In 1971, John Reilly and Tom Divoll designed a racing game that relied purely on skill. Published by 3M, it was called Speed Circuit.

Championship Formula Racing is a redesign and reimagining of that game. While skill remains paramount in car design (where players build a car's attributes for the race--start speed, acceleration, deceleration, top speed, and tires) and in running the race, the game has changed to include rules for:

- new tracks (to allow a dozen cars to race competitively)
- drone cars to fill out a race field (up to 12 cars in a field now) which will race competitively
- historical racers
- rules for differing types of tires and pitting
- eliminate the need for a speed log, using a more modern system of record-keeping in its place