Category | Sprint car racing |
---|---|
Country | United States Canada |
Inaugural season | 1978 |
Drivers | 356 (2017) |
Tire suppliers | Continental AG |
Drivers' champion | David Gravel |
Makes' champion | Maxim |
Teams' champion | Big Game Motorsports |
Official website | World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series |
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, originally known as the World of Outlaws (often abbreviated WoO) is an American national touring dirt track racing series. It is owned and operated by World Racing Group, and was rebranded when the World of Outlaws Late Model Series was introduced. [1] The Sprint Car Series has been sponsored by Monster Beverage's NOS Energy Drink since 2019. [2]
The series is a national tour of high power to weight, custom fabricated sprint cars. The race cars feature large adjustable wings on the top and large rear tires that transfer their power to the dirt tracks they race on. The series travels primarily the United States, but has sanctioned races in Canada, Mexico, and Australia. The series was founded in 1978 by Ted Johnson, a former midget racer from Madison, Wisconsin. At the time sprint car racing in the United States lacked a true national series. Johnson organized the World of Outlaws sanctioning body and established a national schedule, a set of rules and a points system to crown a champion of his series. [3] [4]
In 2003, Johnson sold the series to Boundless Motor Sports Racing, later renamed Dirt Motorsports and currently World Racing Group (WRG). [5] In 2004 WRG extended its subscription-based streaming service (DIRTVision), to the Outlaw series. It originally offered radio broadcasts of all races, and added video streaming to select races, until reaching the full calendar in 2018. Select races are broadcast on delay nationally on the CBS Sports Network [6] [7] with MavTV showing the Knoxville Nationals since 2013. [8] Previous broadcasters include The Nashville Network and Speed Channel shown live or on delay.
A WoO Sprint Car must weigh at least 1,425 pounds (646kg) with the driver in the car. [9] The mandated 410-cubic inch engine (6.7 litre) produces over 900 horsepower, uses mechanical fuel injection and must run on methanol fuel. The series' specification tire manufacturer works with the World of Outlaws to designate legal tire compounds for a circuit among different compounds available to competitors, as the tire must suitably respond to the track surface. Tire technicians will reject certain compounds at certain circuits if they are unfit for the surface or may provide an unfair advantage. The series' cars have a large top mounted wing with sideboards that face opposite directions to help produce a great amount of downforce to help the car turn and maximize grip, both in the corners and on the straightaways. The cars also have smaller wings on the nose to provide more downforce to the front wheels. [10] [11]
Sprint cars use "quick change" rear ends. This allows the teams to quickly change the gear ratio for different size tracks. [12] Most cars use a torsion bar suspension system. Different size bars either soften or stiffen the suspension. Torsion bars, and specialty shock absorbers are the key ingredients in the handling of sprint cars. That coupled with the wings, tire stagger, light weight, and enormous horsepower make these cars some of the fastest race cars in the world. The monstrous power-to-weight ratios of Sprint Cars can exceed that of Formula 1 cars in the right circumstances. [11]
