A surprise visitor to Lowe's Motor Speedway was legendary former mechanic and car owner Smokey Yunick, who has been battling bone cancer and other ailments for much of the last year.
Yunick, 77, who as a car owner won eight races and nine poles in 61 NASCAR Grand National races from 1956 to '69, showed up at the track in his customary garb: Western-style hat and boots and a white uniform bearing his shop's motto: "Best Damn Garage In Town."

And true to form, Yunick pulled no punches about his health problems.

"I've had a lot of trouble the past year. I've had everything diagnosed except pregnancy," he said Oct 7 at LMS. "I think they don't really know what's wrong with me. I've been treated for bone cancer, everything you could think of."

Yunick's solution to his health troubles was consistent with his reputation as somebody who frequently butted heads with NASCAR officials and other authority figures over his career.

"Finally, about a month ago, I took all the medicine there was and threw it in the trash can," Yunick said. "I told the doctor, 'I'm done with this s---.' If I'm going to die, I'm going to die. Don't even talk to me about it any more.'"

And, so far at least, Yunick said he feels like himself again, finally.

"I picked up horsepower, about 70 percent. I feel 100 percent better. I came away from wheelchairs, those things you push, canes. Now I'm walking by myself - all that in 20 days," he said.

"I just went up and down. I didn't know what was happening. I was so weak I couldn't do nothing. I really didn't want to live because I couldn't do nothing. I'm starting to get back in the ballgame. I may be going to drop dead because I won't take the medicine, but I ain't taking no more. If I'm going to die, let's get it over with. I'm headed for 78 now, and I've had enough of everything, with no regrets. I had a good life."