Name: Best Damn Garage in Town: My Life & Adventures
Author: Henry Yunick (Author)
ISBN: 9780972437837

Best Damn Garage in Town: My Life & Adventures book cover

Best Damn Garage in Town: My Life & Adventures

Author(s): Henry Yunick (Author)

Publisher: Carbon Pr Llc
Publication Date: July 1, 2003
Edition: First Edition
Language: English
Print length: 652 pages
ISBN-10: 0972437835
ISBN-13: 9780972437837

Book Description

Best Damn Garage in Town: My life and Adventures was originally published as a 3 volume boxed set of 1,100 pages with over 400 photographs. This version of the book combines all the stories and most of the photographs into a single volume with smaller type and photographs in a bookstore package, as opposed to a coffee table package.

Smokey got the idea for writing a history of stock car racing after giving a talk to explain racing to a group of kids at Lowe's Motorspeedway, around 1995. He realized that all the people who were a part of the early days were dying and most of the ones who were still alive were too involved with racing to be able to tell the real stories. He started writing this book as a history of stock car racing and ended up with look at American history of the past 60 years through a very unique set of eyes.

The first volume, Walkin' Under a Snake's Belly, covers Smokey's life outside racing, beginning with growing up in Neshaminy, Pennsylvania on a farm, dropping out of high school to take care of the family and going off to World War II as a B-17 pilot. The war stories are told through the eyes of a young man who believed all that the Army Air Corps taught him, but he had a mind of his own and was also hell-bent on having fun at all costs. (If that meant irritating a few generals, then that was just par for the course.)

After the racing years, Smokey ended spending most of his time working on his inventions and working in the oil and gold fields of Ecuador. Along the way, Smokey had a knack for finding fun and adventure everywhere he went. Alcohol, women and speed were his main addictions - he eventually gave up alcohol, but never did give up the other two.

The second volume, All Right You Sons-a-Bitches, Let's Have a Race, chronicles the stock car racing years in living color. The warning on these books, that they are not to be read by those under 18 unless they are with a grandparent who can translate the social and moral implications of the stories, is not to be taken lightly. (Smokey even includes his own dictionary to explain the terms that racers used in the early days to the uninformed.) Smokey and his band of merry compatriots were racers and there were only two things on their mind when the sun went down Ð women and booze. Smokey had his share of both during 15 years of racing, when racers were looked down on as the dregs of society. Nothing could stop his dream of being the fastest at the sport he loved, no matter what happened along the way Ð the sign of a true racer.

During his years in stock car racing, Smokey fell in love with a mistress that he would visit every May for over 20 years Ð The Indianapolis 500. The first half of the third volume, Li'l Skinny Rule Book, covers his love of this famed event and the wonderful stories of the days before the big corporate sponsors; when it was just men and their machines, sleeping on the floor in the garage and most times coming home with nothing. As the title implies, Smokey loved Indy because the rules were so simple. His inventive mind and knack for thinking way outside the box were at their best when Indy was involved.

The fourth section of the book covers his years of inventing inside and outside of racing. SmokeyÕs 10 patents don't begin to cover the breadth and depth of his inventing. His work with the car companies and on the racetrack led to a host of developments that have improved surface transportation for everyone. The value of some of his ideas and inventions, like his famous hot vapor engine, were never fully realized.

Many books have been written about the last 50 years of American history, but few are this entertaining, revealing and introspective all at the same time. Real stories from World War II, stock cars, the automotive industry and the Mexican Road Race are just a few of the el

Editorial Reviews

Review

I've spent hours blowing off my other duties here at the office, unable to pull myself from these straight-shooting pages. -- Jeff Koch, Hot Rod Magazine

Smokey didn't suffer fools gladly, and he called them all to task in his posthumous 1,100-page, self-published, three-volume tome. -- Jeff Koch, Hot Rod Magazine

Smokey was a one-man Greatest Generation whose World War II adventures seem divided between hot planes and hot nurses. --Robert Lipsyte, The New York Times

From the Publisher

Smokey Yunick, the world's most famous mechanic, accomplished more in one life than most poeople could in five. He flew 50 missions as a B-17 pilot during WWII. He was an integral part of the birth of stock car racing and ran open wheel cars during the glory days of the Indy 500. He spent years in the jungles of Ecuador and held 10 patents. Smokey was concerned for the future so he developed more efficient and powerful engines for passenger cars and safer crash barriers for race tracks. These are the real stories of racing and everything automotive in America - told by someone who was there every step of the way!

Warning: These stories aren't politically correct or grammatically correct...neither was Smokey.

From the Author

I believe I wrote this book because of Reverend Hal Marchman's (all racer's preacher) introduction of me to a bunch of kids at Darlington in 1996. Suddenly, it dawned on me that racing had no past...it was lost. So doesn't that go hand in hand - it therefore will have no future?

NASCAR's past up to 1970 was burned at the city dump. I decided to write the book in as close a way as it actually happened...including language and racer's view of our part of the world. We had a status of a "monbacker"...you know the guy on the back of a garbage truck saying "mon-back, mon-back." We were considered Ð and maybe we were - social trash...couldn't borrow money, couldn't buy insurance, couldn't even stay in good a good hotel...had zero credit.

I doubt many people have ever lived the adventures I have. I believe my life's experiences afforded me an almost impossible act to follow...not by plan...but by the natural flow of life.

I want this book written and read in such a way you and I are sitting on a porch in rockin' chairs...you asking the questions and I'm giving you the real story. I know the book will cause some problems...there is no way to please everyone. For those who are ashamed of what you did...you did it. I'm not proud of all I did and I have tried to include my warts and bad stuff also.

