• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Cheaters

Great video - learned something today - thanks for sharing
 
Nice video. Oh yes Smokey was a thinker. But it’s a 1966 Chevelle, how could any car guy who “loves vintage race cars” mistake the year of it?

 
That is a great video (the first one), there are a lot of examples of NASCAR and Trans-am cheating especially in the early cars. Very interesting.
 
Did some reading on Smokey years ago and yup, he did some thinking. Seems like he said something like 'if you ain't pushing the rules, you ain't racing' or something like that....?
 
yep - must say that was interesting to watch; mechanical ingenuity at its best. Thanks
 
Read once that he made a roll cage into a fuel tank. Have to want it pretty bad to ride inside that.
He was a developer more than a cheat. He made a 1600 Ford from carbon fiber. Ready to drop in and run with a turbo, it weighed 150 pounds.
He also made a ceramic twin based on a 350 Chevy that ran on super heated gasoline. It was said to make 150 horse. (This comes from a car mag a million years ago).
 
sam dupont said:
Read once that he made a roll cage into a fuel tank. Have to want it pretty bad to ride inside that.
He was a developer more than a cheat. He made a 1600 Ford from carbon fiber. Ready to drop in and run with a turbo, it weighed 150 pounds.
He also made a ceramic twin based on a 350 Chevy that ran on super heated gasoline. It was said to make 150 horse. (This comes from a car mag a million years ago).
Click to expand...
That would be his Adiabatic engine, something that seemed so promising back then. https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrdp-1009-what-ever-happened-to-smokeys-hot-vapor-engine/
 
I met Smoky 30 or 40 years ago when he was promoting ARP I loved it
a great story teller
 
It's only cheating if you get caught. It's all about what the rule books don't say.
 
not cheaters :poke:
a different interpretation of the rules
always stretching the limits

if you weren't cheating
in some way shape or form
you weren't really trying hard enough

Dale Armstrong really gave the NHRA tech guys headaches
many rules were because of Dale Armstrong & Kenny Bernstien
& Austin Coil/John Force pushed the limits of the rules too
Innovation keeping ahead of the curve
IMO isn't cheating

Smokey Yunick was an icon, really pushed the limits
the N2O was cheating for sure
he was way ahead of the curve in most aspects
he did the 7:8th scale Chevelle really pushed the limits
unless you had the 2 cars side by side it was extremely hard to tell
I thought that was awesome

Marty Robbin #74 usually in a MoPar too (many RPM cars)
was a known trickster/"alleged" cheater
I read some deal about a dissolvable restrictor/in a spacer plate
it'd pass tech before the race, but never after the race
there was "allegedly" some deal
where they had a slide-out/plate carb restrictor too,
don't remember who did it

Jr. Johnson, Dale Sr., Waltrip all cheated (stretched rules) regularly too
some are just more scrutinized/accountable for it

teams thought the Woods bros. were cheating
doing pit stops the way they did early on too
now every team did/does it

even teams like Jeff Gordon & Ray Everingham
or Morice Petty/RPM team Richard Petty did too
pushing the limits of the intended interpretations & 'meaning of the rules'
 
Last edited:
Smokey Yunick 7-8 scale 66 Chevelle NASCAR #13.jpeg


Smokey Yunick Indy Capsule car USAC.jpg
 
One of tricks Petty mentioned on his Mopars was to put a little plastic cup packed with hard grease up above the torsion bar retaining cup , then put the bolt back in. The ride height was high enough to pass inspection, but once the car started around the track the grease would squish out and the front end would be lower.
 
One of my street racing Chargers I had:
-VHT in the factory washer bottle that sprayed on the rear tires.
-Was spraying two kits of Nitrous. One bottle was hidden up under the dash for kit 1. If anyone would only run on motor only. I would show them taking out both bottles out of the trunk. Still had one under dash.
-Had a toggle switch in console to turn on brake lights. If someone was dumb enough to give me a car head start or the leave. I would already be on the move if they were watching for my brake lights to go out. They would remain on until I turned off.
-Had the spare tire filled with water instead of air to help hook on the street.
 
Creative interpretation of the rules. AKA gray area......I may or may not have been guilty......
 
There was a cartoon many years ago in one of the magazines; Little Boy: "Daddy what's a lightweight Camaro?"? Man: "Shut up and keep sanding!"
 
I've been fortunate to be pretty good on the tree thru out my career. Very early on in N/SS I tried a delay box. We contacted the race organizer and were granted permission to use it. When we got there, foul was called by other racers. We used it with permission that weekend amongst protests. It didn't work out well. It was connected to an air throttle stop and line lock. Never used it again. Fast forward a few years. Weve now finished #2 in NMCA 1997. Won NSCA championships in 1998 and 2000, finished 4th in 1999. During this time the line lock button was on the steering wheel. With 5 turns lock to lock the cable would get tangled up. So I added phone jack at the lower dash and wheel. When I staged I'd plug the cable in. At the end of the track I'd yank it out and let it lie on the floor. There started to be delay box rumors, which we encouraged. My son was set to graduate from High School on a Friday before a NSCA race at Virginia Motorsports park. So a buddy towed my car there, we came after the H.S. all night party. On Saturday I asked if he got the car teched? He said yes but they spent 45 minutes looking it over. Finally he asked what they were looking for. They told him a delay box. He laughed. Told them they'd never find it. As I kept it in my jacket. Oh did that start the rumors. We really got into some people's heads. And yes my current car has been scrutinized more than once at NMCA.
Doug
 
sam dupont said:
Read once that he made a roll cage into a fuel tank. Have to want it pretty bad to ride inside that.
He was a developer more than a cheat. He made a 1600 Ford from carbon fiber. Ready to drop in and run with a turbo, it weighed 150 pounds.
He also made a ceramic twin based on a 350 Chevy that ran on super heated gasoline. It was said to make 150 horse. (This comes from a car mag a million years ago).
Click to expand...

Wasn't it heating the intake manifold with exhaust gasses and using 15:1 pistons? Was able to burn extremely lean mixtures. Might be one of those patents that are bought and then hidden to protect big money interests.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

GetX'd
Winners never Cheat - Cheaters never Win - Which one is it?
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
GetX'd
GetX'd
SteveSS
It's predator week at the ranch.
2
Replies
23
Views
2K
ckessel
ckessel
gkent
Now THIS is a house
2 3
Replies
53
Views
3K
JDmac72chrgr
JDmac72chrgr
SteveSS
I need some TV recommendations
2 3
Replies
45
Views
2K
BigFlo
BigFlo
SteveSS
You're given a million dollars. Car/cars or house?
2 3
Replies
51
Views
3K
Xp29h
Xp29h
Auto Transport Service
Back
Top