In 1972, the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) formed a new club racing class for absolutely stock street

automobiles.  The class was called “showroom stock”, and the original rules imposed a price ceiling on the cars of $3,000 – pennies in comparison to today’s racing budgets.  From those humble origins, showroom stock racing grew in popularity over time, manufacturer interest, cost and number of participants. 

A number of changes were made in 1986, six races were held, including two 24-hour events. In 1987, the number of races jumped to eight.

A dramatic off-season followed the 1989 Escort Endurance championship, in which the series was completely restructured and renamed.  For 1990, the Escort World Challenge Championship was born.

The Escort World Challenge featured two classes of competition following the restructuring.  The top class, World Challenge, showcased high-performance sports cars like the Chevrolet Corvette and Louts Esprit Turbo.

In 1992, the series underwent another major facelift.  One more class was created, and the classes were renamed A, B, C and D, with some cars re-classified to meet market needs.  Endurance races were a thing of the past beginning in 1992.  All races became one-hour sprints.

In 1993, the D class disappeared as the Eagles grew turbos and moved into the B class with the BMS M3.

The off-season between 1998 and 1999 proved to be the most pivotal for the World Challenge, as the Speedvision Network – a cable broadcasting station dedicated to the fastest things in the air, water and the road – became a part owner in the series and its title sponsor.  Exposure and purses grew exponentially, as did the fields.  The 1999 season would average nearly 50 cars per race between the two classes.

In 2000, both series ran separately for the first time and standing starts made their debut.  The season saw giant jumps in participation, averaging over 70 cars per event between the two series.

In 2001, new changes included a new spec tire from Toyo Tires, and boosted purses across the board due to various new sponsors.

In 2002, Speed Channel took over for Speedvision as the title sponsor after Speedvision was bought by Fox and renamed.  The series names changed to Speed World Challenge, Speed GT and Speed Touring Car, respectively.

Thanks in part to both a highly competitive racing format and top-notch drivers, SPEED World Challenge moved even closer to the forefront of the road racing landscape in 2004.  In its September issue, Car and Driver magazine called World Challenge “The best road racing in the country.”  Telling its readers what World Challenge enthusiasts had known for years.

SPEED World Challenge ratcheted up the “wow” factor a few more levels in 2005 as both the SPEED GT and SPEED Touring Car Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships were in doubt until the very end of the year.  That was especially the case in SPEED GT, which was fittingly named the “most competitive road racing in the world” by RACER Magazine in its June issue.