Smokey Yunick, "My So Called Life."
This is going to be my first book report since high school. This past weekend I finished Volume I of the three volume set of Smokey Yunick's autobiography. In a technical sense Smokey is not a writer. On the other hand Smokey is one hell of a storyteller. His grammar is not very good and he says so at the start of his book, "This book is written in "Old Southern Racing English." Anyone under the age of eighteen should read this in the company of a grandfather race fan for translation regarding language, social and moral interpretations."
Smokey's story often entails the use of "colorful" language. The "F" word comes into play quite often, but don't let that stop you from reading this book. Smokey holds no punches when he talks about people he dealt with. If he thought that person was an Asshole he tells you. The group of people that he places in that category is quite impressive.
Smokey Yunick was a B-17 pilot in WW-II, he bacame an automobile mechanic and moved to Florida because he was tired of the snow and cold. Smokey was a self-taught engineer. He quite possibly was an engineering genius. Smokey is mostly known for his racing innovations. He also developed equipment for the oil drilling industry and the gold minning industry. He held various patents on numerous inventions. Some of them he sold and some he kept.
I want to close with a quote at the very end of the book on Smokey's thoughts on the death of Dale Earnhardt and NASCAR in general.
"All of this to tell you I was in the first International Hall of Fame Induction. Dale Earnhardt did the induction speech. Goodbye Dale and all you stood for. Your leaving further confuses me on life. I guess the only way not to get snake bit is don't fuck with 'em. In my book you are without peer. You represented us without comparison. The Earnhardt crew, Richard Childress: owner (the elephant hater), mechanics like Danny Lawrence and Mike Hawkins, the Earnhardt family...I figured if ever a person had a perfect dream-world life, it was Ironhead E.
What pisses me off...I seen all this shit on the wall at night 10 years ago in my dreams. That voice seemed like it blew back at me at 100 mph. Moveable walls, concrete tracks, fueling by computer, air jacks 'stead of the 30 pound sledge hammers they use, mandatory retirement age, etc. When the hell they goona get rid of the fucking restrictor plate and go to smaller engines? Don't give me that horseshit answer that you can killed in a bathtub. It's this simple: whoever's running NASCAR has got his head up his ass. Course that's just an old racers opinion. Some of these things Billy, remind me of a kid who played with his peter too much when he was little."
The above is a quote from My So Called Life by Henry Smokey Yunick, Volume I, Walking under a Snakes Belly.
If you can't figure out who Billy is send me an email and I'll tell you.
If you are a race car fan of any kind this set of books is a must read. One other thing is that Smokey diliked editiors and publishers so much that the only way you can get the three-volume set is directly from the Yunick family.
Volume II is titled "All Right You Sons-A-Bitches, Lets Have A Race." I'll let you know about this volume when I finish it.
This is going to be my first book report since high school. This past weekend I finished Volume I of the three volume set of Smokey Yunick's autobiography. In a technical sense Smokey is not a writer. On the other hand Smokey is one hell of a storyteller. His grammar is not very good and he says so at the start of his book, "This book is written in "Old Southern Racing English." Anyone under the age of eighteen should read this in the company of a grandfather race fan for translation regarding language, social and moral interpretations."
Smokey's story often entails the use of "colorful" language. The "F" word comes into play quite often, but don't let that stop you from reading this book. Smokey holds no punches when he talks about people he dealt with. If he thought that person was an Asshole he tells you. The group of people that he places in that category is quite impressive.
Smokey Yunick was a B-17 pilot in WW-II, he bacame an automobile mechanic and moved to Florida because he was tired of the snow and cold. Smokey was a self-taught engineer. He quite possibly was an engineering genius. Smokey is mostly known for his racing innovations. He also developed equipment for the oil drilling industry and the gold minning industry. He held various patents on numerous inventions. Some of them he sold and some he kept.
I want to close with a quote at the very end of the book on Smokey's thoughts on the death of Dale Earnhardt and NASCAR in general.
"All of this to tell you I was in the first International Hall of Fame Induction. Dale Earnhardt did the induction speech. Goodbye Dale and all you stood for. Your leaving further confuses me on life. I guess the only way not to get snake bit is don't fuck with 'em. In my book you are without peer. You represented us without comparison. The Earnhardt crew, Richard Childress: owner (the elephant hater), mechanics like Danny Lawrence and Mike Hawkins, the Earnhardt family...I figured if ever a person had a perfect dream-world life, it was Ironhead E.
What pisses me off...I seen all this shit on the wall at night 10 years ago in my dreams. That voice seemed like it blew back at me at 100 mph. Moveable walls, concrete tracks, fueling by computer, air jacks 'stead of the 30 pound sledge hammers they use, mandatory retirement age, etc. When the hell they goona get rid of the fucking restrictor plate and go to smaller engines? Don't give me that horseshit answer that you can killed in a bathtub. It's this simple: whoever's running NASCAR has got his head up his ass. Course that's just an old racers opinion. Some of these things Billy, remind me of a kid who played with his peter too much when he was little."
The above is a quote from My So Called Life by Henry Smokey Yunick, Volume I, Walking under a Snakes Belly.
If you can't figure out who Billy is send me an email and I'll tell you.
If you are a race car fan of any kind this set of books is a must read. One other thing is that Smokey diliked editiors and publishers so much that the only way you can get the three-volume set is directly from the Yunick family.
Volume II is titled "All Right You Sons-A-Bitches, Lets Have A Race." I'll let you know about this volume when I finish it.
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