Sprint car racing in the United States before 1978 lacked a unified national competition structure. Ted Johnson, a former midget racer from Madison, Wisconsin, organized the World of Outlaws sanctioning body to fill that void. He established a national schedule, a standardized rulebook, and a points system to crown a recognized champion. The series took its name partly to evoke the outlaw nature of the independent racing culture it sought to formalize.
In 2003, Johnson sold the series to Boundless Motor Sports Racing, later renamed Dirt Motorsports and subsequently World Racing Group (WRG). WRG also operates the World of Outlaws Late Model Series, which prompted a rebranding of the original series to the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series to distinguish the two properties. NOS Energy Drink, a brand of Monster Beverage, became the title sponsor in 2019.
The World of Outlaws travels primarily across the United States, though it has also sanctioned events in Canada, Mexico, and Australia. A typical race night program moves through motor heat and wheel pack, hot laps, time trials, heat races, the Toyota Dash (which sets the starting order for the fastest cars), last chance showdown races for those who did not advance, and finally the feature event, known as the A-Main. Feature races range from 25 to 55 laps depending on the venue.
Points are accumulated across the full season and a champion is crowned for each year. A Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year award honors the best first-season competitor.
World of Outlaws sprint cars are among the most specialized and extreme racing machines in the world. Each car must weigh at least 1,425 pounds (646 kg) with driver aboard and is powered by a mandated 410-cubic-inch (6.7-litre) engine producing in excess of 900 horsepower. The engine runs on methanol fuel with mechanical fuel injection. No starters are fitted; push trucks start the engines before each event.
The cars feature a large top-mounted wing with sideboards, angled in opposite directions to generate significant downforce for cornering grip. A smaller nose wing provides additional front-end downforce. The combination of enormous power and aerodynamic grip gives these cars power-to-weight ratios that can rival or exceed Formula 1 machinery under certain conditions.
Sprint cars use quick-change rear ends, allowing teams to swap gear ratios rapidly between sessions to suit different track sizes. The suspension is typically a torsion bar system, with bar stiffness and specialty shock absorbers dialed in alongside wing adjustment and tire choice. A distinctive feature is the difference in rear tire sizes: the right rear is 105 inches in circumference while the left rear runs between 90 and 98 inches, a setup called stagger. More stagger sharpens cornering ability at the cost of straight-line speed. The cars have no reverse gear and no clutch.
World Racing Group extended its DIRTVision subscription streaming platform to the Outlaw series in 2004, initially providing radio broadcasts of all events before adding video streaming to select races and eventually covering the full calendar by 2018. Select races are broadcast on delay on the CBS Sports Network nationally. The Knoxville Nationals, one of the most prestigious events on the calendar, has been televised on MavTV since 2013. Previous broadcasters have included The Nashville Network and Speed Channel.
The series calendar includes several prestigious annual events that draw the highest car counts and largest purses. The Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa is widely regarded as the most important dirt sprint car race in the world. Other marquee events include multi-day programs where final-night features are determined by points earned in preliminary nights.
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series transformed dirt sprint car racing from a loosely connected collection of regional shows into a coherent national sport. By establishing rules, a points system, and a touring schedule that drivers could plan their seasons around, Ted Johnson created the infrastructure that allowed sprint car racing to develop its own star system. The series has since produced some of the most celebrated names in dirt track racing and continues to serve as the sport's defining national stage.