Before the World of Outlaws was established, sprint car racing in the United States lacked a unified national touring structure. Ted Johnson organized the World of Outlaws sanctioning body to bring top drivers and teams together under a single national banner. The series name evoked the freewheeling, rough-and-tumble culture of dirt track racing's traveling circuit.
In 2003, Johnson sold the series to Boundless Motor Sports Racing, which was later renamed Dirt Motorsports and eventually became World Racing Group. Under World Racing Group, the series expanded its broadcast footprint through a subscription-based streaming service called DIRTVision, which initially offered radio coverage of all races before adding video streaming to select events and eventually covering the full calendar by 2018. The series has also been broadcast on the CBS Sports Network, and Monster Beverage's NOS Energy Drink has served as title sponsor since 2019.
World of Outlaws sprint cars are purpose-built, custom-fabricated machines designed exclusively for dirt oval racing. The cars must weigh at least 1,425 pounds with the driver aboard. A mandated 410-cubic-inch engine — approximately 6.7 litres of displacement — produces more than 900 horsepower, using mechanical fuel injection and running on methanol fuel.
The most visually distinctive feature of a World of Outlaws sprint car is its large top-mounted wing with sideboards that face in opposite directions, generating substantial aerodynamic downforce to maximize grip through corners. A smaller front wing on the nose provides additional downforce to the front wheels. The combination of enormous power, light weight, and wing-generated downforce gives these cars power-to-weight ratios that can exceed those of Formula 1 cars under certain conditions.
Sprint cars use a direct-drive transmission with no starter, no reverse gear, and no clutch. Teams rely on push trucks to start the engines before each session. The cars use torsion bar suspension systems, and rear ends are designed as "quick-change" units, allowing teams to swap gear ratios rapidly between sessions to suit track conditions and size.
Tire setup is a critical performance variable. World of Outlaws sprint cars run two very different-sized rear tires: the right rear is 105 inches in circumference, while the left rear runs between 90 and 98 inches depending on track size and conditions. This difference in tire circumference — known as stagger — causes the car to turn more sharply, at the cost of straight-line speed. Series officials actively designate approved tire compounds for each circuit to ensure fair and safe competition on varying dirt surfaces.
A standard World of Outlaws event follows a structured program. Sessions begin with motor heat and wheel pack, followed by hot laps and time trials, where drivers complete two qualifying laps and the fastest determines their starting position in the heat races. Heat races set the initial grids, with the top finishers advancing directly to the Toyota Dash, which sets the front rows of the A-Main feature.
Drivers who do not advance through the heat races must compete in Last Chance Showdowns — B-Mains, C-Mains, or D-Mains, depending on the number of cars entered — for remaining feature starting positions. The A-Main feature, the headline event of the night, typically runs between 25 and 55 laps.
Several events on the World of Outlaws calendar carry outsized prestige and prize purses. The Knoxville Nationals, held annually at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa, is widely considered the most important race in sprint car racing and draws competitors from across the country and internationally. The series also races in Canada, Mexico, and Australia, though the core schedule is concentrated in the United States.
The Knoxville Nationals has been broadcast on MavTV since 2013, further elevating its profile beyond the series' core fanbase.
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series transformed American dirt track racing by creating a national touring structure where one had not previously existed. It gave drivers a clear path to compete at the top level of sprint car racing and provided fans across the country the opportunity to see elite competition at local tracks.
The series has served as a launching pad and parallel career path for drivers who also compete in NASCAR and IndyCar, cementing sprint car racing's reputation as one of the most demanding and technically challenging forms of American motorsport. The physicality of the cars — requiring constant adjustment of aerodynamic setup, tire stagger, suspension, and gearing — demands exceptionally skilled car control from its competitors, particularly on unpredictable and ever-changing dirt surfaces.