138 GM 11.10.2026

📘 Think you know your car? Check the VIN first. Full decoding guide for Classic Cars → https://classiccarshistory.com/ In February 1967, a black-and-gold number 13 Chevrolet Chevelle took the Daytona 500 pole at 180.381 mph. It was the first qualifying lap in Daytona 500 history over 180 mph. It wasn’t built by a factory team. It came from Smokey Yunick’s Best Damn Garage in Town on North Beach Street in Daytona Beach, at a time when General Motors officially was not racing. Curtis Turner was behind the wheel, and the factory-backed Fords and Chrysler Hemis couldn’t match it. This documentary tells the true story of the Smokey Yunick Chevelle and how it helped push NASCAR from eyeballing car bodies to measuring every car against a physical template. We trace the full chain of events. It begins with the 1957 Automobile Manufacturers Association racing resolution and General Motors’ 1963 racing ban. From there it follows the Ford and Chrysler factory war, the Hemi and overhead-cam boycotts, and the Dodge Charger’s lift problem. It also covers the outlaw weekend at Atlanta in August 1966, when Yunick’s Chevelle and Junior Johnson’s “Yellow Banana” Ford both passed inspection. Six months later, NASCAR arrived at Daytona with body templates for the first time, and the Chevelle still sat on the pole. We go through what was actually changed on the car: the body moved rearward on the frame a smooth belly-pan underbody flush glass a taller front bumper working as an air dam quiet roof aerodynamics a lightly destroked big-block Chevrolet We set all of it against the stock 1966 Chevelle SS 396. That comparison shows why the famous “7/8-scale” legend can’t be true, and why the car was full size all along. You’ll also hear about the quiet Chevrolet engineering help behind the program, linked to Vince Piggins and Chevrolet’s unofficial racing group. Then comes the 1968 inspection showdown. NASCAR handed Yunick a list of required changes, and he withdrew the car rather than comply. We look at the legendary story of him driving away with the fuel tank removed. David Pearson, who said he was standing right there, disputed it. Finally, we follow what happened next. Templates grew into manufacturer-specific sets, then the Car of Tomorrow “claw” and today’s laser scanning. We also cover what became of Smokey Yunick, Curtis Turner, the surviving 1968 Chevelle and the tribute cars built in its honor. The story also features Mario Andretti, Richard Petty, David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Fireball Roberts, Bill France Sr., Humpy Wheeler and the NASCAR inspectors of the 1960s. Which classic car should we cover next? Tell us in the comments, along with where you’re watching from. The most-liked suggestion becomes our next video. #SmokeyYunick #Chevelle #NASCAR #NASCARHistory #Daytona500 #ClassicCars #MuscleCars #ChevelleSS #CurtisTurner #StockCarRacing #RacingHistory #Chevrolet #VintageRacing #CarHistory #MarioAndretti #RichardPetty #Daytona #AmericanMuscle #ClassicCarHistory #AutomotiveHistory Sources Tom Jensen, “Cheating: An Inside Look at the Bad Things Good NASCAR Winston Cup Racers Do in Pursuit of Speed,” David Bull Publishing, 2002 Mac’s Motor City Garage, “The Truth About Smokey Yunick’s 7/8-Scale Chevelle,” 2013 Hagerty Media, “On His 100th Birthday, the Legend of NASCAR’s Greatest Cheater,” 2023 Disclaimer: Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for ‘fair use’ for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. I do not own some or all of the video materials used in this video. In the case of copyright issues, please contact me at historymediachannel1@gmail.com for credit or removal.