Henry "Smokey" Yunick (born May 25, 1923 in Daytona Beach, FL - died May 9, 2001 of leukemia) was a mechanic and car designer associated with motorsports in the United States. Yunick was deeply involved in the early years of NASCAR, and is probably most associated with that form of racing. He participated as a racer, designer, and other jobs relating to the sport but was best-known as a mechanic, builder, and crew chief. He was renowned as a crotchety, crusty, opinionated character who "was about as good as there ever was on engines," according to Marvin Panch, who drove stock cars for Yunick and won the 1961 Daytona 500. His trademark white uniform and battered cowboy hat, together with a cigar or corncob pipe, were a familiar sight in the pits of almost every NASCAR or Indianapolis 500 r