The property that once held Smokeys Best Damn Garage in Town was put on the market today. The two-and-a-half year process of selling the racing parts, tools and equipment that Smokey accumulated during his 50+ years on the property, has finally come to an end. The next step in the process of carrying out Smokeys final wishes is selling the property. When Smokey set up his plan, he made two things very clear. 1) He didnt want his shop turned into some [expletive deleted] shrine. He knew what he had done and he didnt want his family burdened with having to run and maintain a museum. He saw how much work his friend Don Garlits had to put in to keep his museum in shape. 2) He wanted all the parts and equipment to be sold to racers who would put them to use, rather than have them sit around in a museum and collect dust. The garage sales and parts sales that have occurred at the shop during the past 30 months have created a legion of race fans that have a piece of history that they pass on to their families. Smokey spent 50 years building his shop and improving the land it was on. He knew how valuable waterfront property in Daytona Beach was, which was why he bought and maintained the surface and submerged land rights for the property. The family enlisted the help of Smokeys trusted financial advisor to sell the property. The area of riverfront in Daytona Beach is currently undergoing very active revitalization efforts and the shop property will be a large portion of this renovated area. This three-acre property still holds a mythical place in the hearts of race fans. The upcoming 2004 Speed Weeks will be the last time that legions of loyal Smokey fans will be able to come by and have their picture taken with the sign out front. It will be the last time they will be able to drive by and think about all that went inside the fence and behind the walls and painted over windows. A landmark in racing, automotive and American history will be going by the wayside in the name of progress Smokey would be proud. For more on Smokey, his books available and other info, see www.smokeyyunick.com and some books on my Racing Bookstore page . AND who won the engine? The 1967 Daytona 500 Big Block Chevy was won by Steve “Yogi” Behr from Speedway, Indiana. He bought his 6 tickets at the PRI show in Indianapolis last week and was completely surprised when he stopped back by the ARP booth and we told him he had won. Linda Vaughn “The First Lady of Motorsports” stopped by the booth to help Trish Yunick Brown, Smokey’s daughter, draw the winning ticket in the ARP booth at PRI. The engine raffle raised over $7,000 for the Foundation to use to give grants and scholarships to individuals who have innovative ideas that are in keeping with Smokey’s outside the box innovation style. Thanks also go to Automotive Racing Products (ARP) and Performance Racing Industry (PRI) for signing on as inaugural sponsors of the Foundation last year and for their continual promotion and monetary help. They will be announcing the winners of the first grant/scholarship in the spring of 2004 and we are still accepting applications from people with interesting ideas in keeping with Smokey’s outside-the-box innovation style. For more information on the winner and for information about applying for a grant or scholarship: www.SmokeyYunick.com and then click on the “Foundation” link.(12-10-2003)
