Chris Windom USAC Eastern Swing Pre-Race Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 6, 2007 Contact: Janie Vogel, (440) 915-7627, racingpr@oh.rr.com CHRIS WINDOM GRANDVIEW / BIG DIAMOND / HAGERSTOWN PRE-RACE ADVANCE & WEEKEND REVIEW USAC Eastern Swing An Important Week Of Races For Chris Windom Weather, Mechanical Woes Continue To Plague Team in Beaver Dam CHRIS' WEEKEND PLANS. DATE TRACK LOCATION SERIES TYPE 6/6 Grandview Speedway Bechtelsville, PA USAC National Sprints 1/3 high-banked clay 6/7 Big Diamond Raceway Minersville, PA USAC National Sprints 3/8 semi-banked clay 6/9 Hagerstown Speedway Hagerstown, MD USAC National Sprints 1/2 semi-banked clay SPRINT CAR #17 DRC chassis / Claxton engine (dirt) (INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - June 6, 2007): 16-year-old Chris Windom, of Canton, Ill., in the thick of the USAC National Sprint Car and Midget Car schedule, is headed to Eastern Pennsylvania and Western Maryland for USAC's first multi-race trip to that part of the country in 30 years. Grandview Speedway in Bechtelsville hosts the Wednesday night, June 6th opener. The "Thunder on the Hill" program concludes with a 35-lap Sprint feature on the 1/3-mile clay oval. On Thursday night, June 7th, the series makes its inaugural visit to Big Diamond Raceway in Minersville, where a 30-lap Sprint feature caps the action on the .384 mile dirt oval. The ARDC Midget Series is also in action at both Grandview and Big Diamond. The 60th Anniversary of Hagerstown Speedway concludes the three-race swing on Saturday night, June 9th. The Sprint car feature on the 1/2-mile banked dirt track is 30 laps. "It's really important for me to do well during this Eastern swing," Windom said. "It would bring the team's confidence up for the year, and give us an opportunity to add to our points in each series, which have been slipping the last month because of our constant mechanical troubles. It would be a good deal all the way around for our whole team to get good finishes all week - that could set us up for a really productive summer." Windom can only guess what is ahead this week as far as these new tracks, but he's ready for that challenge. "I heard one of the tracks is a fast, high-banked track like Kokomo, which is the kind of track I really like to run," Windom said enthusiastically. "Since I have not been to any of these tracks on this Eastern swing, we just have to guess. However, no one else has been to those tracks either, which means we could do well based on what I know I can do. A good draw and a tiny bit of luck might not hurt us at this point in the season, though. I'm really excited to run these new tracks, but especially the half-mile at Hagerstown - I am comfortable on the big, half-mile dirt tracks, as I love the speed." Aside from the normally tough USAC competition that Windom faces each week, these upcoming races may showcase some of Pennnsylvania's best winged racers who might decide to join the non-winged party. "The winged guys will be just as competitive as we are, because they are used to those tracks," Windom explained. "A race car is a race car, no matter if you have a wing on it or not, and if they are good with a wing, they'll be good without a wing, most likely. They are pretty competitive, though. They usually are because they are just good race car drivers, regardless of what they are driving." Last week's string of races in Wisconsin proved to be another exercise in frustration for the Windom Motorsports Team. Two rain outs and a mechanical failure were the end result for the weekend. "It was very frustrating," Windom stated emphatically. "After the Friday night rainout at Dodge County, we were really looking forward to a good night at Charter Raceway Park. We started out pretty bad, which got us behind the eight ball right off the bat, and then we wrecked in hot laps (Windom "biked" the car, and when the car fell back on all four tires, it broke a lot of parts on the #17). Then we were just scrambling the rest of the night. We were good in the feature, and after starting 17th, we were slowly working our way up and were probably in the 8th or 9th position when a bolt fell off of the radius rod and it slipped off - a really bizarre situation. Too bad for everyone on our team, though, because the car was really good before that happened. Another dose of bad luck. "But the good news is that I'm pretty sure we've got our mechanical problems under control with both of our dirt sprint cars that we'll need for this week's races. I think they are fixed for sure after the Haubstadt race last week." Deciding to stay in Wisconsin and take in the Badger Midget Series race