What does it take to get into the NASCAR Hall of Fame? Wins? Championships? Innovations that changed the sport forever? Or does it require something else—something unwritten? The only common thing between all HoF drivers, technicians, and crew chiefs is their being favored by the governing family of the sport, the Frances. But if talent was the only parameter, there is a certain someone whose cars revolutionized not just stock car racing, but also IndyCar and Trans Am. He was a rule-bender who believed that the sky was the limit of innovation.
And, it’s not like NASCAR has never seen rule-benders. Remember the 2007 incident when Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Eury Jr. were in big heat for modifications to the COT? The former was docked 100 points and Eury Jr. was fined $10,000 and suspended for six races! “We made wing mounts. We found out that the distance between the wing and the deck lid was where the downforce came from. The only way to really tell is if you measured between the deck lid and the wing,” this was what a crew member said. But because doing this was not against the rules, they were fined for modifying the right fender. Hilarious, right? But, do you know from where they took the courage and inspiration to take this bold step?
A genius who NASCAR won’t let in
It was Henry ‘Smokey’ Yunick, the man who figured out lighter cars are faster long back in the 1940s. Referred to as the ‘Wizard of NASCAR’ by some, he has done insane modifications that were unimaginable! And by ‘insane’, we mean roll cages made out of lightweight wood and painting it to look like steel, and using solid lead to make helmets and radios. Not insane enough? Now imagine frozen springs that would lower the vehicle for maximum speed and gradually lift the vehicle up as the race progressed! Well, we could go on and on about him, but there are things about him every NASCAR fan should know.
More than just a NASCAR engineer, Smokey Yunick was a trailblazer whose influence on the sport cannot be denied. However, despite his impact, he is not inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, a decision that many blame on his conflicts with the France family. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Gibson reopened the subject on The Dale Jr. Download podcast, asking whether Yunick should finally receive his long-overdue induction. Dale Earnhardt Jr. brought the issue to the forefront, asking Tony Gibson, “There’s a debate about Smokey and him belonging in the Hall of Fame. Do you think he’s a Hall of Fame personality?”
“Absolutely. I don’t know if he’ll ever make it in, but absolutely,” Gibson responded. Growing up surrounded by Yunick’s work, Gibson hailed his talents and brilliance, referring to him as “one of the smartest men I’ve ever been around.” Additionally, he related a personal tale about Little Smokey Yunick Jr., a colorblind racer who caused one of the most strange crashes in short-track racing history.
His daughter, Trish Yunick Brown, has often been asked why two dozen other halls have welcomed her father, but not NASCAR’s. “I get that question hundreds of times in the performance industry or with fans,” she said.
The thing that makes him the best-ever engineer in NASCAR is his outlook. Although he was a thorn in the side of the France family, the strong dynasty that runs NASCAR, his innovations helped to define the sport. “Smokey was the worst or best, I’m not sure what you’d call it,” said Ray Fox, who drove stock cars in the 1950s and was later a car owner and a NASCAR official.
Many of the people who profited from Yunick’s brilliance have long been inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, but his name is still missing decades later. Some of the most contentious and successful race vehicles in the sport were built at his shop, The Best Damn Garage in Town. “If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin’,” Smokey Yunick once said, but that quote has long been misunderstood. He wasn’t talking about breaking the rules rather he was talking about finding the gaps, outsmarting the system, and pushing the limits of what was possible.
According to rumors, his “Seven-Eighths Scale” Chevy Chevelle was somewhat smaller for an aerodynamic advantage while still fitting NASCAR’s standards. The legend endures although officials have never proven its existence. HOF team owner Glen Wood said Yunick wasn’t alone in stretching the rules. “Back then, everybody had things inspectors didn’t like,” he said. “It just seemed that Smokey got caught more than others. But I think he’ll someday make the hall,” Glen Wood said.
