[opnwhlmnd]

Two things happened in 1978 that changed the world of sprint car racing and the most popular form of it.

1. USAC had a devastating plane crash that took the lives of many top leaders and officials.
2. Ted Johnson started the World of Outlaws and the "Run Whaca Brung".

USAC and traditional, non-wing, whatever you want to call it, has never recovered from the plane crash.

The World of Outlaws kept growing and because of that winged sprint cars are by far the most popular form of sprint car racing. They just had a weekend that paid out over 2 million dollars for the four days and also broke an attendance record for Eldora Speedway.

Before 1978 we could call them sprint cars and winged sprint cars. Today they are sprint cars and non-wing sprints cars.