World of Outlaws

Overview

The World of Outlaws is a traveling championship series featuring custom-built sprint cars with an exceptional power-to-weight ratio. These machines are equipped with large, adjustable top wings and oversized rear tires designed to channel their power into dirt tracks. While the series primarily tours the United States, it has also held sanctioned events in Canada, Mexico, and Australia. Ted Johnson, a former midget racer from Madison, Wisconsin, created the series in 1978. At that time, sprint car racing in the U.S. lacked a unified national tour. Johnson established the World of Outlaws as a sanctioning body, putting together a national schedule, a consistent rulebook, and a points system to determine a season champion. In 2003, Johnson sold the series to Boundless Motor Sports Racing, which later became Dirt Motorsports and is now known as World Racing Group (WRG). The following year, WRG brought its subscription-based streaming service, DIRTVision, to the Outlaws. Initially, the service offered radio broadcasts of every race, then added video streaming for select events, eventually covering the full calendar by 2018. Some races air on a delayed basis nationally on CBS Sports Network, while MavTV has broadcast the Knoxville Nationals since 2013. Earlier television partners included The Nashville Network and Speed Channel, which showed races either live or on tape delay. A World of Outlaws sprint car must weigh at least 1,425 pounds with the driver inside. The required 410-cubic-inch engine, displacing 6.7 liters, generates over 900 horsepower, runs on methanol, and uses mechanical fuel injection. The series works with a designated tire manufacturer to approve specific tire compounds for each track, ensuring they suit the surface and do not give any competitor an unfair edge. Tire technicians can reject compounds that are unsafe or provide an advantage. The cars feature a large top wing with sideboards angled in opposite directions to generate substantial downforce, improving cornering and straight-line grip. A smaller nose wing adds extra downforce to the front wheels.