Race cars are cool. What little boy doesn’t grow up and want to drive race cars? I mean, they are loud, fast, and look awesome. What’s not to love? In fact, if you play your cards right, you can even title one as a street-legal car and register it with a tag and everything. But what about cars that race but aren’t exactly a ‘race car’? 

Example. You have a sports car that you race on the weekends at the local track. Maybe a BMW, maybe a spicy little Subaru. But the thing is, you live in a state that is less-than-friendly towards vehicles that don’t meet emissions requirements. Not a big deal for the track; usually, there are provisions for off-highway vehicles to operate legally. 

But since a track car isn’t a dedicated race car, how can you get it street-legal when your state doesn’t want to? Let’s find out. 

What Is A Track Toy Versus A Race Car?

Ok, so this is all well and good. We probably have a good idea of a real race car, and we might even know why it isn’t allowed on public roads (no lights, no horn, 200mph, etc.)

But what about a car that isn’t a dedicated race car but is used to race? These are track cars, although they also fall under the umbrella of rally cars or road racing. The preeminent organization overseeing these activities is the Sports Car Club of America, or SCCA for short. 

The SCCA has done much good work for the racing community to access property nationwide so normies can burn rubber in their Miata. One of the best examples I know of was when the SCCA came to a smallish regional airport where I used to work. It was a former Air Force base in the 1960s and still had a gigantic parking apron for the bombers that had been stationed here. This airport has never been able to keep commercial air service (regional airlines), so the SCCA reached out and asked if they could use the parking apron as a race track. It didn’t last all that long because the city freaked out having racing cars only separate from the active taxiways by jersey barriers. Still, it illustrates the creativity of the organization to seek out wasted space.

SCCA Cars

So, the SCCA has several different categories in which you can participate. But for the sake of simplicity, let’s leave it at this: your car will fit into a racing category, so you are racing comparable cars (class). The idea is that you can race cars that are street-legal designs. Without getting into the weeds, the cars can only be modified within the specified limits for their class. The idea here is to learn racing and for ordinary folks to participate in the sport. This can be done relatively inexpensively, and there are chapters nationwide. 

Lemons Car

Okay, so a moment of transparency: I had never heard of Lemons racing. I didn’t know what I was missing!

Lemons is just like it sounds: the car has to be under a $500 price point (you can spend whatever you need on safety gear, though). You buy it, make it race-safe, and get in on the track. This type of racing is all about having fun and creativity. The sky is the limit for designs:

• Unicorns

• Mashups (the Chevy C-10 front clip on a Porsche is amazing)

• Total junkers

These cars are definitely not highly modified, although their street legality certainly may come into question in an anti-fun state like Colorado or California. 

Is It Hard to Make A Track Car Street Legal?

The short answer: no. It isn’t hard to make a lot of cars street-legal. 

The longer answer: it all depends on the state. 

See, these track cars are not dedicated race cars; they are all street-legal cars that were produced with all required DOT items, including:

• Lights

• Horns

• Mirrors

• Seat belts

• Etc.

In fact, you could argue that they are all much safer than the average car because the racing associations all have safety equipment requirements that far exceed DOT standards, such as:

• Welded roll cages

• Door braces

• Fuel cells

Unless the owner has intentionally gutted the lights (why bother), it is still a street-legal car. And since an automaker produced it, it will still have a VIN.

What Do You Need To Make It Street Legal

Now, here’s the kicker: your car probably has a VIN and all of the things that make it street-legal, but if it has been passed along a bunch of times as a track car, it may not have a title. Or, if you are into Lemons, you definitely may have picked up a $500 clunker to race without any intention of street driving, so the title condition didn’t matter to you. But now you realize that driving your Unicorn to the local Dollar General sounds pretty fun! 

Well, here’s the good news! If you have a clean title that came with the car, you can easily register it. However, if your home state puts the kibosh on cars driving that won’t pass inspections, you might have to develop a Plan B. 

And that Plan B is to register your car through our out-of-state registration program. It’s straightforward, especially if you have a clean title in hand. Just select the program, fill out the information we need, and then we will send you the paperwork, along with detailed instructions. Once you send back the paperwork, we will deal with the rest. No inspections, waiting lines, or rude DMV clerks (you know it’s true). 

Does It Have To Pass Inspection?

Nope, your track whip does not have to pass any inspections. We partner with states that do not require safety OR emissions inspections. You can register your vehicle from any state in America using the Dirt Legal process. Once you do, you will have a completely street-legal car again. 

Since your track car is a factory car, you may decide down the road that you don’t want to race it anymore, but if the emissions gear is removed to race, you could be totally SOL in California (or other states, for that matter). That’s ok. With the Dirt Legal registration service, your track racer will return to the road in no time. 

Can I Really Drive My Lemon Racer Legally?

Of course, you can really drive your lemon racer legally! I’m not sure why you would unless you made its appearance totally unique (again, the Unicorn is epic). But we don’t discriminate. Who are we to judge if you want to roll up to Kroger or Loaf N’ Jug to grab a latte and a bear claw? 

If your Lemons racer has a VIN, we can get it titled and registered for you, plain and simple.

Parting Thoughts

We have previously written about and tagged a real-life race car. While it was a very cool project and turned out to be a smashing success, most people don’t have the time, energy, or means to convert a real race car. But lots of folks participate in track racing. Why should you relegate your track car to the garage when it isn’t racing? Especially in states that make tagging cars hard? We don’t think you should. Check out our registration program today to get your track car back on the road!