at Angell Park Speedway in Sun Prairie on Sunday, the team was looking forward to racing with some of the best dirt Midget car racers in the country at one of the most competitive racing facilities anywhere. However, that was a fruitless pursuit, as Mother Nature once again ended their chances of racing by pounding the region with an insurmountable amount of rain earlier in the day. "Rain is just something you have to assume might happen every race, regardless of the weather forecast. I can't do anything about it. The best way I've dealt with it is to just plan to race, and when it looks like it might happen, plan to take the time to just hang out with my friends and relax a bit since we're usually already in the town we're racing in that night. It's not good, but you usually know that it's potentially going to happen, so the best thing to do is to plan for an option." The team decided to make the most of the day in Wisconsin by traveling south to Milwaukee and the legendary Milwaukee Mile, where the Indy Racing League was staging an IndyCar Series event. They watched the entertaining 200-lap race before heading back home to their shop in Frankfort, Ind. for just a single day's worth of preparation before loading back up to head East for USAC's week of races in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Look for a completely renovated www.ChrisWindomRacing.com to be announced soon. * * * * * CHRIS WINDOM The B A S I C S . . . Full Name Christopher Windom Birthplace Canton, Ill. Residence Canton, Ill Birthdate December 24, 1990 (Age: 16) Ht. / Wt. 5' 9" / 150 lbs. Hobbies Fishing, playing guitar, playing sports Website www.ChrisWindomRacing.com (will announce re-constructed site soon) CHRIS WINDOM The B A C K G R O U N D . . . 2007 RESULTS Date Track Type /Sanction S / F 1/13 Tulsa (OK) Expo Raceway Non-sanctioned 23 / 7 1/31 East Bay (FL) Raceway Park O'Reilly Sprint Bandits 11 / 10 2/1 East Bay (FL) Raceway Park O'Reilly Sprint Bandits 13 / 7 2/2 East Bay (FL) Raceway Park O'Reilly Sprint Bandits 13 / 14 2/8 Manzanita Speedway USAC Midgets 20 / 8 2/10 Manzanita Speedway USAC Sprints 28 / 22 3/8 Las Vegas (NV) Motor Swy USAC CRA Sprints 5 / 21 3/9 Las Vegas (NV) Motor Swy USAC CRA Sprints 7 / 8 4/7 Thunder Hill Raceway USAC Midgets Cancelled-weather 4/13 Gas City I-69 Speedway Track Sprint Car event Cancelled-weather 4/14 Twin Cities Raceway Park USAC National Sprints Cancelled-weather 4/20 Bloomington (IN) Speedway Sprint car special event 5 / 4 4/21 Lawrenceburg (IN) Speedway USAC National Sprints 28 / 15 4/22 Winchester (IN) Speedway USAC National Sprints 10 / 18 * Mechanical failure caused crash half-way through the race while in 8th place 4/28 Eldora Speedway USAC National Sprints 13 / 22 * Another driver crashed into Chris before a lap was scored in the feature, ending his night. 5/4 Gas City I-69 Speedway Track Sprint Car event 16 / 8 * As with other early-season races, the motor would not idle down, causing Chris to drive the race with his brakes 5/5 Lawrenceburg Speedway Track Sprint Car event 7 / WON 5/6 Kokomo Speedway Track Sprint Car event 5 / 7 * Qualifying and starting 2nd, Windom ran with leaders and finished in a pack that could have put him 3rd had it not been for the closeness of the cars around him - a photo finish 5/11 Gas City (IN) I-59 Speedway Track Sprint Car event 3 / 8 5/12 Tri-State Speedway USAC National Midgets DNS 5/13 Kokomo (IN) Speedway Track Sprint Car event 10 / 15 5/13 Kokomo (IN) Speedway Track Midget Car event 15 / 8 5/18 Gas City (IN) I-69 Speedway Track Sprint Car event 3 / 7 5/19 Terre Haute (IN) Action Track USAC National Sprints 13 / 17 5/20 Kokomo (IN) Speedway Track Sprint car event 5 / 9 5/22 Twin Cities Raceway Park USAC National Sprints 14 / 12 5/23 Anderson Speedway USAC National Sprints 18 / 14 5/24 Kokomo Speedway Track Sprint event 19 / 19 5/24 Kokomo Speedway Track Midget event 15 / 4 5/26 O'Reilly Rwy Park at Indpls. USAC National Midgets DNS 5/27 Tri-State Speedway MSCS Sprints 17 / 8 6/1 Dodge County Fairgrounds Swy USAC/Badger Midgets Rained out 6/2 Charter Raceway Park Badger Midgets 17 / 17 6/3 Angell Park Speedway Badger Midgets Rained out 2006 * Claimed the USAC Pavement Kenyon Midget Series points Championship, winning four straight features and becoming the third-youngest champion in USAC's 51-year history; * Holds the record for consecutive victories in the Kenyon Midget Series with four. Other Series records: Most laps led (116 of 470; 25 percent); Most top-five finishes (15); Best average finish (3.13); Most races led (tied with Sammy Imel at 8); * Finished third in King of Indiana Sprint Series (KISS) points; * Finished