The series was founded in 1978 by Ted Johnson, a former midget racer from Madison, Wisconsin, at a time when sprint car racing in the United States lacked any coherent national touring structure. Johnson established the World of Outlaws sanctioning body, created a national schedule, codified a rulebook, and introduced a points system to crown a champion across a season of events rather than relying on standalone race results. The name "World of Outlaws" became synonymous with nomadic, hard-charging dirt track racing — drivers and teams that lived on the road, chasing races across the continent.
In 2003, Johnson sold the series to Boundless Motor Sports Racing, which was later renamed Dirt Motorsports and subsequently World Racing Group (WRG), the organisation that continues to own and operate the series. The rebranding to "World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series" (with the longer-form "NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series" reflecting sponsorship) occurred when the World of Outlaws Late Model Series was introduced as a sister championship. Since 2019, the series has been sponsored by Monster Beverage's NOS Energy Drink brand.
World of Outlaws sprint cars are custom-fabricated machines built to tight technical regulations. Cars must weigh at least 1,425 pounds (646 kg) with the driver aboard. The mandated 410-cubic-inch (6.7-litre) engine produces over 900 horsepower, runs on methanol fuel, and uses mechanical fuel injection rather than carburettors or electronic injection. The combination of extreme power and low weight produces power-to-weight ratios that can rival or exceed those of Formula 1 machinery under certain track conditions.
The defining visual feature of a World of Outlaws car is the large top-mounted wing with opposing sideboards, which generates substantial aerodynamic downforce to maintain cornering grip on the loose, ever-changing dirt surface. A smaller nose wing provides additional front-end downforce. Rear tyres are substantially mismatched in circumference — the right rear running approximately 105 inches in circumference against a left rear of 90 to 98 inches — creating stagger that helps the car rotate through corners at the expense of straight-line speed. The degree of stagger is one of the key setup variables adjusted by teams for different track sizes and conditions.
Sprint cars have no starter motor, requiring push trucks to fire the engines before each session. They run a direct in/out drive with no reverse gear and no conventional clutch, meaning control inputs during close racing or pit manoeuvres must account for the drivetrain's limitations.
A typical World of Outlaws race night follows a structured progression: motor heat and wheel packing, hot laps (practice), time trials where qualifying times set the initial grid, heat races, a Toyota Dash that positions the fastest qualifiers at the front of the main event, Last Chance Showdown races for drivers who missed the feature transfer, and the Feature (A-Main) as the main points-paying event, typically running 25 to 55 laps depending on the event.
Popular events on the calendar include multi-day showpiece races at major facilities, with the Knoxville Nationals at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa standing as the most prestigious sprint car race in the world, attracting competitors from outside the regular World of Outlaws tour. The series travels a gruelling national schedule, historically covering well over 80 events per season, making it one of the most demanding racing calendars in any category.
World Racing Group extended its subscription-based streaming service, DIRTVision, to the World of Outlaws series in 2004. The platform initially offered radio broadcasts of all races, adding video streaming to select events before reaching full-season coverage by 2018. Select races have been broadcast on delay nationally on the CBS Sports Network, with MavTV showing the Knoxville Nationals from 2013 onwards. Previous broadcasters included The Nashville Network and Speed Channel.
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series is one of the defining institutions of American dirt track racing. Its format — continuous national touring, a diverse range of circuits, fierce competition among full-time professional teams — gave sprint car racing a structure comparable to other national touring series for the first time, elevating the profile of the discipline significantly from its roots as a collection of regional programmes. The series has produced champions of enduring stature and provided a national stage for drivers from across the United States who might otherwise have competed only in local or regional circuits.
The physical and mental demands of the World of Outlaws schedule, combined with the unforgiving nature of winged sprint car racing on dirt, have made the series synonymous with a particular ethos of hard, uncompromising oval racing that remains distinct from the stadium-focused or road-course-oriented mainstream of American motorsport.