DONNELLSON, Iowa – Chris Windom put on a clinic to win Friday’s POWRi Lucas Oil WAR Sprint League and Iowa Sprint League combination event at Pepsi Lee County Speedway.
As a precursor to Saturday’s AMSOIL USAC National Sprint Car Series event at nearby 34 Raceway, Windom wired the 22-car field in his familiar Hayward Motorsports-owned, NOS Energy Drink-backed No. 19.
After rolling off from the outside pole, Windom soared past point man Anthony Nicholson at the outset of the 25-lap feature and never looked back after that, leading every circuit en route to a dominant victory.
“Our car felt really good all night long,” said Windom in victory lane. “We went back and forth a little bit on the setup as far as what we thought the track was going to do, and it worked out for us there. This place is really cool; I’ve never been here before, but it’s fun running the cushion like that for 25 laps.
“Derek (Claxton, crew chief), Austin, Tanner (Thorson) and Gage (Rucker) had this No. 19 hooked up and it’s good to be back racing the sprint car. We’re looking for a good three-night weekend here.”
After a victorious start to a tripleheader weekend, Windom noted he’s carrying confidence into his return to USAC competition for the first time since February on Saturday night.
“Really, this was about shaking the car down for us. We were off almost longer than what the whole offseason was, so we just wanted to make sure it felt good, and I think we’ve got a really good piece for the remainder of the weekend.”
Wyatt Burks and Dave Darland completed the podium, followed by Ohio’s Matt Westfall and Mario Clouser.
Sixth through 10th were Terry Richards, who charged forward from 20th, Cole Bodine, two-time series champion Riley Kreisel, Shane Cottle and Kory Schudy.
The finish:
1. 19-Chris Windom [2]; 2. 11W-Wyatt Burks [5]; 3. 36D-Dave Darland [3]; 4. 33M-Matt Westfall [4]; 5. 6-Mario Clouser [7]; 6. 18-Terry Richards [20]; 7. 57-Cole Bodine [18]; 8. 91-Riley Kreisel [8]; 9. 77K-Shane Cottle [14]; 10. 28-Kory Schudy [6]; 11. 77-Jack Wagner [9]; 12. 99-Korey Weyant [17]; 13. 51J-Blaine Jamison [22]; 14. N2-Nic Harris [12]; 15. 88-Terry Babb [19]; 16. 16-Anthony Nicholson [1]; 17. 73-Samuel Wagner [21]; 18. 27-Steve Thomas [15]; 19. 57X-Zach Daum [10]; 20. 22S-Slater Helt [13]; 21. 118-Scott Evans [11]; 22. 24-Landon Simon [16].