third in Midwest Sprint Car Series (MSCS) points; * In the top-five in points at Kokomo (IN) Speedway, winning once, and in the top-10 at Bloomington (IN) Speedway; * Ran Sprint cars at least three times a week, with 11 top-five and 20 top-10 finishes at local tracks; 2005 * Moved into 410 Sprint cars, winning at highly competitive Paragon (IN) Speedway at age 14; * Ran Sprint cars locally in Indiana, with several top-five and top-10 finishes at other local tracks such as Kokomo Speedway and Bloomington Speedway; * Continued running Micro Midgets; 2004 * Won six A Mains in the Micro Midget division, leading to the track championship at U.S. 24 Speedway in Logansport; 2003 * Started racing 600 Micro Midgets; 2002 * Won two national karting events with KART series, and also had many other runner-up and top finishes; * In the WKA World Championship in at Daytona International Speedway, claimed a 4th-place finish out of 120 entries; 2001 * Kart racing with the World Karting Association (WKA), winning about 50 features; 2000 * Kart racing in the International Karting Federation (IKF); 1998-2000 * Raced karts, running local Illinois-based shows; * * * * * CHRIS WINDOM POST-RACE REPORT DODGE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS SPEEDWAY - Friday, June 1, 2006 CHARTER RACEWAY PARK - Saturday, June 2, 2007 ANGELL PARK SPEEDWAY - Sunday, June 3, 2007 CHRIS WINDOM RACE REPORT - Dodge County Fairgrounds Speedway - June 1 USAC National Midget Car Series and BMARA Badger Midget Car Series race ½-mile dirt oval / 25 laps Midget car: #17 Windom Motorsports / Bullet chassis / Esslinger engine Race Date: Friday, June 1, 2007 RACE WAS POSEPONED DUE TO RAIN - Rescheduled for Friday, August 31, 2007 * * * * * CHRIS WINDOM RACE REPORT - Charter Raceway Park, June 2 BMARA Badger Midget Series race 1/3-mile high-banked clay oval / 30 laps Midget car: #17 Windom Motorsports / Bullet chassis / Esslinger engine Race Date: Saturday, June 2, 2007 Qualified: 17 Heat Race Finish: 4 A Main Start / Finish: 17 / 17 (mechanical) A-Main Finishing Order: 1) Kuhn, 2) Jerry Coons Jr., 3) Darren Hagan, 4) Scott Hattan, 5) Mike Hess, 6) Chad DeSelle, 7) Danny Stratton, 8) Davey Ray, 9) Kenny Biro, 10) Dustin Morgan, 11) Nick Lundgreen, 12) Tim Noble, 13) Doug Schenck, 14) Brandon Waelti, 15) Russ Harper, 16) Brian Ramstack, 17) Chris Windom, 18) Jake Slotten, 19) Joe Wipperfurth, 20) Chuck Gurney Jr., 21) Brad Mosen, 22) Brad Loyet WINDOM CHARTER RACEWAY PARK POST-RACE QUOTES: "It was very frustrating. After the Friday night rainout at Dodge County, we were really looking forward to a good night at Charter Raceway Park. We started out pretty bad, which got us behind the eight ball right off the bat, and then we wrecked in hot laps (Windom "biked" the car, and when the car fell back on all four tires, it broke a lot of parts on the #17). Then we were just scrambling the rest of the night. We were good in the feature, and after starting 17th, we were slowly working our way up and were probably in the 8th or 9th position when a bolt fell off of the radius rod and it slipped off - a really bizarre situation. Too bad for everyone on our team, though, because the car was really good before that happened. Another dose of bad luck." * * * * * CHRIS WINDOM RACE REPORT - Angell Park Speedway, June 3 BMARA Badger Midget Series race 1/3-mile semi-banked clay oval / 30 laps Midget car: #17 Windom Motorsports / Bullet chassis / Esslinger engine Race Date: Sunday, June 3, 2007 RACE WAS CANCELLED DUE TO RAIN * * * * * NEXT WEEK'S RACES FOR CHRIS WINDOM: 6/14 Gas City I-69 Speedway Gas City, IN "Border Wars" Make-Up USAC National Sprints 6/15 Gas City I-69 Speedway Gas City, IN Track event 6/16 O'Reilly Rwy Park at Indpls. Clermont, IN USAC National Midgets 6/16 O'Reilly Rwy Park at Indpls. Clermont, IN USAC National Sprints 6/17 Kokomo Speedway Kokomo, IN Track event For more information: www.chriswindomracing.com www.usacracing.com www.grandviewspeedway.com www.bigdiamondraceway.com www.hagerstownspeedway.com www.indianaopenwheel.com www.midgetmadness.com www.hoseheads.com www.tjslideways.com Many Thanks To Chris Windom's 2007 Supporters: Amerilube - www.Amerilube.com Awesome Racewear - www.AwesomeRacewear.com Bell Helmets - www.BellRacing.com Born Paint Company - www.BornPaint.com Central Abrasives - www.CentralAbrasives.com Rod End Supply - www.RodEndSupply.com Sander Engineering - www.SanderEngineering.com Sellars - www.SellarsCompany.com SuperShox - www.SuperShox.com For more information on Chris Windom, please visit www.ChrisWindomRacing.com . ** An announcement for a newly designed website devoted to Chris Windom is coming soon. # # #