When the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series rolls into Mesquite, Texas, this weekend for the Texas Outlaw Nationals at Devil's Bowl Raceway, fans will look backward as well as forward.

In 1978, Ted Johnson had a great notion.

Sprint car racing was fractured, just as stock car racing had been in the late-1940s. It needed a unifying body like NASCAR had done for full-bodied cars.

A series with bigger purses and a national points champion would revolutionize sprints.

Because it was bucking the status quo, Johnson tabbed the series the World of Outlaws.

"Outlaws" was the moniker given to traveling sprint car racers who cherry-picked events across the countryside looking for the highest purses. Their first race was held on the equally enigmatically named Devil's Bowl Raceway.

Dues of $10 earned drivers a chance to race in events that paid no less than $2,000 to win.

Some of the biggest names in sprint car racing turned up on the half-mile oval east of Dallas. Jimmy Boyd from Sacramento, CA, won and then followed the series periodically throughout the season. He beat Doug Wolfgang--one of the biggest names in sprints at the time--to the line. Sammy Swindell also finished in the top five.

The parallels to NASCAR continued. In their first race, Jim Roper beat a cast of racers who went on to define that sport.

Fast forward 40 years and the World of Outlaws returns to Devil's Bowl on Friday, April 14, and Saturday, April 15, to compete for a purse of $100,000.

This week, the biggest names in sprint cars will once again line up alongside local favorites. The car count will be less than the 96 that showed up in 1978, but the competition will be just as stout.

Notably, last week's winners in Arizona were a pair of series non-regulars. Brian Brown won at Cocopah Speedway in Somerton, AZ, with Rico Abreu corralling the Outlaws at Arizona Speedway in Queen Creek.