Then there was the issue with the fuel tank when NASCAR took it out because they thought there might have been a violation. In response, Yunick sped away, exposing a concealed long gasoline line that made it possible for the vehicle to function without it. Former champion and HOF driver David Pearson said of Yunick, “He said if you cheated on 10 things and they made you fix two or three, then you’d (gained) something.”
In addition to bending the law, Yunick invented safety measures including reinforced roll cages and fuel cells, which NASCAR first opposed but eventually accepted. He remained at war with NASCAR because he disagreed with its leadership, especially Bill France Sr. and Bill France Jr. Yunick memorably noted Bill France Jr. in his autobiography Best Damn Garage in Town, writing, “[He] wasn’t smart enough to pour p— out of a boot if there were instructions on the heel.” We talk of sly digs and the man roasted someone on an open fire in the middle of the street! Now, there’s better clarity as to why he isn’t in the NASCAR Hall of Fame.
“Most fans understand there were difficulties between Smokey and the Frances. Still, they’re perplexed and feel he’s been wronged. He was always sad that his adopted hometown of Daytona Beach never embraced him, but would he be surprised or disappointed that NASCAR hasn’t honored him? No. He’d just figure that was par for the course,” Trish said.
Many people consider Smokey Yunick’s exclusion from the Hall of Fame to be personal. He was both a racing legend and a problem for executives because of his long-running conflict with the France family, which was inflamed by criticism of NASCAR’s favoritism and rule enforcement. Trish isn’t optimistic. “Almost everybody on the (22-person) nominating committee is on the arm of the Frances or NASCAR,” she said.
“There might be friends in (HOF executives) Winston Kelley and Buz McKim, but they know the politics and may not be willing to buck it. The same goes for Tony George and Eddie Gossage. I watch the induction announcement on TV but don’t think much more about it,” she told Autoweek in 2016. His book even made fun of leadership, guaranteeing his exclusion as long as Frances influenced the selection process.
The innovators and rulebreakers who shaped NASCAR
Although it frequently initially opposes it, NASCAR thrives on innovation. Before their ideas were embraced, legends like Chad Knaus and Junior Johnson encountered opposition. The tale of Smokey Yunick serves as yet another illustration of this recurring trend.
Junior Johnson made one of the most significant discoveries in NASCAR history in 1960, something we hear in the modern era – ‘drafting’. Johnson saw during a test at Daytona that his car abruptly increased speed without consuming more fuel when it tucked in behind another. He left more potent cars in his behind after winning the 1960 Daytona 500 using this strategy. NASCAR first misunderstood the effects of drafting, and rivals viewed it as an unfair advantage. However, as speeds rose and aerodynamics became more important, NASCAR finally created vehicles that optimized the exact method Johnson had invented.
Pit stops were transformed in the 1960s by Leonard Wood and his Wood Brothers Racing squad. They taught their team like an assembly line, cutting seconds off every stop rather than treating them like routine maintenance. Even though NASCAR first thought their procedures were excessive, their accuracy helped Jim Clark win the 1965 Indianapolis 500. Many of Wood’s pit stop tactics were eventually institutionalized by NASCAR, which established minimum and maximum crew sizes, regulated equipment, and even drafted regulations that imitated what was formerly thought to be an unfair advantage.
In the present day, Chad Knaus exemplifies the same drive to push NASCAR’s boundaries. Knaus was repeatedly reprimanded for his ideas in body changes, suspension configurations, and aerodynamics while serving as Jimmie Johnson’s crew chief. However, a lot of the modifications Knaus made—like improved car bodywork and adjustable suspensions—were eventually included in NASCAR’s rules and are now commonplace on modern race cars.
These modifications are a continuation of a generation-long cycle in which inventors push the envelope, NASCAR pushes back, and eventually, the sport adjusts. Even though Yunick was the most notorious rule-breaker of his era, his influence endures in every flaw, modification, and conflict between engineers and authorities about what constitutes “legal.”
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