SPEED World Challenge
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The SPEED World Challenge is an American auto racing series that is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America. It consists of two classes: touring car and grand touring.
The series was founded in 1972, and was called "showroom stock." A revised version of the series came about in 1984. In 1985, the series got an odd title sponsor — the magazine Playboy. Whistler-brand radar detectors also sponsored the series for a time in the 1980s.
Each season usually consists of 10 rounds, with each class running a race at separate times.
Some popular cars in the SPEED Touring Car class include the Acura RSX and TSX, Mazda 6, BMW 330i, Audi A4, Dodge SRT4, Ford Focus, VW Jetta and Mercedes-Benz C230. The more powerful SPEED GT cars include the Chevrolet Corvette, Dodge Viper, Porsche 911 GT3, Cadillac CTS-V, Volvo S60, Aston Martin DB9 and Pontiac GTO.
The series is named for the network that broadcasts it: SPEED Channel. When SPEED Channel was SpeedVision, it was called the SpeedVision World Challenge. SPEED Channel commentator Leigh Diffey was the voice of the series until the end of 2004. Beginning in 2005, Diffey was replaced by Greg Creamer.
A rival series organized by IMSA, the Firestone Firehawk Racing Series, also featured two similar classes of competition and existed in the 1980s and 90s.
