Las Vegas: Bill Windham Friday summary

Bill Windham Takes Wild Pro Stock Ride
Windham's Quick Thinking Prevents Serious Damage to Big-O Tires Chevy Cobalt

Given 12 hours to reflect on his wild Pro Stock qualifying ride of Friday night at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Bill Windham Saturday classified it as a "rookie mistake."

But he did a masterful job of preventing major damage to the Big-O Tires Chevy Cobalt when it got out of the groove and threatened to turn over several times as it went from side to side on the way down the track before landing on four wheels. Fans had an opportunity to see the car's front, back and both sides without moving.

Windham was able to keep the car off its roof and the guard walls, he said, by relying on road racing techniques learned when he previously drove Formula Atlantic road racing cars. The only thing he did hit was the Styrofoam protector on one of the timing lights.

As a precautionary measure, however, team owner Greg Hill opted to withdraw the car and return it to builder Rick Jones to have the chassis inspected for any damage.

"That was only my second qualifying run in the car . . . and I made a rookie mistake," said Windham, of El Dorado Hills, Calif. "We had a problem at the starting line and that distracted me. The tires hooked up and the car got out of the groove on the left side."

When Windham made the correction, the car's rear end sashayed and he suddenly had his hands full.

"I didn't touch the brake once," he added. "The instincts from when I drove the Formula car took over and I kept turning the wheel to prevent it from rolling over . . . and it worked. I was happy nothing got damaged, but I feel bad for our sponsors. We wanted to be in the show this weekend."

Windham said the team plans to test at Valdosta, Ga., before the next NHRA POWERade Series event at Atlanta.

-credit: bwr