Chris Windom Wins Round Two of Budweiser Oval Nationals

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Returning to Perris Auto Speedway as the reigning Budweiser Oval Nationals champion, 20-year-old Chris Windom tightened the points gap between himself and frontrunner Levi Jones on Saturday. Second in the USAC Sprint Car National Championship point standings, Windom left the three-night show with only 33 markers separating him from Jones. The young driver’s performances at Perris Auto Speedway also allowed him to bolt past Kyle Larson into the runner-up spot in the National Drivers Championship point standings, 32 points behind leader Bryan Clauson.

On the opening night of the 16th annual Budweiser Oval Nationals, Windom qualified 17th, finished second in his heat race and tallied an eighth place finish in the feature. Round two, originally scheduled for Friday night, was postponed due to rain until Saturday afternoon.

The second round brought Windom and the No. 5X Baldwin Brothers team to a podium first place finish. Windom trailed Cory Kruseman for the first eight laps of the 25 lap event, then led the final 17 laps en route to his fourth USAC win of the season. Following him in second was USAC/CRA Sprint Car point leader Mike Spencer, National point leader Jones in third, Damion Gardner in fourth and Thursday night winner Nic Faas rounding out the top-five.

With Friday night’s washout making for two feature races on Saturday, the format for Saturday night’s event was changed. The top-12 cars in points were seeded directly to the A-Main. Windom’s second place seat in points automatically qualified him for the feature race where he scored a fifth place finish in Perris Auto Speedway’s weekend finale.

“We had a good weekend, and we’re happy with the outcome. We ended up leaving with one win and two top-fives out of the three races. We also gained a few points which keeps it close between me and Levi Jones going into the last race of the season,” said Windom, “We’re really looking forward to an exciting season finale next week.”

Runner-up in both the AMSOIL Sprint Car Championship and National Drivers Championship point standings with only one points race remaining, Windom now faces the USAC Sprint Car National finals on Saturday, November 12 at Giant Chevrolet Kings Speedway in Hanford, California.

Rising Star PR

Speedway Digest Staff
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