The World of Outlaws World Finals has found a comfortable place within the mixture of short-track racing’s crown jewel events.
World Racing Group promotes the season-ending event for the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series, the World of Outlaws CASE Construction Equipment Late Model Series and the Super DIRTcar Series big-block modifieds along with the ownership of the track where it’s hosted — The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C.
This year’s 15th edition of the spectacle has expanded to a fourth day and runs Nov. 2-5.
“Each event has its place in the schedule and the record books and history,” World Racing Group Chief Executive Officer Brian Carter said. “Nothing is going to compete with the likes of the Knoxville Nationals, The Dream, the Kings Royal or Super DIRT Week, these massive 50-year events. They all have a different place. DIRTcar Nationals hasn’t paid the money the Knoxville Nationals has, but it has a place that kicks off the season.
“World Finals has a place in the history books of being the year-end celebration for just about every fan. This one is on the younger side of what we believe to be in the top-tier events.”
The event debuted in 2007 and for the first three years it featured only the World of Outlaws sprint cars and late models. The Super DIRTcar Series big-block modifieds were added to the program beginning in 2010.
Since then — other than in 2020 when the event was canceled because of COVID-19 — the World of Outlaws World Finals has showcased all three elite divisions throughout a multiple-day show at the dirt oval located on the grounds of Charlotte Motor Speedway.
“In the very early part it didn’t include the big blocks,” Carter said. “We added in the big blocks and when you look at it, it was something that was unique at the time. It’s one of the few places in the country that could handle not only the racing, the fans, but the logistics of having something of this magnitude. It was a collaboration between Charlotte Motor Speedway and World Racing Group.
“Let’s do something different. It was a big bet and we didn’t know what we were going to get,” Carter continued. “The first year was a good start. We didn’t spend a tremendous amount of money. If I recall, we broke even.
“They have a lot of resources and we have a lot of resources. It takes the combined resources of the entities to pull that event off. People, timing, staffing, vehicles, property, utilities, connectivity — it’s a crazy amount. On top of that you have 80 or 90 World of Outlaws teams wanting to get done by 9 o’clock so they can have fun with their friends.”
Donny Schatz has won a quarter of the World of Outlaws sprint cars features during that span, earning a trip into victory lane seven times in 28 features. Jason Meyers and David Gravel are tied for second with four triumphs each, including three of the last four races for Gravel.
“It’s packed stands,” Schatz said. “You have three different forms of racing so it’s a sell-out crowd. You get to see people you don’t typically get to see throughout the season. Historically, it’s been a very good track for me so, hopefully, we can continue that this year.”
Joey Saldana is the only other multiple-race winner with a pair of victories. Steve Kinser, Brooke Tatnell, Sammy Swindell, Dale Blaney, Paul McMahan, Daryn Pittman, Brian Brown, Dusty Zomer, Jason Johnson, Ian Madsen and the most recent winner, Brent Marks, have all produced a single feature win at the event.
Jimmy Owens leads the way in the World of Outlaws late models with seven event triumphs. Jonathan Davenport, who swept last year’s event, has five victories. Scott Bloomquist is a four-race winner and Josh Richards and Brandon Sheppard have each ventured into winner’s circle a trio of times. Darrell Lanigan and Chris Madden both have a pair of wins.
Single-race winners are Donnie Moran and Dennis Erb Jr.
Brett Hearn has garnered a division-best four Super DIRTcar Series big-block modifieds victories, including the most recent race. Tim McCreadie won three of the first four features and Matt Sheppard also has three triumphs. Jimmy Phelps, Tim Fuller, Danny Johnson and Stewart Friesen each have a pair of victories.
Tim Kerr, Mat Williamson, Billy Decker and Alex Yankowski, who was victorious last year, all have a single win.
The three top-notch divisions in one event have also played to the entertainment of many drivers.
“They are doing a great job of giving the fans tons of entertainment value,” three-time World of Outlaws champion Brad Sweet said. “I think it’s good for the brand. A late model fan might not get to see a lot of sprint car racing and maybe they leave there as a sprint car fan and vice versa.
“It’s turned into a big event. I think it’s a deal that’s better for the fans than the racers. They get to see all the different forms of racing coming together. It’s the last event of the year. For us it’s working around each other. I love watching the late models and the big blocks put on a good show as well. It’s always fun to race in front of 18,000 or 20,000 people. It has a great atmosphere.”
World of Outlaws sprint car rookie-of-the-year contender Spencer Bayston has circled the event on his calendar throughout the last few years.
“There are certain races we go to that are weekly events with lots of excitement,” he said. “Some of those events where you can see and feel how many more people are there with more motorhomes, more people tailgating, more people walking around and more in the grandstands, it brings a different energy. When you’re on the track you’re by yourself and in your own world. During the four wide with the pyrotechnics, looking into the grandstands is a cool feeling. It makes me think of how special it is what I get to do with the World of Outlaws.”
Carter notes one of the biggest successes throughout the evolution of the event has been seeing the grandstands stay packed no matter what type of race car is on the track.
“We’ve done what we’ve wanted to do, which is to cross over fans,” he said. “It used to be two different crowds. When the sprint cars were on the track the late model fans would go to the concessions and when the late models were on the track the sprint car fans would go. This event has been about the immersion in all the types of race cars. The event is about the race fans and talking with the drivers to celebrate the year.”
The decision was an easy one to jump the World of Outlaws World Finals from a three-day show to a four-day spectacle, Carter said.
“More and more people are here earlier in the week,” he said. “We wanted to entertain those race fans a little more. We thought it’d be good value for the fans. We always heard a lot from the racers that it’s a hard three days of racing. When you look at what we’ve added there’s actually more chance for the racers to interact with the race fans and a better opportunity for everybody to enjoy Charlotte.
“We’re getting close to the max you can do to the property.”
That isn’t stopping Carter and the event officials focused on growing the World of Outlaws World Finals from drawing up plans on continuing to build the season-ending spectacle.
“The desire for the big payoff season finale, this is the direction,” he said. “A lot of prize money was added this year. It was a big step for the prize money. You’re multiplying whatever prize money by three. Candidly, the fans come for all three classes now. There’s a lot more to it than the money. It’s the stature, the attention.
“I have no intentions of finding the ceiling. I want to keep pushing and pushing. My job is to create awareness and bring people to the race track. If we can get people to the track most of the time they will be very happy with the entrainment we put on.
“We’re in a place now with probably more awareness than it has ever been in sprint car racing from the social media aspect, the content of digital distribution along with our partnership with CBS,” Carter added. “The awareness is as high as ever. It’s my job to do everything we can to get them to the track. As long as we do that, I don’t think we’ll find a ceiling.”