In American folklore, few names spark more intrigue than D.B. Cooper. Yes, the very man who hijacked a plane, took the money, and vanished into thin air. He became the gold standard for bold cons and perfect disappearances. But years later, NASCAR would have its own version of that myth, complete with a fake identity, a stolen opportunity, and a vanishing act that still leaves people shaking their heads.

On a spring day in 1982, one smooth-talking stranger pulled off one of the strangest scams the sport has ever seen – rope-a-doping his way into a Cup car and leaving Sterling Marlin and NASCAR with a mystery that’s never been solved.

How Sterling Marlin got pulled into NASCAR’s strangest con

At the onset, Sterling Marlin thought he was helping out a fellow racer. Instead, he was stepping into one of the wildest scams NASCAR has ever seen.

In April 1982, a man calling himself L.W. Wright began popping up in Nashville, claiming he was a 33-year-old veteran driver with 43 Busch Grand National starts. Promoted by Hendersonville resident William Dunaway, Wright announced he would enter the Winston 500 at Talladega with a team called Music City Racing and casually dropped the names Merle Haggard, T.G. Sheppard, and Waylon Jennings as sponsors. It all sounded big. Almost too big.

NASCAR was skeptical, but Wright paid the $115 competition license and $100 entry fee. Under right-to-work rules, that was enough. If he could produce a car, he could race. That’s where Marlin came in.

Wright convinced B.W. “Bernie” Terrell of Space Age Marketing to bankroll the effort, securing $30,000 for a car, a semi-trailer, and another $7,500 in expenses. He then purchased a Chevrolet Monte Carlo from Marlin for $20,700. $17,000 in cash and a check for the rest. The money flying around raised eyebrows, so Marlin followed Wright to Talladega and agreed to act as crew chief.

Red flags piled up fast. T.G. Sheppard publicly denied any involvement. Wright walked back his own claims, calling the sponsorship “premature.” At the track, he asked basic questions no experienced driver should need answered. He even crashed in practice.

Still, Wright repaired the car, qualified 36th, and somehow made the field. The race itself lasted just 13 laps before officials black-flagged him for being too slow. He finished 39th, collected $1,545 in prize money, and earned no points. Then came the real trick.

Like that, poof, he’s gone.

Wright vanished. No explanation. No goodbye. He left the car at Talladega, never to be seen again, cementing his place as NASCAR’s very own D.B. Cooper.

The reckoning that came decades later

Once the Winston 500 was over, L.W. Wright’s name, even after his disappearance, still appeared on the entry list for the next race, the Cracker Barrel Country Store 420 at Nashville Speedway, where he was officially listed as failing to qualify. By then, though, the damage was already spreading.

The checks started bouncing.

South Central Bell and Wright’s landlord were left holding bad checks worth $700 and $4,500. United Trappers Marketing Association owner Dean McIntire lost more than $10,000. And Sterling Marlin? He wasn’t shocked. “It didn’t really surprise me,” Marlin said later. “I sort of expected it.” NASCAR issued arrest warrants, while Bernie Terrell hired a private investigator in a desperate attempt to track down the man who had conned his way into the Cup Series.

And then nothing. For decades.

Wright’s disappearance turned him into legend. A punchline. A cautionary tale passed down in garages and media centers. NASCAR’s own D.B. Cooper. No sightings. No arrests. Just questions. That silence finally cracked in 2022.

On April 29, Rick Houston of the Scene Vault Podcast announced they had located Wright. Three days later, on the 40th anniversary of the Talladega race, the podcast released an interview, including an audio clip of Wright identifying himself. The revelation sent shockwaves through NASCAR history circles.

Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. later pushed publicly for the full interview to be released. But the story didn’t end with a microphone. On February 13, 2023, Wright was arrested in Knox County, Tennessee, by the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. He faced charges of theft, burglary, and evading arrest. He was finally forced to answer for a con that had lived in infamy for four decades.

However, less than a year later, on January 27, 2024, Larry “L.W. Wright” Wright died of colon cancer at age 74. The mystery was solved. But the legend, somehow, only grew.