Professional Auto Racer, Inventor, Author. As a youth he raced motorcycles and since they always blew smoke, track announcers started calling him Smokey. He flew B-17's for the Army Air Corp in World War II. After the war he opened a garage in Daytona Beach, Florida and was soon involved in stock car racing (later to become NASCAR) as a driver, mechanic crew chief, and car owner. His cars won two stock car championships and the Indy 500. He held many patents on his inventions including one for a variable ratio power steering that was used by Detroit for many years. He is a member of The National Racing Hall of Fame, International Motorsports Hall of Fame, Legends of Auto Racing Hall of Fame, Daytona Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame, and many more. He wrote a column, "Say, Smokey", for Popular Science magazine in the 1960s and 1970s and many articles for Circle Track magazine. In 2001 he published his autobiography, "Best Damn Garage in Town".
Professional Auto Racer, Inventor, Author. As a youth he raced motorcycles and since they always blew smoke, track announcers started calling him Smokey. He flew B-17's for the Army Air Corp in World War II. After the war he opened a garage in Daytona Beach, Florida and was soon involved in stock car racing (later to become NASCAR) as a driver, mechanic crew chief, and car owner. His cars won two stock car championships and the Indy 500. He held many patents on his inventions including one for a variable ratio power steering that was used by Detroit for many years. He is a member of The National Racing Hall of Fame, International Motorsports Hall of Fame, Legends of Auto Racing Hall of Fame, Daytona Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame, and many more. He wrote a column, "Say, Smokey", for Popular Science magazine in the 1960s and 1970s and many articles for Circle Track magazine. In 2001 he published his autobiography, "Best Damn Garage in Town".
Bio by: Dan Robbins
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