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
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.
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 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 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 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. Smokeys 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
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
Best Damn Garage in Town: My Life & Adventures 
More Sex, Lies & Superspeedways (Sex, Lies & Superspeedways, 2)
I’ve spent hours blowing off my other duties here, unable to pull myself from these straight-shooting pages. — 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
This is not your ordinary audio book! It’s another collection of stories from Smokey Yunick’s autobiography: Best Damn Garage in Town.
Smokey Yunick, the world’s most famous mechanic, accomplished more in one life than most people could in five. He flew 50 missions as a B-17 pilot in 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 U.S. 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!
To add to the fun we had people from all around racing read Smokey’s stories. And while they were at it, we asked them to give you their thoughts on Smokey you won’t believe what they had to say!
Dick Berggren publisher of Speedway Illustrated and Fox Sports pit reporter
Dave Bowman Co-host of Two Guys Garage
Monte Dutton Author and racing reporter
Ray Evernham Owner of two NASCAR Winston Cup Teams
Don Garlits Top fuel drag racing champion
Ralph Johnson inventor of the double-pumper carburetor
Steve Lewis USAC midget team owner
Bill Miller manufactures aluminum pistons and rods for Winston Cup & NHRA
Major Jeff Neischel, USAF B-52 pilot and Smokey fan
Bob Snodgrass president and ceo of Brumos Porsche
Bill Walker Smokeys B-17 training buddy from WWII
Renee Walker Smokeys sister
More Sex, Lies & Superspeedways (Sex, Lies & Superspeedways, 2)
