In NASCAR circles, L.W. Wright has the same mystique as D.B. Cooper, the notorious hijacker from the 70s who jumped out of a plane with ransom money never to be seen again and no one knowing who he is. Wright was this mysterious man who participated in a 1982 NASCAR race at Talladega, ran 13 laps, and seemingly disappeared from the face of the earth that day.
That is, until now.
The Scene Vault Podcast, a podcast that interviews a variety of NASCAR personalities both past and present to chronicle the history of NASCAR, claims they have not only found L.W. Wright but interviewed him as well. The episode will be released at 6 am on Monday May 2, 40 years to the day of Wright’s one and only NASCAR race.
He's been missing for forty years … one more weekend won't hurt.
The driver known as L.W. Wright … Monday, 6 a.m. Eastern, only on The Scene Vault Podcast.
Teaser episode is now live: https://t.co/Y4wwZ3ubrO pic.twitter.com/O3lzvdGyMs
— The Scene Vault Podcast (@TheSceneVault) April 29, 2022
Naturally, there is going to be a bit of skepticism that this is the real L.W. Wright (assuming this is actually his name). He seemed to have eluded fans, media, private investigators, and even law enforcement for 40 years. Why reveal himself now? That being said, the people behind the podcast don’t seem to be the kinds of people to swerve the public and people like Dale Earnhardt Jr. seem to believe it so it’s probably worth checking out.
For a bit of background on what L.W. Wright did, Wright was able to obtain money from a marketing agency to go racing at Talladega. Falsely claiming that he was an experienced racer and was sponsored by Country music singers Merle Haggard and T.G. Sheppard, Wright bought a car from then newcomer Sterling Marlin and Wright paid for the car mostly in cash.
Wright then obtained a racing license from NASCAR by lying about his credentials, something not that uncommon in the days before Google, and somehow qualified for the race going 186 mph. Wright finished 39th out of 40 drivers after NASCAR parked him early in the race for driving too slow. When he parked the car, Wright disappeared without a trace and all the checks he wrote bounced. There’s only one picture of Wright from that Talladega race that’s available to the public.
Whether you’re a NASCAR fan, a fan of mysteries, or a fan of true crime stories, this is going to be worth a listen. If this is the real L.W. Wright, he’s going to have an unforgettable untold story that’s 40 years in the making.
[@TheSceneVault/Photo: NASCAR]
