Sprint car racing in the United States lacked a true national series before 1978. Ted Johnson, a former midget racer from Madison, Wisconsin, organized the World of Outlaws sanctioning body to establish a national schedule, a unified rules framework, and a points system to crown an annual champion. The series gave the sport a consistent identity and allowed top drivers to compete on a national stage rather than regionally fragmented circuits.
In 2003, Johnson sold the series to Boundless Motor Sports Racing, a company later renamed Dirt Motorsports and subsequently World Racing Group. World Racing Group extended its subscription-based streaming service, DIRTVision, to the series in 2004, initially offering radio broadcasts and later adding video streaming that covered the full calendar by 2018. Select races air on a tape-delay basis on CBS Sports Network, while MavTV has broadcast the Knoxville Nationals since 2013. Previous broadcast partners included The Nashville Network and Speed Channel.
The series was rebranded as the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series when World Racing Group introduced a companion Late Model Series, distinguishing the two touring properties under the World of Outlaws banner.
World of Outlaws sprint cars are custom-fabricated open-wheel machines built to a demanding technical formula. Each car must weigh at least 1,425 pounds with the driver aboard. The mandated 410-cubic-inch engine displacing approximately 6.7 litres produces over 900 horsepower, running on methanol fuel through mechanical fuel injection with no electronic engine management.
A large top-mounted wing with outward-facing sideboards generates significant downforce to help the car rotate through corners and maintain grip across both straight sections and sweeping bends. Smaller nose wings provide additional front-end downforce. Together the aerodynamic elements allow the cars to carry exceptional corner speeds on loose dirt surfaces.
Rear tires are deliberately mismatched in circumference, a setup called stagger. The right rear tire measures 105 inches in circumference while the left rear runs between 90 and 98 inches depending on track size and conditions. Greater stagger sharpens cornering response at the cost of straight-line speed, and teams choose their stagger based on track layout and surface character.
Sprint cars use quick-change rear ends that allow teams to swap gear ratios rapidly between sessions to suit different oval sizes. Most cars rely on torsion bar suspension, with bar diameter tuned to adjust stiffness. There is no starter motor; push trucks are required to fire the engine before each session. The cars have no reverse gear and no clutch, using only a direct in-and-out drive arrangement.
A typical World of Outlaws race night follows a structured ladder format designed to place the fastest cars and drivers in the showcase feature event. The program opens with motor heat and wheel pack sessions, followed by hot laps where drivers become familiar with the track surface. Time trials determine qualifying positions, usually based on two timed laps with the fastest of the two counting.
Heat races are drawn from qualifying results. A Toyota Dash locks in the front rows of the main event for the quickest qualifiers. Last Chance Showdown races — labeled as B-Main, C-Main, or D-Main depending on the car count — offer the remaining competitors a final opportunity to transfer into the feature. The feature event, called the A-Main, runs between 25 and 55 laps depending on the event.
The Knoxville Nationals, held at Knoxville Raceway in Iowa, stands as the most prestigious event on the World of Outlaws calendar. It draws the largest fields of the season and commands the highest purses, with its status cemented by decades of tradition as the de facto world championship of winged sprint car racing. Other marquee events on the schedule include multi-day shows that use cumulative night-one points to set the starting grids for final-night features.
The World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series transformed sprint car racing from a collection of regional associations into a coherent national touring series with recognizable stars, consistent rules, and growing media coverage. The format it established — time trials feeding heat races feeding a main event — became the template for dirt track racing programs across the country. The series has attracted some of the most successful open-wheel drivers in American short-track history, and its combination of extreme horsepower, mechanical simplicity, and dirt-oval venues continues to define the sport's identity.