Since making his debut in 2007, Thursday night marked the 19th time in Chris Windom's career that he graced the track at Gas City i-69 Speedway.

It’s unfair to say that the track had been unkind to the Canton, Ill. driver over the years since he's recorded nine top-five finishes in those 19 previous starts. Yet, that one single, solitary victory had remained elusive.

Full results from Gas City

But this time, he drove off as a winner there in USAC competition with a sterling performance. He led all 30 laps to score his fourth series victory of the season and the 25^th of his career which tied Steve Butler and Jay Drake for 20^th all-time. Ultimately, Windom’s persistence paid off, and now he can finally call himself a USAC winner at Gas City.

“It seems like I’ve had countless podiums here,” Windom said.  “We’ve run 2^nd or 3^rd almost every USAC race here. To get that first one’s pretty cool.”

Windom set the tone right from the get-go, recording sixth quick time which would, if everything went to his plan through the prelims, would net him a starting spot up front.  As it turned out, it was from the pole.  But a good starting spot alone does not make or break a night, there’s several variables to endure throughout 30 laps.  Yet, being in the proverbial and literal driver’s seat at the front of the field for the drop of the green does have its kicks.

“I knew I had to get a good jump on that initial start because the track was so hooked up,” Windom explained.  “It seemed that, if your car was good and you could get out and click off good laps, it was going to be tough to get by you.”

That proved to be fortuitous for the 2017 series champ as he raced side-by-side with Kevin Thomas, Jr. through turns one and two at the start. But Windom surged ahead under Thomas on the back straightaway and led entering the third turn. There, Thomas made slight contact with the rear bumper of Windom. It forced Thomas to get on the binders and drop to 4th from 2nd as Justin Grant and 2019 Gas City track champ Thomas Meseraull slipped by to snare 2^nd and 3^rd, respectively, at the conclusion of the opening lap.

A three-car tussle between Grant, Meseraull and Thomas ensued as Windom opened up a half second lead. Meseraull drove to 2^nd by Grant on the fourth lap and held onto the spot until exiting the fourth corner on the sixth lap when both Grant and Thomas slipped by. Meseraull began to slow dramatically with smoke billowing from his ride. The seven-time Gas City winner slid his car backward into the infield on the front straightaway as a small and brief fire broke out from the engine compartment, prematurely ending his night.

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When racing resumed, Windom put on the same song and dance. He incrementally distanced himself from Grant as the race crossed the halfway point. But then lapped traffic came into play. Windom worked his way under heat race winner Cole Ketcham first, then worked around the outside of Cody White and Dave Darland, all while maintaining a fairly healthy .8 of a second advantage over Grant.

“I felt like I was setting a pretty fast pace around the middle to bottom,” Windom remembered.  “I was a little nervous to go to the top with how thick the cushion was.  You don’t have a choice when you catch lapped traffic.  If you follow them, somebody’s going to find a way around, so I moved to the top and we were maneuvering through lapped traffic pretty well.”

Windom was eventually able to drive around Harley Burns as were Grant and Thomas just moments before 7^th running Scotty Weir spun in turn four. This spurned a yellow flag and brought a clear road ahead for Windom.

“You’re always going to have that in lapped traffic,” Windom said.  “So, we did the best we could there, and we caught cautions at the times I wanted them.  It doesn’t seem to normally work out that way, but it did tonight.  We just had to stay out front and hit our marks, and not get in too heavy of lapped traffic and make a wrong decision because, at that point, your kind of a sitting duck when you’re the leader.”

With three laps remaining Jason McDougal, hit an orange cone sitting amidst the infield tires at the exit of turn four and pushed it into the middle of the racing surface. That forced another yellow flag and the field had to be restacked again.

For Windom, the holdup was simply momentary as he once again burst away on the lap 28 restart and eventually went on to get the win.

Contingency Award Winners:

• C.J. Leary (Fatheadz Eyewear Fast Qualifier)
• Kevin Thomas, Jr. (Simpson Race Products First Heat Winner)
• Cole Ketcham (Competition Suspension, Inc. Second Heat Winner)
• Scotty Weir (AutoMeter Third Heat Winner)
• Justin Grant (Indy Race Parts Fourth Heat Winner)
• Tye Mihocko (Wilwood Brakes 13th Place Finisher)
• Jason McDougal (KSE Racing Products Hard Charger)
• Harley Burns (Roger & Barb Tapy 13th Fastest Qualifier)
• Dustin Smith (Saldana Racing Products First Non-Transfer)

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NEXT USAC AMSOIL SPRINT CAR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP RACE: September 28, 2019 – Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio – 38^th 4-Crown Nationals presented by NKT.tv – 1/2-Mile Dirt Oval