In Pennsylvania, a man was arrested after attempting to sell a NASCAR race truck, which he claimed was street legal. The truck in question is reportedly the No. 6 Chevrolet of Norm Benning. 

Benning, who, at 74, still competes in the Truck series, representing his own team, Norm Benning Racing, claimed that he has not made the truck street-legal.

Yancy Cupp, a 52-year-old from Williamsport, was produced before the Cumberland County magistrate on multiple charges. The charges include fraud, theft, and deception, according to court records. The charges were bound at a preliminary hearing following Cupp’s arraignment.

Per abc27, Cupp had purchased a retired Craftsman Truck Series race truck and has been accused of installing a fraudulent Vehicle Identification Number from an unrelated vehicle. Cupp used the VIN to title the truck and advertise it on eBay as a street-legal 1999 Chevrolet S10.

Troopers showed that the auction listing for the truck claimed it to be converted to be street-legal by its former NASCAR owner. When troopers asked Benning to confirm the truck's legality, he responded that he had never made it street legal.

The truck came into the cops’ radar when it was sold at the Carlisle Auto Auction for $10,000. Upon physical examinations, local law enforcement confirmed that it was not street-legal. 

Upon examination, it was found that the truck had light fixtures added to the front and rear. It also featured a Pennsylvania license plate, inspection, and emission sticker. 

Cupp will be brought before the Cumberland County Court on August 10 for a formal arraignment. 

How NASCAR Trucks Get Street Legal

NASCAR cars across all three series are not street legal in their race-ready form. They lack basic features like headlights, turn signals, windshield wipers, and airbags. These are all essential markers for determining whether a car is safe to be on the road. 

For those cars to be road-compliant, many major changes must be made. Almost a complete mechanical modification is needed. This includes installing DOT-approved lighting, changing race slick tires for treaded street tires, and adding an exhaust system that is compliant with emission laws. 

Since NASCAR cars and trucks do not come with a standard manufacturer's VIN, the owners must go through the local DMV’s rigorous registration process for specially constructed or custom-built vehicles. This process requires a strict safety inspection. 

While there is a process to get NASCAR cars and trucks street legal, driving them in itself is a pain on regular roads. After all, these cars were built to go fast on oval circuits, meaning the aerodynamics and mechanics are often too stiff for regular roads. 

A stiff suspension, heavy clutches, and a unique left-side weight bias designed for oval tracks make navigating daily two-way traffic an uncomfortable experience, to say the least.

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Yask Kotak