Sprint Cars have a very distinct stance since they have two very different sized rear tires. The right rear tire on a sprint car is 105 inches in circumference. In contrast, the left rear tire is only between 90 and 98 inches in circumference, depending on the track size and conditions. The difference in the tire sizes is called stagger. The more stagger the car has, the sharper the car can turn, but at the expense of straight line speed. [10] [13] Sprint cars do not have starters, so push trucks are used to push the cars to start the engines. Sprint Cars only have an in/out direct drive with a fixed gear ratio, no reverse gear and no clutch. [10] [14]
Source: [15]
Note: Includes all full-field preliminary race wins. Those with a yellow background indicates Knoxville National winners. Updated November 9, 2024. [19]
Driver | Wins | Championships |
---|---|---|
1. Steve Kinser | 690 | 20 |
2. Sammy Swindell | 394 | 3 |
3. Donny Schatz | 316 | 10 |
4. Mark Kinser | 203 | 2 |
5. Doug Wolfgang | 140 | |
6. Danny Lasoski | 122 | 1 |
7. Joey Saldana | 105 | |
8. David Gravel | 103 | 1 |
9. Dave Blaney | 95 | 1 |
10. Brad Sweet | 91 | 5 |
11. Daryn Pittman | 86 | 1 |
12. Stevie Smith | 84 | |
13. Jac Haudenschild | 72 | |
14. Bobby Davis Jr. | 66 | 1 |
14. Craig Dollansky | 66 | |
16. Jason Meyers | 58 | 2 |
17. Jeff Swindell | 51 | |
18. Carson Macedo | 47 | |
19. Logan Schuchart | 42 | |
19. Andy Hillenburg | 42 | |
19. Sheldon Haudenschild | 42 | |
22. Shane Stewart | 36 | |
23. Kyle Larson | 35 | |
24. Bobby Allen | 30 | |
25. Kerry Madsen | 28 |
Source: [15]
Season | Driver | |
---|---|---|
1979 | Tim Green | |
1980 | Bobby Davis, Jr. | |
1981 | Jeff Swindell | |
1982 | Brad Doty | |
1983 | No award issued | |
1984 | Mark Kinser, Greg Wooley | |
1985 | No award issued | |
1986 | Johnny Herrera | |
1987 | Cris Eash | |
1988 | Andy Hillenburg | |
1989 | Joe Gaerte | |
1990 | Stevie Smith | |
1991 | Jim Carr | |
1992 | Aaron Berryhill | |
1993 | Greg Hodnett | |
1994 | Sid Blandford | |
1995 | Randy Hannagan | |
1996 | Joey Saldana | |
1997 | Donny Schatz | |
1998 | Dale Blaney | |
1999 | Tim Shaffer | |
2000 | Danny Wood | |
2001 | Jeff Shepard | |
2002 | No award issued | |
2003 | Jason Sides | |
2004 | Kraig Kinser | |
2005 | Shane Stewart | |
2006 | Chad Kemenah | |
2007 | Kerry Madsen | |
2008 | Lucas Wolfe | |
2009 | Brian Ellenberger | |
2010 | Ben Gregg | |
2011 | Cody Darrah | |
2012 | No award issued | |
2013 | David Gravel | |
2014 | Brad Sweet | |
2015 | Jason Johnson | |
2016 | Greg Wilson | |
2017 | Sheldon Haudenschild | |
2018 | Ian Madsen | |
2019 | Carson Macedo | |
2020 | Wayne Johnson | |
2021 | James McFadden | |
2022 | Spencer Bayston | |
2023 | Giovanni Scelzi | |
2024 | Michael Kofoid | |
Here is a list of top paying and more popular race events each year. Most are two days or more.
Final night features are usually based on points earned on the previous night's races.
An asterisk marks single-day events where the entire program is run on one day.
