Photo Courtesy of Germain Racing
On Tuesday, May 10, 2016 Casey Mears, driver of the No.13 Geico Chevrolet, revealed his throwback paint scheme for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.
The paint scheme will pay tribute to the late Smokey Yunick. Yunick wasn’t a driver, however he was well know mechanic in the stock car racing world and was also a crew chief for No. 13 with drivers Curtis Thomas, Johnny Rutherford and Mario Andretti. He was a crew chief for 10 years and earned 22 premier series wins. He was also crew chief to Herb Thomas when he won both his Cup Series championships in 1951 and 1953.
Mears is super excited to be the driver to run the Smokey Yunick tribute paint scheme on his Geico Chevrolet.
“Out of all the history of NASCAR I’d have to say he’s probably one of the top five most innovative people in the sport,” Mears said about Yunick. “We feel fortunate to be able to run a paint scheme that has so much meaning and cool history in NASCAR. Hopefully, we can go to Darlington and do a good job with that car in the Bojangles’ Southern 500 and Smokey’s family will be proud.”
Trish, who is Yunick’s daughter, is super proud that NASCAR is honoring her dad.
“My dad loved racing at Darlington, tire problems and gnats alike,” Trish Yunick stated. “It’s so special to us to have him remembered in this way. The Germain Racing car looks great. I look forward to seeing the black-and-gold 13 on the track again. I am thrilled that Smokey’s legacy is getting a chance to be in front of the next generation of NASCAR fans and hope it encourages renewed interest in his story.”
During Yunick’s career as a crew chief, he worked with many different drivers and many different car numbers but with his crazy attitude, the No. 13 always stood out to him. He liked to use that number because it was unconventional as well as a bit provocative.
“Nobody used number 13, it had no sponsors, and it was gold and black,” Mario Andretti, who raced the Chevrolet for Yunick in 1966 mentioned. “It was an attention-grabber. That car, with Curtis Turner driving, was on pole in 1967 when I won the Daytona 500. The stories behind that car, including stories about Smokey and Curtis Turner are worth revisiting.”
Germain Racing team owner Bob Germain Jr. said that the NASCAR throwback weekend at Darlington is the buzz of the season because everyone is talking about it wondering which driver will honor who and its paying special tribute to NASCAR’s roots and the people who made the sport what it is today.
“Smokey Yunick’s famous number 13 Chevrolets are part of those roots,” Germain added. “He raced many car numbers, but it’s my understanding he enjoyed the mysterious or daring nature of the 13 number. Our fans have really spoken up on Twitter asking us, GEICO, Casey and Bootie to race this paint scheme.”
