Windham Hopes Continuing Improvement, Four Qualifying Runs Get Him into Route 66 Lineup
The weather gods seem to be preventing rookie Pro Stock driver Bill Windham from making four consecutive qualifying runs at NHRA POWERade Series events this season. The good news is he still has 15 more races remaining on the 2007 docket.
First up is the Torco Racing Fuels Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, Ill., Friday through Sunday. And, if the forecast pans out, the driver from El Dorado Hills, Calif., just might get his wish.
“Our performance is getting better at each race and we are getting closer to qualifying, but I’d still like to make all four qualifying runs, ” said Windham, driver of the Big O Tire Chevy Cobalt. “Eddie Guarnaccia (team crew chief) has been making good calls on the chassis changes and they did a great job on the setup at Topeka last week, but we just needed another run to get in the show. ”
Windham joined the tour at Houston, the fourth race of the year, and was greeted with rain. The wet followed him around, taking away one session at Atlanta, two at St. Louis and one at Topeka. But the Pro Stock contingent had to fight an extremely finicky racing surface during qualifying at Topeka, where Windham’s 6.792-second run was just two-hundredths of a second off the mark.
“I feel very comfortable in the car now, but I can always use more laps, ” Windham said. “I’ve had just a minimal amount of time in the car compared to the other drivers. We’re going to get to start a race soon. I know the car is capable.
“We are going to Route 66 Raceway with a full head of steam. The four weeks we were off affected me. That’s was too long a layoff. ” Postponement of a race at Bristol, Tenn., from May 18 to July 8 caused the long gap between events at St. Louis at Topeka.
There soon won’t be any down time in the schedule because a stretch of six races in succession begins June 24 in Englishtown, N.J. Then come stops at Norwalk, Ohio, Bristol, Denver, Seattle and Sonoma, Calif.
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