By Alex Nieten
HAUBSTADT, IN (April 24, 2025) – Wing and Non-Wing 410 Sprint Cars may fundamentally be the same type of race cars, but the racing styles are completely different.
Rarely do you see drivers with an extensive background on one side jump in the other car and succeed right away. Time and practice are required to learn the nuances of each style.
But for the “non-wingers,” Haubstadt, IN’s Tri-State Speedway has proven to be an equalizer time and time again. Carson Short topped The Greatest Show on Dirt there in 2020. Kevin Thomas Jr. led early in the 2018 race before losing a wheel. Four-time USAC National Sprint Car champion Brady Bacon has won the last two. The list goes on and on.
The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series heads to the Indiana 1/4 mile on Saturday, April 26, after a stop at Illinois’ Jacksonville Speedway the night before.
So, what is it about this paperclip-shaped bullring that levels the playing field? Who better to ask than USAC Triple Crown champion and current Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year leader Chris Windom?
“Well, I think some of it for Haubstadt is that even for a Non-Wing car, you have to do different stuff to get your car to work there and think kind of outside the box just because the surface is so much different than anywhere we really go,” Windom explained. “So, I think some of those guys like Brady that do a lot of their own setup kind of do different things than maybe what a standard Wing crew chief would do. Also, the fact that they’ve just raced there so much in Non-Wing.
“Funny enough I’ve raced there a ton, and Haubstadt was always one of my worst tracks in a Non-Wing car,” Windom added with a laugh. “I never looked forward to going there. I won one USAC race there out of all the races I raced in a Non-Wing. I never enjoyed Haubstadt in a Non-Wing car. I like it more in a Wing car. I’ve got to go there once or twice now in a Wing car.”
Windom highlights the track surface as a key contributor to previous results. It’s unique, and the Non-Wing drivers get plenty of laps on it throughout the year.
“For one, it’s just a different dirt than what most tracks have,” Windom said. “It seems like there is grip, but it’s always also got like a layer of almost what I would call grease lying on top of the racetrack all the time. I’ve always just described it as you haul off in there, pitch the car in, and you slide and hope you stop sliding before the next guy, and then you’re going to be faster than him. There’s really no line per se that you run at that place. That’s why I never really enjoyed it much in a Non-Wing car. I was always the guy that slid through the corner and never stopped sliding and just got passed by the next person, but the wings obviously help that a little bit and make it more fun to race. The surface is different than really any other track in the country, in my opinion.”
Every race on the schedule is another step for Windom as he continues to adjust to wings after many years without them. Despite the plan to join forces with Sides Motorsports for 2025 coming together late, the Canton, IL native has found a comfortable home with the Jason Sides-owned team and leads a stacked rookie class with 16 races in the books.
“It’s definitely been the toughest transition or toughest car that I’ve ever driven in my whole career,” Windom said. “With wing racing, a lot of people know but some maybe don’t know, it takes the whole package between driver, team, car, engine. You’re not going to go out and outspend somebody in wing racing. Everybody has got the nicest stuff out there. It really just takes the whole package.
“As far as being happy with it being a new team and kind of getting thrown together late, I think we got the deal done less than two months before the opener at Volusia. I am definitely happy with the speed. I didn’t know for sure what was going to come about going into this deal, and I feel like it’s exceeded my expectations as far as the car speed we’ve had at half miles, quarter miles, really all tracks we’ve gone to.”
This year has already offered several new tracks to Windom as he navigates his first season with the World of Outlaws. And while Tri-State might not have been his favorite track to visit in his USAC days, he’s looking forward to the familiarity.
“That’s been some of my struggles to start the year, just a lot of the tracks we went to I’d never seen or been to,” Windom said. “I think it definitely helps showing up to a place like Haubstadt even not necessarily having anymore wing laps than any of the guys there but just having the amount of laps and times that I’ve been there and just kind of knowing what the track’s going to be like and what lines seem to work. Really, it seems to me like in Non-Wing cars and Wing cars kind of race similar there as far as lines to where it’s really not like that at a lot of tracks. I feel like there’s times that I know when something is going to come in later in the race or be there compared to a guy that runs a Wing car at most tracks wouldn’t think to try that at Haubstadt. I definitely think there’s some advantage to going there with all of the experience I’ve had.”
Windom and his Sides Motorsports team continue the 2025 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car season this weekend at Jacksonville Speedway on Friday, April 25, and Tri-State Speedway on Saturday, April 26. For Jacksonville tickets, CLICK HERE. For Tri-State tickets, call (812) 768-6025.
If you can’t make it to the track, watch every lap live on DIRTVision.