Track | Event | Winner's purse |
---|---|---|
Eldora Speedway | * Kings Royal | $175,000 |
Knoxville Raceway | Knoxville Nationals | $150,000 |
Huset's Speedway | Huset's High Bank Nationals | $250,000 |
Eldora Speedway | Historical Big 1 | $100,000 |
Williams Grove Speedway | National Open | $75,000 |
Jackson Motorplex | Jackson Nationals | $25,000 |
Skagit Speedway | Skagit Nationals | $25,000 |
Williams Grove Speedway | Summer Nationals | $25,000 |
Beaver Dam Speedway | Jim "JB" Boyd Memorial | $20,000 |
Federated Auto Parts Raceway at I-55 | Ironman 55 | $20,000 |
Devil's Bowl Speedway | Texas Outlaw Nationals | $20,000 |
Williams Grove Speedway | Summer Nationals | $20,000 |
Attica Raceway Park | * Brad Doty Classic | $15,000 |
Port Royal Speedway | Nittany Showdown | $15,000 |
Eldora Speedway | Knight Before the Kings Royal | $12,000 |
Silver Dollar Speedway | Gold Cup Race of Champions | $12,000 |
The Dirt Track at Charlotte | World Finals | $12,000 |
Driver | |
---|---|
Steve Kinser | 20-time series champion, 690 career WoO wins, 12-time Knoxville Nationals winner, "The King of Sprint Car Racing", National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member |
Sammy Swindell | 1981–1982, 1997 WoO Series champion, 394 WoO series wins, 1983 Knoxville Nationals winner, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member |
Doug Wolfgang | 140 career WoO wins and 5-time Knoxville Nationals winner, 1976–1977 Knoxville Raceway track champion, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member |
Donny Schatz | 10-time Series Champion, 306 career WoO wins, 11-time Knoxville Nationals winner. |
Mark Kinser | 1996 and 1999 WoO Series Champion, 203 WoO series wins, 3-time Knoxville Nationals winner, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member |
Danny Lasoski | 2001 Champion, 122 WoO series wins, 4-time Knoxville Nationals winner, IROC race winner, 11-time Knoxville Raceway Champion, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member |
Joey Saldana | 105 career WoO wins, won 20 feature events in 2009, 2-time Kings Royal winner, 2-time Gold Cup winner, 74 All Star Circuit of Champions wins |
Lee Osborne | founding member of WoO, 6 career WoO wins. Won the 1981, 1982, 1983 All Star Circuit of Champions Championship, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member. Founder of OzCar chassis, builds custom hot rods in New York. |
Bobby Allen | founding member of WoO and posted 30 career wins, 1990 Knoxville Nationals winner, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member, WoO Shark Racing team owner |
Rick Ferkel | founding member of WoO, 21 series wins, known as the Ohio Traveler, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member |
Jac Haudenschild | Winner of the biggest race in Sprint Car history Mopar Million, 72 WoO series wins, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member |
Ron Shuman | 1979 Knoxville Nationals winner, 24 WoO series wins, 4-time CRA Sprint car champion, 3-time SCRA sprint car champion, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member |
Dave Blaney | Former NASCAR Cup Series driver, 1995 WoO Series Champion, 94 WoO wins, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member |
Shane Carson | former WoO driver, promoter, VP of race operations, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member and board member, 1978 Knoxville Track Champion, 1986 NCRA Dirt Champ series champion |
Jeff Gordon | 4-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion, 12 USAC Midget wins, 2 USAC Silver Crown wins, 5 USAC Sprint wins, 1990 USAC Midget Champion, 1991 USAC Silver Crown Champion |
Kasey Kahne | NASCAR Cup Series driver, 2000 USAC Midget Champion, 11 USAC Midget wins, 3 USAC Silver Crown wins, WoO team owner |
Tony Stewart | 3-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion, 1995 USAC Triple Crown Champion, WoO Team owner, Eldora Speedway track owner, All Star Circuit of Champions series owner. |
Ken Schrader | NASCAR Cup Series driver, 21 USAC Midget wins, 6 USAC Silver Crown wins, 4 USAC Sprint wins, 1982 USAC Silver Crown Champion, 1983 USAC Sprint Champion |
Kyle Larson | 2021 Kings Royal champion, 2021, 2023 and 2024 Knoxville Nationals champion, 2013 NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year, 2014 NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year, 2020 and 2021 Chili Bowl Nationals midget champion, 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion |
Johnny Herrera | 1996 Eldora Speedway Kings Royal Winner, 1995 410 sprint car track champion at Knoxville Raceway |
Greg Hodnett | 5-time Williams Grove track champion, 73 Williams Grove track wins, 20-time WoO race winner, 52 wins at Port Royal Speedway, 4-time Central PA Champion |
