The series began in 1982 as the NASCAR Winston Racing Series, providing a structured championship for drivers competing at local NASCAR-sanctioned tracks on a weekly basis. When tobacco advertising restrictions under the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement forced the end of Winston sponsorship in 2001, Dodge assumed title rights, renaming the series the Dodge Weekly Series through 2006. Whelen Engineering picked up the sponsorship in 2007, and the series ran under the Whelen All-American Series name until Advance Auto Parts assumed naming rights in June 2020.
Unlike NASCAR's national touring series, which hold discrete race events on a national calendar, the Whelen All-American Series aggregated results from weekly racing at hundreds of participating short tracks. Tracks range from quarter-mile to five-eighths-mile in length, with a mix of paved ovals and dirt surfaces. The eligible car classes include Super Late Models, Late Models, pavement Modifieds (Tour Type and SK formula), dirt Modifieds and Late Models, and street stocks — the mix at any given track determined by that track's own program within NASCAR's Weekly Series guidelines.
The points system evolved multiple times over the series' history. The original format from 1982 to 2004 used a competition performance index based on four weighted factors: winning percentage, top-five finish rate, average car count relative to other tracks in the region, and total feature starts. From 2005 onward the system simplified to a position-based points structure, with bonus points tied to the size of the starting field.
In 2005 the Whelen All-American Series (then the Dodge Weekly Series) became the first NASCAR-sanctioned series with a permanent presence outside the United States, as tracks in Saint-Eustache, Quebec; Delaware, Ontario; and Wetaskiwin, Alberta became participating venues. Canadian tracks have remained part of the series structure since.
Larry Phillips of Springfield, Missouri, stands as the most decorated champion in series history, winning six national titles in 1989, 1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, and 2004 across the Winston and Whelen eras. Philip Morris of Ruckersville, Virginia, won five national championships in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2011, and 2018. Lee Pulliam of Semora, North Carolina, claimed four titles in 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Josh Berry won the 2020 championship and later advanced to the NASCAR Cup Series.
The Whelen All-American Series name represented the most prominent and longest-running identity for NASCAR's local racing structure, lasting thirteen seasons from 2007 to 2020 and giving the grassroots level of the sport both visibility and a credible national championship framework. By incorporating hundreds of tracks across the United States and Canada under a single points umbrella, the series functioned as the widest developmental base in NASCAR's pyramid, channeling talent from weekly short-track competition upward through the regional and national series. The series continues as the NASCAR Local Racing Series.