Cool, Great, And Crazy Racing Stories

[Ingomike]

“Way back in 1982, a man named L.W. Wright entered a car for the upcoming NASCAR Winston Cup race at Talladega.”

“Anyway, nobody had EVER heard of this guy, but he claimed to have run over 40 lower-level NASCAR races. It was pretty damn easy to enter a race back then, so nobody really thought anything of it.”

“Long story short — short being the key word — Wright lasted just eight laps because he was so slow that the field lapped him pretty immediately, and NASCAR decided enough was enough and parked him“

“And then L.W. Wright brought his fake country music car down pit road, parked it and then … vanished.“

“Poof! He just left. Gone. See ya later! And he wasn’t seen again for 40 years. Seriously.”

“Nobody could find him, and buddy, they were LOOKING because all those checks he wrote to get the car into the race? They bounced. Shocker.”

NASCAR's D.B. Cooper, Who Vanished For 40 Years After One Wild Race, Has Died

Legendary NASCAR con man L.W. Wright, who vanished for 40 years after sneaking into a race in 1982, died on Sunday.

www.outkick.com

 

[SnoopLoggyDog]

Dude sounds several french fries short of a Happy Meal. Bet he left behind a trail of bad checks longer than the Monon.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

Back when Nascar was worth watching. When it wasnt the same drivers guaranteed at every race, you had to qualify to make the show. Your engine builder was smoking a cigarette, sitting with the car chief and crew chief, discussing what changes to make. The driver was working on the car. They were all in the same truck that pulled the racecar to the track. Thats racing.

 

[thunderchicken]

I knew of the story, but never heard he had been caught.
I couldn't tell you how many stories I've heard from guys claiming to have written bad checks on Thursday or Friday knowing the only way those checks would be good, was to finish high enough the winnings would cover the bad checks.

Another crazy story can be seen on the Dale Jr download with Donny Allison. Without giving too much away, Donny was conned into a racing partnership and dang near ended up losing everything he had.

Or, I can't recall his name but there was a guy that was involved in NASCAR that was heavily involved in smuggling/running drugs. I think it was either on Dale Jr's show or may have been with Mark Martin's pod cast show.

 

[ghuns]

...Or, I can't recall his name but there was a guy that was involved in NASCAR that was heavily involved in smuggling/running drugs. I think it was either on Dale Jr's show or may have been with Mark Martin's pod cast show.

Hmmm... Maybe the Whittington boys?

The Whittington brothers funding their racing pursuits, up to the Indy 500, with drug money. Hell, they bought Road Atlanta and let smugglers land on the track.

They might have run a couple cars in NASCAR over the years. I just don't remember them.

 

[thunderchicken]

Hmmm... Maybe the Whittington boys?

The Whittington brothers funding their racing pursuits, up to the Indy 500, with drug money. Hell, they bought Road Atlanta and let smugglers land on the track.

They might have run a couple cars in NASCAR over the years. I just don't remember them.

Maybe, but I honestly just can't recall the name at the moment. I'll try to find it


Edit- found it Randy Lanier

 

[ghuns]

Maybe, but I honestly just can't recall the name at the moment. I'll try to find it


Edit- found it Randy Lanier

Yeah, he was hooked up with the Whittington boys. They got off easy. He got life without parole.

Though somehow, he was released in 2014.

 

[thunderchicken]

Yeah, he was hooked up with the Whittington boys. They got off easy. He got life without parole.

Though somehow, he was released in 2014.

But he wasn't the one I thought of that was on Dale Jr's show. Looks like it was Gary Balough and the title for the show was Smugglers Blues

 

[ghuns]

But he wasn't the one I thought of that was on Dale Jr's show. Looks like it was Gary Balough and the title for the show was Smugglers Blues

Interesting.

Him, I've never heard of.

 

[Super Bee]

Back when Nascar was worth watching. When it wasnt the same drivers guaranteed at every race, you had to qualify to make the show. Your engine builder was smoking a cigarette, sitting with the car chief and crew chief, discussing what changes to make. The driver was working on the car. They were all in the same truck that pulled the racecar to the track. Thats racing.

I may be wrong but didnt Pearson used to drive with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth? Not today, not these product pitchmen in race suits.

 

[thunderchicken]

I may be wrong but didnt Pearson used to drive with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth? Not today, not these product pitchmen in race suits.

I remember seeing a video clip of that at one time. Not certain if it was Pearson or not but someone did it.

 

[PGRChaplain]

I may be wrong but didnt Pearson used to drive with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth? Not today, not these product pitchmen in race suits.

Several drivers did. Dick Trickle was the last driver to have a Cigarette Lighter in his Race Car.

 

[JCSR]

I remember seeing a video clip of that at one time. Not certain if it was Pearson or not but someone did it.

Pearson and the great Dick Trickle

 

[JCSR]

Funny story from long ago is I was at a NASCAR shop outside of Owensboro and witnessed folks pouring Quaker State oil in a waste oil drum and filling the bottles with Mobil One. They happened to have Quaker State sponsorship. That was before QS had a full synthetic and they wanted their engines to last.

 

[thunderchicken]

Pearson and the great Dick Trickle

I vaguely remember that

 

[cbhausen]

Pearson and the great Dick Trickle

Don’t forget Gary Bettenhausen. When dad drove the AMC Matador for Roger Penske, he saw David Pearson smoking a cigarette during a yellow at Daytona and asked for a cigar lighter socket to be put in the car so he could do the same. The crew obliged. Dad and Trickle were also buddies. And dad smoked in an Indy car, but not at speed!

 

[Hatin Since 87]

I may be wrong but didnt Pearson used to drive with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth? Not today, not these product pitchmen in race suits.

Dick Trickle did, not sure about Pearson.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

Nevermind. JC posted a clip of it.

 

[Hatin Since 87]

Funny story from long ago is I was at a NASCAR shop outside of Owensboro and witnessed folks pouring Quaker State oil in a waste oil drum and filling the bottles with Mobil One. They happened to have Quaker State sponsorship. That was before QS had a full synthetic and they wanted their engines to last.

Mobil 1 recently (kinda recently anyway) sued an oil company, dont remember which but QS does stand out in my mind, for putting the words “full synthetic” on their bottles when it isnt full synthetic. Courts actually sided with the other company. I will look the lawsuit up when i get home so i dont spread false information, but im a loyal mobil 1 customer. Even their filters. I will use wix filters if mobil 1 is out tho.

 

[tbhausen]

Dad and Dick Trickle were good friends. They had far more in common than many people could ever imagine (besides the smoking). I just bought a set of signed Dick Trickle gloves that have the thumb and forefinger cut off for holding a cigarette. First piece of memorabilia I’ve ever purchased outside the family. Read this article and you’ll understand why it meant so much to me to buy them. It’s the single best piece of motorsports journalism I’ve ever read. I tried to read it to our mom and dad down at Dale Hollow one weekend and several times I said to dad “that’s you…”. Had to hand my phone to our mom because I couldn’t finish it:

The good times and hard life of Dick Trickle

The elegy of a chain smoking, beer drinking, stock car racing legend who took his own life two months ago.

www.sbnation.com