If you have a legitimate criticism, let me have it...I'm not a model, but I believe my life has a loud and clear message. I think the Army says it best..."Be all that you can be." With my uncouth delivery, I still miss "thank you," "please,Ó "youÕre welcome," "I appreciate it." Kinda like the moose in the Pep Boys commercial, when he asks if the good brakes come from Pep Boys, and he says "I appreciate that."

Proud to have been a racer? Yes. I am.

Would I trade today? No way.

Any regrets? Yup. I wanted to win every race I run in.

Any advice to those behind me? Yes. Identify your life target early and then lock on...let nothing deter you.

From the Inside Flap

Historical Perspective by Gene Granger (noted NASCAR historian)

When you saw Smokey walking around the garage area before a race, you might think a farmer had somehow wandered into the track. His gait was more of a relaxed lope than generally associated with person of such achievements. As he walked closer, you would realize that if those were a farmer's eyes beneath that dirty hat, he was calmly concentrating. He looked so deep in thought you could almost hear the gears turning; nearly a trance. Once you saw his cars run, you realized that beneath that simple exterior and placid countenance, powerful forces were at work.

As I came to know Smokey I found that as he seemingly ambled around the pits or paddock, he was actually planning the exact details of what he was going to do next. When he reached his car, he would go immediately to work and somehow accomplish as much in half an hour, without really looking that busy, as most folks do in two. The steady pace and organization of his work revealed the deliberate persistence and focus of his character.

When I began reporting stock car races in 1958, he was already a superstar in motor sport. He and Herb Thomas had been an all but unbeatable combination for much of the 1950s. HerbÕs fantastic driving ability, and SmokeyÕs enigmatic expertise as a mechanic had created a legend further fueled by Smokey's successes with Paul Goldsmith and Fireball Roberts.

But what was more impressive than all those wins was Smokey's bravery. Think about the claim he put on the sign of his shop, "Best Damn Garage in Town." For him that wasnÕt being cocky; it was simply a matter of fact. Courage entered into the issue when Smokey chose to prove such claims in very public circumstances. If he failed as a racer, the neon sign out in front of his shop would make him ridiculous in front of thousands. Setting himself up to fail in such an unpredictable sport and emerging victorious anyway was all the more fantastic.

This brings us to another point I would like to make about Smokey. Creative rule interpretation and radical technical innovation that would have been stunts for others were his stock and trade. He built the extraordinary out of very ordinary things. Though some times he went too far, maybe got a little too creative, his vehicles were always interesting. The game was that everyone knew Smokey read the rule book very carefully, but few could figure out exactly what he had done. The subtle brilliance of every car he built reflected willingness to see everyday things in an original ways. This quality and his matter of fact view of life and attention to detail make Smokey as great a storyteller as mechanic.

I think that is why Smokey wrote this book the way he did. He is not interested in anything but the truth as he saw it, and to keep things clear he wrote this as a conversation. Be prepared to hear the whole, unfiltered truth as Smokey saw it. His forthright manner makes this book at once personal, shocking, and very funny. I am delighted that his knack for subtle comedy (that he doesn't even know about) is everywhere in these chapters. I think too that this book will make you think. Beyond Smokey's stories of how things were, you'll find how he thinks things ought to be.

He was a legend in his time.

About the Author

Henry "Smokey" Yunick grew up on a farm in Neshaminy, Pennsylvania, where he dropped out of high school in the tenth grade after his alcoholic father died of a heart attack. It was about this time that his mechanical creativity and lust for speed were just starting to appear in tractor building and motorcycle racing. From there, he joined the Army Air Corps and became a B-17 pilot, flying 50 missions over Europe.

After the war and getting married for the first time, Smokey moved to Daytona Beach. He hated the cold and Florida seemed like the perfect place. Smokey opened his shop and named it SmokeyÃs Best Damn Garage in Town.

Before long, Smokey started looking for the adrenaline that was missing after the war and racing filled this void. His cars won over 50 races and his list of 50 plus drivers reads like a who's who of racerÃs from the past half century. Smokey also got the bug to race in the Indianapolis 500 and that obsession lasted 20 years, with a win as the co-chief mechanic in 1960.

During the 1960's and 70's, he was a consultant to the presidents of Chevrolet, Pontiac and Ford, where many of his innovations found their way into consumer cars as enhancements and power improvements. It was during this time that he started traveling to Ecuador, working with oil companies and mining for gold.

Smokey's final career came during those same years. Smokey's ability as a storyteller was really discovered while he served as a spokesperson for many racing and automotive companies, including Champion Spark Plugs, Prolong Lubricants and ARP Fasteners.

In 1995, Smokey was explaining stock car racing to a group of kids at Lowe's Motorspeedway. It dawned on him that many of the people who knew the real stories from the early days of racing were dying off or were too involved in racing to tell the real story. Smokey spent the last five years of his life writing all the stories down, longhand, in spiral notebooks, while his wife Margie transcribed it. He ended up telling his life story in the process, as the stories just wouldn't have made sense without the background of who he was and how he got there.

Smokey was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Anemia in 1998, which progressed into Acute Myeloid Leukemia in November if 2001. In January, he started Carbon Press and hired Wade Caldwell to work with his daughter Trish to ensure his autobiography would be published just as he wrote it. Smokey passed away in May of 2001, just 6 weeks before the first books would come back from the printer.

The final chapter in Smokey's life is very fitting. Robert Lipsyte of The New York Times chose his book as one of the top five sports books of 2001. His wife Margie had parts of his ashes scattered in every winner's circle where his cars won Ã a great ending for a legendary racer, mechanic, inventor and American hero.

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