NASCAR is a sport rife with intriguing stories, but perhaps none is as intriguing as that of Larry Wright. Known all across the country as a conman today, no one even knew who the man was up until 2022. He managed to illegally run one Cup Series race at Talladega under the moniker of LW Wright and then disappeared for 4 decades. But now, his autograph was recently sold on eBay for $155.

From 1982 to 2022, Larry Wright was untraceable. The authorities had no clue about his whereabouts as he quickly rose to fame as the biggest conman to have ever raced in the NASCAR Cup Series. Wright passed away on January 27, 2024, of colon cancer after he was finally caught and imprisoned for his crimes.

The curious case of NASCAR’s greatest conman, ‘LW Wright’

The items on sale were a photo with Wright’s autograph and a note that read, “Dear Mr Wright, I collect NASCAR autographs and would be honored if you would sign my index card and photo for my collection. Thank you for your time and best wishes to you.” The note was signed by the NASCAR conman with the initials LW. The items received a total of 22 bids.

The story about Larry Wright is as intriguing and mind-boggling as it gets. It all began in 1982 when NASCAR was a booming industry. Wright went to Space Age Marketing and somehow convinced agency head Bernie Terrell to give him $37,5000 to buy a car to race in the Cup Series to race at the Talladega Superspeedway. 

At the time, Wright had claimed that he had 43 starts in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series. He bought the car from Sterling Marlin, who was suspicious of his background, so he asked for $17,000 in cash and the remaining $3,700 in check as per Whiskey Riff. Marlin was his crew chief at Talladega as well.

Larry Wright told a reporter that he would be racing for Music City Racing, a team sponsored by country artists Merle Haggard and TG Sheppard. When Sheppard’s attorney said that they had never even heard of an LW Wright, he said that the announcement of the sponsors was premature and that he had not raced in the Grand National Series. However, he was still allowed to race as laws back then required NASCAR to allow anyone who could afford the license and entry fee and have a capable car.

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Wright crashed during practice and qualified P36. He was told to quit the race by the organizers after lap 13, as he was too slow. He finished the race in P39 and earned $1,545 in prize money. After that event, he disappeared for 40 years. Frauds related to the conman subsequently came to light and NASCAR arranged for arrest warrants, but he was never to be seen again until a podcast host outed him to the world.

How a podcast interview gave away Larry Wright

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In 2022, Larry Wright’s identity was unveiled on an episode of The Scene Vault podcast. Host Rick Houston shared the video of Wright speaking to him about that infamous day at Talladega to ESPN. And it was not long before the cops came knocking. It was the final few days of his life which the conman spent mostly in jail.

In the video, Wright was asked if he had ever been to the Talladega Superspeedway before, to which he replied, “Never seen the track.” He then went on to describe how he felt as he pulled up to the infield. After taking a look at the surrounding track, Wright turned to his brother and said back in 1982, “Ain’t no way, Lord have mercy.”

The video is one of massive interest for NASCAR fans of all ages. Here was a man who had absconded and remained undetected for 40 years doing a video interview for a podcast. It was unbelievable. Stories like these add a lot to the value of the sport, but no one could have expected something like this in NASCAR.

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