You remember pretty close, based on what Vic told me. It was something like
there was this Trans-Am test day going on at (I think) Riverside. Smokey
rolled in, unloaded, had his driver (Lloyd Ruby?) run some laps that pretty
well blew everyone else into the weeds, loaded up and skedaddled outta there
before the posse arrived. I understand it was as much to tweak the racers as
anything, as the car was headed directly to the dry lake (maybe Muroc rather
than Salt Lake that time) for some record runs.
The car never actually did race, not at least in that configuration. I think
a later owner may have legalized it and run some, but never to any notable
effect.
The mod I always liked on it was the one of pulling the drip rails in closer
to the body for better aero effect. ;-) Side by side with a Penske-type
Camaro, Smokey's is significantly lower!
--Rocky
-----Original Message-----
From: R. Kastner <kaskas@earthlink.net>
To: Rocky Entriken <rocky@tri.net>; Bill Babcock <BillB@bnj.com>
Cc: fot@autox.team.net <fot@autox.team.net>
Date: Thursday, August 09, 2001 6:39 PM
Subject: Re: Justification for cheating
>As I remember they did not let the car race that day or later either.
>(practice ???, I don't remember) But I thought having the lower control
>arms all streamlined and smooth as a button and other cool cool stuff IT
>WAS STOCK (ha)
>Kas Kastner
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Rocky Entriken" <rocky@tri.net>
>To: "Bill Babcock" <BillB@bnj.com>
>Cc: <fot@autox.team.net>
>Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2001 3:00 PM
>Subject: Re: Justification for cheating
>
>
>> Last year I did a story on Vic Edelbrock and some of his vintage cars.
>Among
>> them, the Smokey Yunick "cheater" Camaro for Trans-Am. Park it alongside
a
>> legal (i.e. Penske) Camaro of late '60s vintage and the differences
become
>> obvious.
>>
>> Thing is, in vintage/historic events, Edelbrock runs it in its full
>cheater
>> configuration because, historically, that was what the car was! The point
>of
>> vintage is not really to win races or even see who has the fastest car,
>but
>> to exercise cars from the era on the track and if they have some history
>all
>> the better. Yunick's car definitely has history, so it is appropriate
that
>> it run in the configuration in which it made that history.
>>
>> It should be noted that, according to Edelbrock, Yunick really set the
car
>> up for record runs on the Salt Flats, and AFAIK it never actually raced
>> Trans-Am in that configuration, but it did show up for a Riverside
>Trans-Am
>> test day once and rather embarrassed all the others that day. Of course,
>if
>> you know anything about Smokey, you know he loved the stir it caused.
>>
>> --Rocky Entriken
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Bill Babcock <BillB@bnj.com>
>> Cc: fot@autox.team.net <fot@autox.team.net>
>> Date: Wednesday, August 08, 2001 6:59 PM
>> Subject: Justification for cheating
>>
>>
>> >I overheard this the other day at a Vintage race and loved it so much I
>> >thought about getting a plaque made. Giving Tim static about LEGAL made
>me
>> >remember it. The gist of the conversation was this guy said he was more
>> >likely to bend the rules in a vintage race car than in the SCCA. Because
>> >in Vintage it doesn't matter, the cars are all so different anyway. And
>he
>> >races vintage because it's the best seat in the house for looking at
>> >wonderful cars at speed--he just wanted to move his seat to the front.
>> >
>> >I almost blew root beer out my nose.
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