Championship engine builder Ernie Elliott, an integral part of the career of his NASCAR Hall of Fame brother Bill Elliott, is the recipient of this year’s Smokey Yunick Award, bestowed annually by Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Created in 1997 to honor one of stock car racing’s legendary mechanics, the Smokey Yunick Award recognizes an individual from humble beginnings who has demonstrated exceptional innovation and made a major impact on the world of motorsports.
Chase Elliott, 2020 NASCAR Cup Series champion, accepted the award Saturday on behalf of his uncle.
“I’ve seen and talked to Uncle Ernie quite a lot,” Chase Elliott said. “He’s always a good person to talk to post-race. He pays a lot of attention… he doesn’t like to admit he pays a lot of attention, but he does.
“He’s been a great supporter of mine over the years. I have a ton of respect for him—just the innovation that he brought at the time period that he did. He was so far ahead of the curve in so many different ways, not only building engines and working on the cars…
“Back then, they didn’t have engineering and software to go through these things. A lot of it was trial-and error… he just did it his way.”
Driving cars powered by Ernie Elliott’s engines, Bill Elliott won the Winston Million in 1985 and the Cup championship in 1988, seven years before Chase was born.
Greg is the author of "The Nuts and Bolts of NASCAR: The Definitive Viewers' Guide to Big-Time Stock Car Auto Racing" and has been published in major publications across the country including the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was also a contributor to Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul, published in 2010, and the Christmas edition in 2016. He wrote as the NASCAR, Formula 1, Auto Reviews and National Veterans Affairs Examiner for Examiner.com and has appeared on Fox News. He holds a BS degree in communications, a Masters degree in psychology and is currently a PhD candidate majoring in psychology. He is currently the weekend Motorsports Editor for Autoweek.