Don Kreitz Jr | National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member, 12 WoO series wins, 83 Williams Grove Speedway wins and 4-time track champion, Pennsylvania team owner |
Keith Kauffman | National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member, 13-time Port Royal Speedway Champion (129 wins), 2-time Williams Grove Speedway Champion (51 wins) |
Bobby Davis Jr. | 1989 WoO Series Champion, 66 WoO series wins, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member |
Lealand McSpadden | 1978, 1993, 1995 Western World Champion, 1991 Chili Bowl (race) Midget Champion, 1992 Belleville Midget Champion, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member |
Christopher Bell | 2017, 2018, and 2019 Chili Bowl Nationals champion, NASCAR Cup Series driver |
Rico Abreu | Former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver. 2015 and 2016 Chili Bowl Nationals midget champion |
Brad Doty | 18 WoO series wins, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member, Media member and Doty Classic race promoter |
Erin Crocker | First female driver to win a World of Outlaws event, former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driver, radio journalist. |
Bryan Clauson | 38 USAC Midget wins, 2 USAC Silver Crown wins, 41 USAC Sprint wins, 2010–2011 USAC Midget Champion, 2012–2013 USAC Sprint Champion, 2014 Chili Bowl Nationals champion, 2012, 2015, 2016 Indianapolis 500 starter, National Sprint Car Hall of Fame member. |
Jason Johnson | 2016 Knoxville Nationals winner, 12 WoO series wins, 5-time ASCS National Sprint car champion, 79 ASCS National wins, 9 All Star Circuit of Champions wins |
Brad Sweet | 2019, 2020 and 2021 WoO Series Champion, 74 career WoO wins, 2018 Knoxville Nationals winner, former NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series driver. |
Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size motorsport circuits. Karting is commonly perceived as the stepping stone to the higher ranks of motorsports, with most Formula One drivers—including Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Kimi Räikkönen, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel, Nico Rosberg, and Max Verstappen—having begun their careers in karting.
Sprint cars are open-wheel race cars, designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Historically known simply as "big cars," distinguishing them from "midget cars," sprint car racing is popular primarily in the United States and Canada, as well as in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Superkart is a form of motorsport road racing that uses karts on long circuits. The bigger difference between a superkart and most other forms of kart is that they have full aerodynamic bodykits, as well as having a longer wheel base than sprint chassis, and are generally raced on car circuits over 1,500 metres in length. The power unit, most often but not exclusively two-stroke 250 cc engines, can be specially designed kart engines or production motorcycle engines with either five- or six-speed sequential manual gearboxes. Owing to their high top speed and superb cornering ability, a superkart's aerodynamic bodywork includes a front fairing, larger sidepods, and a rear wing. They use either 130-or-150-millimetre-diameter tires and wheels and most often race on full size auto-racing circuits.
Dirt track racing is a form of motorsport held on clay or dirt surfaced banked oval racetracks. Dirt track racing started in the United States before World War I and became widespread during the 1920s and 1930s using both automobiles and motorcycles, spreading throughout Japan and often running on horse racing tracks. There are a myriad of types of race cars used, from open wheel Sprint cars and Modifieds to stock cars. While open wheel race cars are purpose-built racing vehicles, stock cars can be either purpose-built race cars or street vehicles that have been modified to varying degrees. There are hundreds of local and regional racetracks throughout the United States and also throughout Japan. The sport is also popular in Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Donald R. Schatz is an American professional sprint car racing driver who competes full-time in the World of Outlaws, driving the No. 15 Ford for Tony Stewart Racing. Schatz is a ten-time champion in the World of Outlaws with a current total of 315 wins.
Bryan Timothy Clauson was an American professional auto racing driver, best known for his achievements in dirt track open-wheel racing, such as USAC Silver Crown, Midget and Sprint cars. Clauson was increasingly seen competing with the World of Outlaws (WoO) sprint cars in his last couple of years. Clauson also competed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Indy Lights, and IndyCar Series and was a development driver for Chip Ganassi Racing.
