High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Sprint cars are high-powered race cars designed primarily for the purpose of running on short oval or circular dirt or paved tracks. Sprint car racing is popular in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Sprint cars have a high power-to-weight ratio, making speeds in excess of 140 miles per hour (230 km/h) possible on some tracks. 800 horsepower (600 kW) is commonplace for these machines. The safety record of sprint car racing in recent years has been greatly improved by the use of roll cages to protect the drivers. Many IndyCar Series and NASCAR drivers used sprint car racing as an intermediate stepping stone on their way to more high profile divisions, including Indianapolis 500 winners AJ Foyt, Mario Andretti, Johnny Rutherford, Parnelli Jones, Johnnie Parsons, and Al Unser Jr., Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, J. J. Yeley, P. J. Chesson, Sarah Fisher, and Ed Carpenter.