This weekend, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts and Cup Series return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway for a crucial race in both series schedules. But ahead of this weekend’s festivities, NASCAR YouTube star Eric Estepp and DEMCO took NASCAR to the streets of Sin City.
Every NASCAR fan loves a showcar, dressed in sponsor colors, touring the country for race fans to take pictures with and for sponsors to show their close connection to the fans.
Of course, seeing what is (mostly) a NASCAR race car in person is special, but what if fans could get an even better taste of NASCAR action? What if a NASCAR race car could hit the streets of your hometown?
Well, Eric Estepp, host of the daily NASCAR-centered YouTube Series Out of the Groove, recently set out to answer this question with a little help from DEMCO, sponsor of NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Ryan Ellis’ No. 02 car.
Ahead of NASCAR’s return to Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Estepp joined DEMCO’s Director of Marketing, Brent Schuck, for a ride around Las Vegas in a real (but very much street-legal) NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race car.
But why would you own a street-legal NASCAR, and better yet, what makes a street-legal NASCAR street-legal?
Well, first and foremost, as Schuck explained to Estepp, the car is a great way to expand their footprint in the sport away from the track.
“We knew we wanted fan engagement, customer engagement, to be able to take the car to trade show events and other things, where we can let people touch and experience a stock car, where a lot of people don’t have that in day-to-day life.”
Based on Estepp’s reaction, which included sheer excitement at even getting to touch the car, Schuck and DEMCO’s hypothesis is correct: outsiders and even the most hardcore NASCAR fans need the chance not just to see the sport but to feel it too.
For that, Schuck says DEMCO turned to Jeffery Earnhardt Racing Experience to bring the idea of a classic-looking NASCAR that can take DEMCO to the streets to life.
While Schuck jokes that the car is “a NASCAR that has a license plate,” there is a lot more to this car than just throwing the proper registration on a 670-horsepower beast.
For example, the car has a hydraulic actuator to operate the parking brake.
The car must also have controls to operate its turn signals, hazard lights, high beam lights, wipers, and other assorted requirements found on every street car.
In a fun twist, all of these options are found on the left-hand side switch panel, which feels less like a Cadillac and more like the switches you would find up and down pit road on any given NASCAR race weekend.
Unfortunately, to match the requirements of the road, not everything can stay the same in the car. These changes can be found all over the car and under the hood.
The car can wear a set of traditional Goodyear Eagle “slicks” used in NASCAR, but to go out and about, the car has to use regular street tires, though these match the bulky look of the tires used in NASCAR for the majority of the sport’s history.
Under the hood, you won’t find an engine from Earnhardt-Childress or Hendrick Motorsports, but rather a small-block Chevrolet engine, similar to what short-track racers have under the hood of their late models.
But, minus the passenger seat, for the most part, the car stays true to form, including a classic NASCAR fuel connector (not used in the actual fueling) and the lack of what Estepp called “creature comforts”.
In reality, the only thing that could be called a comfortable addition to the car is the addition of an in-car AC system, but with no closing windows, who’s to say how much of a difference that really makes?
All around, as Estepp’s video proves, the team at Jeffery Earnhardt Racing Experience made a street-legal race car that catches the eyes and ears of any pedestrian and brings a smile to the face of even the most tenured of NASCAR fans.
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