The minute Chris Windom exited his midget at Eldora Speedway’s 4-Crown Nationals, one could visualize the weight falling from his shoulders.
On the face of it, this might seem to be an odd observation given that finding victory lane is far from uncharted territory for the Illinois-born driver. The great thing about records is they rarely lie. By any measure, Windom has enjoyed a remarkable career.
With all three USAC touring titles under his belt and two victories in the grueling Little 500 at Anderson (Ind.) Speedway, several Halls of Fame await him. Yet, at this moment past performance was the farthest thing from his mind. Regardless of how many times you have done it nothing beats the feeling of winning.
However, the experience is even sweeter when you have suffered through a dry spell.
Two seasons ago Windom, 32, took his career in a radically new direction. He was bored with racing the same old schedule against the same set of actors. It was understandable. Windom had been racing regularly with USAC since he was 17. Needing a jolt, winged sprint car racing seemed a fresh alternative.
His rookie season with the All Star Circuit of Champions was a bit of a character builder. The past year was better. Windom second in points, marking a five-position improvement from the previous campaign.
While wins have eluded him, he remains optimistic about the future.
“I think it is going OK,” he said. “You always think it could be better. I think if anything there was a lack of consistency but overall, it was a lot better than a year before. There were a lot of ups but also a lot of downs, but you’ll have that in racing. I wouldn’t say it was great, but I wouldn’t say it was bad either.”
Consistency is always the goal in racing, but it is difficult to achieve. When pressed on what might need to improve Windom has little difficulty identifying the key elements.
“I think it is a combination of everything,” he noted. “You really have to be on point every night whether it is me, the equipment, or the crew chief. Whether I was off, or the car was off one night, we didn’t always have all three of those things working together throughout the year.”
There was also a lot to learn when he moved to winged racing, and some of the lessons may have caught him off guard.
Through all of this he has been forced to temper his expectations. In a moment of candor, Windom acknowledged he quickly got a rude awakening.
“When I first started with the winged stuff, I felt like when I get the hang of this, I will be able to out drive a lot of these guys. I was so accustomed to non-winged racing that I thought you could carry your car somewhat even if your equipment, or setup wasn’t perfect,” Windom explained. “That’s hard to do in a winged car because for one thing there are just so many competitive teams and everyone is so close.
“It is hard to take a 15th-place car and make it a top-10 car. I’m not saying that I was carrying a car every night with USAC, but there you can find lines and outsmart and outdrive a guy. I felt I could do that a lot more in the non-winged car. Now it is not near as easy to take a car that is not way better than the next guy and just drive around him.”
Top equipment is needed to win at every level, but when passing is more difficult qualifying becomes more critical.
Windom learned that each race was like an evolving chess match.
“I think early in the night, especially on a bigger track, engines are huge,” he said. “In a winged race you must have a really good engine and it has to be fueled and tuned just right. Then once you get later in the night the engine part becomes less important because everyone de-tunes their engines. Then the set up becomes more important.
“It’s funny,” Windom continued. “Everyone builds the biggest and baddest engines they can for two laps, and then you take the hood off and try to kill a hundred horsepower for the rest of the night.”
Windom excelled on the biggest and fastest tracks during his USAC career.
However, his best winged results have come on bullrings.
“I still really enjoy the winged cars on big tracks just like I did the non-winged car,” he said. “But right now, it is easier for me to get better results on smaller tracks. When you go to the bigger tracks it is hard to beat guys with more experience or someone who has a crew chief who has been doing it a long time. I go to Knoxville and Eldora and get my ass kicked, but I enjoy going back and trying to figure out how I am not going to get my ass kicked the next time.”
There is nothing wrong with getting an education, but the fact remains, when you have been a consistent winner, not winning is difficult to swallow.
“I would say that has been the toughest part,” Windom said. “But I will say I have also really enjoyed it because I love challenges. I have been trying to get better every night. It is a good feeling when you think you have learned something, and you know not to do that again.
“It is like that every time I get on the track now. It almost feels like I have started my racing career all over again. So, I do enjoy that. But I do get frustrated when people come up and say, ‘Oh man, you won all those races, and you aren’t now.’ It’s like yeah, I know, you don’t have to tell me.”
Windom is fully committed and feels welcomed by a new set of peers.
“Everyone has been great,” he said. “They know what I accomplished in USAC and respect that. I have had a lot of good people try to help me.”
Perhaps Windom has been battered a bit, but he is far from down. He is too talented and mentally tough to give in.
“I can get discouraged in the heat of the moment or after the race is over, but I am still enjoying it,” he said. “I think the needle is pointing up and I think I can still be really successful in winged racing.”