Sprint Cars

Sprint Cars Sprint car racing has been around in the United States for many years. The first winged sprint car was built and driven by Jim Cushman in 1958, while the first World of Outlaw tour was in 1978. With the cars speed increasing, winged sprint cars were becoming more and more popular. Adding a wing to the top of the car and the nose(front) increased the downforce generated on the car, with the opposite direction of the sideboards helping to turn the car in the corners. The addition of wings also made the cars easier to control. The most popular winged sprint car series today, is the World of Outlaw Sprint Car Series(WoO). There are still non-winged sprint cars out there today. The most popular racing series is the United States Automobile Club(USAC). Non-winged sprint cars can still hit speeds over 100 miles per hour. Setup wise, the World of Outlaws and the USAC's are very similar since they both run 410 cubic inch motors. The major difference is that the World of Outlaws don't have a transmission, clutch or flywheel. Because there is no transmission each car has to be pushed out to the track by a four wheeler or pickup to get started. Also, the World of Outlaws run a bigger right rear tire. This is because more weight is out on the right rear in corners. A lot of times the car will only have three, sometimes two tires on the ground in turns. USAC cars run all four of the same tires.

You can either watch a race on dirt or asphalt tracks. The World of Outlaws race on only dirt. While the USAC's can race on both dirt and asphalt. The most common racing surface around here is dirt. The World of Outlaws race on two tracks here in Kansas, Dodge City and Kansas City. However, the USAC sprint cars race mostly on asphalt in California and dirt here in Kansas. The only tracks in Kansas that the USAC's compete on is in Dodge City and Wichita. Both the World of Outlaws and