WINDOM WEATHERS EASTERN STORM FOR PENNSYLVANIA-SERIES TITLE
Chris Windom used an average finish of 4.2 throughout a five-race stretch in six nights to win the 11th Annual edition of Eastern Storm presented by DMI.
The Canton, Illinois driver never finished outside the top-five until the finale at Susquehanna Speedway where he took ninth. Windom finished third in the series kickoff at Grandview Speedway last Tuesday, then followed it up with a fifth-place run at Lincoln Speedway and a third-place result at Williams Grove Speedway before culminating with his first victory at Port Royal Speedway, which helped him catapult Williams Grove winner Kevin Thomas, Jr. in the standings going into the final event.
Windom’s prerogative was to finish sixth or better in the closer at Susquehanna. Doing so would clinch the Eastern Storm title for him regardless of where any of his competitors finished. He started sixth and ran comfortably in that spot for much of the first half of the 30-lapper until being shuffled back to 10th after a brief tangle with Chad Boespflug while battling for position. Windom managed to gain back one more position as Kevin Thomas, Jr. entered the top-five, providing himself with another buffer for position. Each spot in the top-10 pays three points, after all. In the end, Windom and the Baldwin Brothers Racing team prevailed by just four points in the second closest points battle in Eastern Storm history.
Windom became the fifth driver to earn a title in both Eastern Storm and Indiana Sprint Week during their career. The 2011 ISW champ joins Brady Bacon, Robert Ballou, Bryan Clauson and Levi Jones as the newest individual to add both to their racing resumes.
In what could be a harbinger of things to come, several drivers over the past years have used Eastern Storm as a springboard to an eventual USAC National Sprint Car title later that same season: Levi Jones (2007, 2010 & 2011), Bryan Clauson (2012 & 2013), Brady Bacon (2014) and Robert Ballou (2015). Windom currently stands 65 points out of the lead in second behind Justin Grant, who finished fifth in the points.
The top-four spots in the 2017 Eastern Storm standings were occupied by feature winners during the series: Windom (Port Royal), Thomas (Williams Grove), Brady Bacon (Grandview) and Thomas Meseraull (Lincoln). Susquehanna winner Tyler Courtney finished seventh in the final Eastern Storm tally that saw, for the first time, five different winners in five races.
You can relive all the action from this year’s Eastern Storm with full, flag-to-flag coverage of each of the five events on-demand at http://www.Loudpedal.TV/.
FINAL EASTERN STORM (Presented by DMI) POINT STANDINGS
1. (345) Chris Windom
2. (341) Kevin Thomas, Jr.
3. (329) Brady Bacon
4. (326) Thomas Meseraull
5. (313) Justin Grant
6. (294) Chase Stockon
7. (271) Tyler Courtney
8. (269) Jarett Andretti
9. (240) C.J. Leary
10. (240) Chad Boespflug
11. (234) Jerry Coons, Jr.
12. (232) Shane Golobic
13. (226) Aaron Farney
14. (205) Dave Darland
15. (178) Alex Bright
16. (170) Kyle Moody
17. (163) Robert Ballou
18. (160) Kyle Robbins
19. (138) Isaac Chapple
20. (122) Trevor Kobylarz
21. (111) Carmen Perigo
22. (101) Matt Westfall
23. (92) Tony DiMattia
24. (88) Joey Biasi
25. (85) Danny Dietrich
26. (57) Gary Rooke
27. (54) Stevie Sussex
28. (53) Dustin Smith
29. (40) Chad Wilson
30. (35) Mark Smith
31. (30) Chandler Leiby & Michael Hamer
33. (20) Austin Burke
34. (10) Kyle Lick, Steve Wilbur, Trey Hivner & Harris Kohen
