Friday night on Speed: Smokey Yunick profiled
02-06-2004, 06:06 PM
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Friday night on Speed: Smokey Yunick profiled
Henry "Smokey" Yunick, son of immigrants, WWII Air Force bomber pilot, technical innovator, and race engine builder, is scheduled to be profiled tonight at 08:30 on the Speed Channel.
Smokey died several years ago but he is best known for technical innovation in racing circles. In the '60s, his Chevelles were subject to more-than-usual scrutiny from NASCAR officials. His philosophy was that if it wasn't specifically prohibited by the rules, it must be legal! One trick he used was to take a floor jack to slightly cave in the bottom of the factory steel gas tank, then use compressed air to expand the tank to beyond factory specs to hold more fuel, after capacity was measured during tech inspection. Rumor has it that his '66 Chevelle fit NASCAR's body panel templates but it was very slightly smaller in every dimension, as if it were a 15/16ths scale car body.
Still, his legacy was not just about bending the rulebooks. One year he took a personally funded destroked and turbocharged 209 cubic inch small block Chevy to Indianapolis. This engine developed 1000 horsepower and ran heads-up against the Offenhauser and Cosworth purpose-built race engines. It didn't win the 500 but was the crowd favorite.
Ralph Johnson worked in Smokey's shop in the '60s and it was there he developed the Holley 4150 carburetor. The modular design could flow enormous amounts of gasoline and meter the mixture very well from idle to full-throttle. It is still used today on all sorts of high-performance and racing carbureted vehicles.
Smokey put into use the first ever power steering unit in a Champ (Indy) car and it was also the first ever variable-ratio power steering unit.
Smokey, with his trademark Stetson and cigar, will be remembered as a shining example of good 'ol Yankee ingenuity.
--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush
Smokey died several years ago but he is best known for technical innovation in racing circles. In the '60s, his Chevelles were subject to more-than-usual scrutiny from NASCAR officials. His philosophy was that if it wasn't specifically prohibited by the rules, it must be legal! One trick he used was to take a floor jack to slightly cave in the bottom of the factory steel gas tank, then use compressed air to expand the tank to beyond factory specs to hold more fuel, after capacity was measured during tech inspection. Rumor has it that his '66 Chevelle fit NASCAR's body panel templates but it was very slightly smaller in every dimension, as if it were a 15/16ths scale car body.
Still, his legacy was not just about bending the rulebooks. One year he took a personally funded destroked and turbocharged 209 cubic inch small block Chevy to Indianapolis. This engine developed 1000 horsepower and ran heads-up against the Offenhauser and Cosworth purpose-built race engines. It didn't win the 500 but was the crowd favorite.
Ralph Johnson worked in Smokey's shop in the '60s and it was there he developed the Holley 4150 carburetor. The modular design could flow enormous amounts of gasoline and meter the mixture very well from idle to full-throttle. It is still used today on all sorts of high-performance and racing carbureted vehicles.
Smokey put into use the first ever power steering unit in a Champ (Indy) car and it was also the first ever variable-ratio power steering unit.
Smokey, with his trademark Stetson and cigar, will be remembered as a shining example of good 'ol Yankee ingenuity.
--
0==WW==0
"…axles of evil…" - george w. bush
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