Watch live video of the radical street-legal race car from the January 2011 issue of HOT ROD!
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MotorTranscript
00:00 Modified cars are referred to as the most powerful cars in NASCAR.
00:03 It's pretty obvious they handle well on the track considering how they're built for it,
00:07 but how would one handle on the street?
00:09 Well, thanks to Todd Gregory and Brian Fischel, we're going to find out.
00:13 No, this isn't some fancy video work we've done or some backcountry road where no policeman sits.
00:26 That's really a full-fledged Southern Modified car you're seeing on the street.
00:30 And we're going to take a little ride.
00:32 [engine revving]
00:46 Woo!
00:48 [engine revving]
00:59 I always thought there was a difference between having a car that's street-legal
01:03 and a car that is street-of-old.
01:06 Street-legals have headlights, taillights, muffler, speedometer, all that other good stuff.
01:13 When I have it street-of-old, you can make a track straight.
01:17 This car was built to only turn left.
01:20 I'm sitting really far on the left-hand side of this car.
01:25 The bright tires are way on out there.
01:30 I can take my hands off the wheels and this thing tracks pretty straight.
01:36 To me, I would think that would be the worst part of the build to make it street-legal.
01:42 This car, along with being legal, is also competitive.
01:49 It can be race-ready in 20 minutes.
01:51 The street tires are even sized so that when the race tires are mounted,
01:54 they can track down to its competitive height, ready to race.
01:59 The car is actually owned by Brian Fischel,
02:02 who also owns the #44 car that currently runs in the Wheelin' Southern Modified Tour.
02:07 The main thing about this I love is, look, I'm in blue jeans and a shirt.
02:21 No fire suit, no full-face helmet, none of that.
02:25 Heck, I could be in a speedo if I wanted to.
02:30 But we'll save that for another time.
02:33 Before the car saw the street, it ran in the ASA Southern Modified Series
02:39 and finished 5th in the points when the ASA Southern Modified Series ended two years ago.
02:44 The engine is the same engine it ran in when it ran competitively,
02:49 with the correct curb weight as written on the hood of 2,728 pounds
02:53 and the 370 cubic inch engine producing around 600 horsepower.
02:58 It's a pretty nasty street car.
03:00 So far so good.
03:02 First red light here.
03:06 The idea for the car came from Todd Gregory, the man driving.
03:15 It lasted about a year to finish, starting with a checklist brochure from the DMV.
03:19 Family and friends jumped in, adding the trailer brake lights with operating signals.
03:23 According to an official, this was the hardest part of the entire build.
03:26 Generic fog lamps up front, speedometer, horn, a little hot rod style windshield wiper
03:32 was all the car needed to be legal.
03:34 Oh, and don't forget about the huge 15 inch rain tires.
03:39 (engine revving)
03:42 (engine revving)