Not a formal award, the USAC Triple Crown is a fraternity of racers whose diversity of talent has allowed them to find victory on any type track, in any size car and against some of the most daunting competition in American open-wheel racing.
It entails winning the USAC midget, sprint car and Silver Crown national championships. When Chris Windom claimed the 2020 NOS Energy Drink Midget championship in November, he became the seventh member of that elite group in USAC’s 65-year history.
The 30-year-old Windom, who’s raced since he was 10, secured the USAC Silver Crown championship in 2016 and the sprint car crown in 2017. Going into this past season becoming a member of the Triple Crown club was a goal.
“I can’t put into words what this means to me,” Windom said. “It’s special. This is all I’ve thought about for the last three or four months. It’s the pinnacle, to win the Triple Crown of the USAC series. That was a goal I set out for after I won the sprint car and Silver Crown championships. It means a lot to put my name on a list that only has six other guys.”
Pancho Carter initiated the Triple Crown concept. One of the most talented drivers of any era, Carter began racing quarter midgets as a child. When he turned to full-time racing, he stormed out of California and landed in USAC with his throttle foot planted firmly to the floor.
Remarkably, in his first season, he captured the 1972 USAC midget championship. He went on to win 23 USAC midget features, including the famed Hut Hundred twice.
As good as he was in midgets, however, Carter was even better in the fire-breathing USAC sprint cars. He earned 43 victories and two sprint car national championships. When he won his first in 1974, he became the first driver in USAC history to win a championship in more than one division.
Carter made history again when he added yet a third championship to his already impressive résumé, the 1978 Silver Crown Championship (then known as the Dirt Track Championship).
“I’ve always been a competitive person in everything I attempt,” said Carter, speaking of the versatility required to win the Triple Crown. “It never mattered to me what kind of car I drove. Hell, I’d race anything.”
Another driver who has raced many types of cars successfully is Stewart. Perhaps, the most versatile driver of our era when he became the second man to take the Triple Crown, he one-upped Carter by winning all three of his championships in a single season.
In 1995, the 24-year-old won 13 races across the three divisions, with the Silver Crown title going down to the final race of the year at Cal Expo in Sacramento, Calif.
Uncommon for him, Stewart had not won a race in the 10-race season. He trailed Dave Darland by 155 points and Jack Hewitt by 147. When they both dropped out of the Sacramento hundred miler, Stewart finished second, clinching the title by two points.
Stewart, who’s said whatever type car he’s in at the moment is his favorite, had it a little easier in the sprint car and midgets. He drove Glen Niebel’s V-6 sprint car and started the midget season driving a car owned by Ralph Potter. But in a bold move, he switched to Steve Lewis’ No. 9 Beast midway through the campaign.
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