Williams Grove Speedway is a half-mile dirt racing track located in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, United States. The speedway opened on May 21, 1939, it has been owned by the Hughes family for over 50 years and has hosted many of the most notable national touring series and some of those most prestigious races in the country. The speedway is entering its 81st year of operation, with racing every Friday from March to October and other special events. One of these special events is the $75,000 to win National Open for sprint cars sanctioned by the World of Outlaws racing series held in late September or early October each year.
Lernerville Speedway is a 4/10 mile dirt oval automobile race track located in Sarver, Pennsylvania, United States. It is currently owned by Ted Tomson who runs Tomson Scrap Metal. Lernerville currently hosts the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series and the High Limit Racing sprint car series. 2024 will mark the 57th season for the track. The track features the "Fab 4" divisions weekly on Fridays from mid April through August. These divisions include the "Big Three"- 410 Sprints, Super Late Models, and Big Block Modifieds, and is the only track in the country to run all three on a weekly basis.
Modified stock car racing, also known as modified racing and modified, is a type of auto racing that involves purpose-built cars simultaneously racing against each other on oval tracks. First established in the United States after World War II, this type of racing was early-on characterized by its participants' modification of passenger cars in pursuit of higher speeds, hence the name.
The following is a glossary of terminology used in motorsport, along with explanations of their meanings.
The Brockville Ontario Speedway is a 3/8 mile dirt track in the city of Brockville, Ontario, Canada. It is located on County Road 29 about 10 kilometres (6 mi) northwest of Brockville. Commonly known as "The BOS", the track has been running a weekly racing schedule for most summers since 1969. The BOS has also run Go-Karts on Wednesday nights since 2005. They race on a smaller oval on the infield of the track.
Joey Saldana, known as the "Brownsburg Bullet", is an American sprint car racing driver. He is the son of former sprint car and Indy car driver Joe Saldana.
Beaver Dam Raceway is a one-third mile banked clay oval track located in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, U.S.A. The track holds weekly races over the Northern American summer months. It hosts an annual World of Outlaws sprint car races. The 2013 U.S. Dirt Legends Nationals event was held at the track. The World of Outlaws Late Model Series added an event in 2020. It has held midget car events on the POWRi Midget Racing and USAC National Midgets national tours.
Bradley Kirk Sweet is an American professional race car driver and a veteran of the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, driving the No. 49 for Kasey Kahne Racing, where he has earned the nickname 'The Big Cat'. Sweet was formerly a JR Motorsports development driver in the NASCAR Nationwide Series.
Kevin Swindell is an American former racing driver and entrepreneur, who has competed in USAC and NASCAR competition. He has won 77 races in various dirt racing series including the Chili Bowl Nationals. Swindell is the son of three time World of Outlaws Sprint Car champion Sammy Swindell. Swindell owns and operates Swindell Speedlab, a clothing brand as well as Victory Fuel, a brand of flavored water.
Rico Emanuel Abreu is an American professional dirt track and sprint car racing driver. Abreu won the 2014 USAC National Midget Series championship, and previously competed in the K&N Pro Series East in 2015 scoring one win.
Christopher David Bell is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 20 Toyota Camry XSE for Joe Gibbs Racing, part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 20 Toyota GR Supra for JGR, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 1 Toyota Tundra for Tricon Garage. He is the 2017 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion.
David Gravel is an American professional racing driver. He last competed full-time in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, driving the No. 2 Maxim for Big Game Motorsports, in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing, and in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 28 Chevrolet SS for KBR Development. Gravel won the 2024 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Championship. Gravel won the Knoxville Nationals in 2019.
Amber Balcaen is a Canadian professional stock car racing driver. She competes full-time in the ARCA Menards Series, driving the No. 22 Toyota Camry for Venturini Motorsports. She is most known for being the first Canadian woman to win in a NASCAR-sanctioned race in the United States.
World Racing Group, Inc. (WRG) is a licensing, sanctioning and promotional organization aligned with oval dirt track auto racing. Through its World of Outlaws and DIRTcar brands, WRG supports individual races and racetracks, and also operates national touring series.