the time.
your dad was the best trish!!
I'd buy that!
👍
SMOKEY WAS THE MAN
Great video!
I was wondering if somebody could tell me what it is that Bill Sr or Jr, didnt like about Smokey? I had heard someone say that Smokey was banned from NASCAR, during his era? I don’t understand why dough, You would think Bill would want a man like Smokey in his racing series, Innovating it & what not.
Thanks for reading & I genuinely would like some insight , so any at all would be mucho appreciated.
If you look up some of the ingenious ways he got around regulations, it seems like one of the main reasons might have been because the rule book would have to be reworked every race since he was too damn clever and would always find an end around solution to limitations. Just speculation, however, I have no primary source info
Smokey would read the living hell out of the Rule Book,Find the Loopholes and Design his Race Cars To Perform.......Simple as that.......Bill France always had an issue with exessive innovation,......and , on many occasions brought forth accusations of Cheating.......when ,in fact there was no rule made yet ,to be broken.
Backround music junked video
And we can all bet the farm that whatever music YOU chose......would also "junk the video" for others. Get over it man. That music wasn't bad at all. Anybody that doesn't like acoustic guitar is a flake anyway.
God damn have a fuckin man narrate this. This man is a god and to have a woman tell these stories poorly is an injustice
That's his DAUGHTER.......you JACK ASS.
@@howabouthetruth2157 I think you're being a little too kind to that jerk.
@@davidb6576 Yeah, right?