GAS CITY, Ind. – Chris Windom made a statement on Thursday night at Gas City I-69 Speedway, leading from start to finish en route to winning the second annual James Dean Classic.
Windom, who qualified sixth but ended up on the pole thanks to the feature inversion, took off on the initial start and never looked back. He kept a hard-charging Justin Grant at bay throughout the 30-lap distance for his first USAC sprint car victory at the Gas City quarter-mile and his fourth of the season.
“It definitely feels good to check this one off the list,” said Windom in victory lane. “I’ve had a lot of podiums here without a win in these USAC races. Starting on the front row was key tonight. The track was hooked up all night long and it was tough to pass cars, but I’m glad we were able to get it done.”
The road to victory wasn’t all smooth for the Canton, Ill., native, however – as he explained afterward.
“This is a testament to my guys; we actually blew a drive shaft out of it right before the feature and had to bust our butts to get it changed,” Windom noted. “We got it back together, though, and got us a win here finally. It’s always sweet, but when we can overcome something like that and win the race without even really being able to look at the track beforehand … it’s a pretty neat deal for all of us.”
Windom’s march was only slowed by a trio of caution flags, which began on lap seven after Thomas Meseraull spun to a halt in the infield after the engine expired on his No. 00 sprinter.
The second caution of the night waved with six to go, when Scotty Weir looped his car around in the fourth corner, followed by a final caution for debris that set up a three-lap sprint to the checkered flag.
None of that was of any consequence to Windom, however, as he pulled away on the final restart and crossed the finish line in front by .808 seconds in the end.
Tyler Courtney, who rolled off seventh, made a last-lap pass of Grant to secure runner-up honors and left Grant to settle for the final step on the podium as part of a NOS Energy Drink sweep of the top three spots.
Kevin Thomas Jr. crossed in fourth and USAC National Sprint Car Ironman Chase Stockon was fifth.
Point leader C.J. Leary, Brady Bacon, hard-charger Jason McDougal, Isaac Chapple and Max Adams completed the top 10.
To view complete race results, advance to the next page.