USAC (INDIANAPOLIS) - WINDOM FEATURE

Chris Windom, just 16 years old and one of the best young prospects on the USAC trail, has a few Midwest sprint car races under his belt and the beginning-of-the-season jitters are now past news.

With a productive week of racing producing a competitive start to Chris' season, he and his Windom Motor Sports crew are headed to a double-header weekend and USAC's traditional war of the states when "Border Wars" takes them to the ¼-mile Gas City (IN) / I-69 Speedway on Friday, and then on to Tony Stewart's renovated Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, on Saturday, for a pair of USAC National Sprint Car Series shows.

"The more seat time a young driver can get, the better," Chris stated. "It's only going to help me progress and grow. That is why we are trying to run as many local track events in Indiana as we can. This week, we're going to run Gas City on Friday with the USAC National Sprint Car Series, then Eldora on Saturday. When time allows, we'll be in Gas City each Friday, then run Kokomo (IN) Speedway on Sundays if there's not another USAC race. We're basically hoping to run at least three races a weekend. We're even going to try to run some CRA Sprint car shows out west throughout the year. That's a lot of laps, and that's hopefully going to give me the experience I need to win races and championships. Starting our season at the Chili Bowl in January, and running a lot of early-season races leading into the regular Midwest season, is also helping me to start the USAC season strong instead of just trying to shake off the rust in April. Hopefully that will give me an advantage in the beginning over the rest of the guys."

Former champions of the two-race "Border Wars" series include Tony Stewart (1995), Brian Tyler (1996-1997-1998 and 2000), Hines (1999, 2002-2003), J.J. Yeley (2001), Jay Drake (2004-2005) and Coons (2006). This is the first year that the Eldora Speedway is included in this prestigious pair of events.

Chris, who has run Gas City in the past, but has never turned a lap on Eldora's banks, is philosophical about the newest challenge on his huge 2007 schedule: "A lot of people have talked to me about running at Eldora Speedway. Their advice was just to respect the track, and that's what I'm planning on doing. I'll take my time and get acclimated before I get too racy, so I think everything should be fine."

Brian Cripe, the Windom Motor Sports team manager, crew chief, and resident "go-to guy" for everything that Chris needs on the race track, is widely known as one of the best sprint car mechanics in the country, and is completely impressed with what he's seen in the young hotshoe.

"The basic thing is that he picks up on things so quickly," Cripe explains. "He can instinctively tell you what is going on with the car, what is right or wrong, and what to change, which makes him a better race car driver. A lot of veteran drivers I've been around can't do that. He's so knowledgeable about the whole deal, and he's easy to work with. He's got a real understanding of where to put himself on the race track - he's not all over the place, and he holds his line really well. People like to race with him because he races them cleanly. He's always in control of his car on the race track. I've seen guys who have 15 years experience who aren't nearly as good as he is with their racing line. He's running right with the best of the best each week. He's definitely not scared of speed - he loves it, which is going to make the rest of the season pretty exciting."

With engines producing upwards of 800 horsepower, the USAC National Sprint Car Series rocket ships combine the thrill of raw power with the heart-stopping action of non-wing Sprint car racing. Dirt rooster tails, wheel stands and three-wide racing are the norm when these bad boys come to town. Sprint cars also run on paved tracks, and any driver with aspirations of a championship must be able to negotiate both dirt and pavement.