I had the Pleasure of Meeting him at the induction ceremony a couple of
times... All he wanted to chat about where Helicopters.... which was fine
with me.... he wanted my opinion on the Apache and honestly listened
intently....( or his hearing aids were turned down ) He Dragged Bobby
Allison over to hear what we were chatting about.... and we had a Great 15
min conversation....
Next time he wanted to hear about Rotary wing Aerodynamic's .... again the
guy listened with all his soul..... we kinda tagged around in the lobby
going over this and that.... he kept saying how much he wanted to see all
this on a chock board.... amazingly to me he was serious... I guess he was
just another guy with the same interests....
I was reading his book this morning checking out his thoughts on Crank end
play.... Then I heard this.... bummer
Keith ( I feel Honored to have met him...)
----- Original Message -----
From: "John Beckett" <landspeedracer@email.msn.com>
To: "Land Speed List" <land-speed@autox.team.net>; "Land Speed list - 2"
<land-speed@landracing.com>
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2001 1:50 PM
Subject: Smokey Yunick
> Sad News: Legendary racing mechanic Henry "Smokey" Yunick passed away this
> morning at his home after a yearlong battle with leukemia. The 77 year old
> mechanic, who was born in Tennessee, settled at Daytona Beach in 1946
after
> serving as a bomber pilot with the Air Force during World War II. His
first
> glimpse of Daytona Beach was from the pilot seat of a B-17 bomber plane.
> After one look, he decided to call this area home once his tour of service
> was complete. In 1947 he opened an automobile repair shop on Beach Street
> that he dubbed "The Best Damn Garage In Town." He closed the garage to the
> public in the mid-1980s but continued his research and development
projects
> deep in the bowels of the massive structure. According the Stock Car
Racing
> Encyclopedia, Yunick had 61 starts as a car owner scoring eight career
> victories. He won more than 50 times as a crew chief, chief mechanic or
> engine builder. He scored 49 victories working with Herb Thomas. He was in
> the first group of 20 men inducted into the prestigious International
> Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990. Yunick's family will announce funeral
> service information later today.
///
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