Home

Winston de Wardt has gone national.

The Steamboat Springs auto racer recently began his first season at the Skip Barber National Series level, where he will compete against the nation's best instead of its regional best.

His earned a fifth-place, his best finish yet, April 23 at the Virginia International Raceway in the heart of NASCAR country. He wasn't satisfied, despite placing in the top third of the field.

"It's part of the job," de Wardt said. "If you are not thinking about how you could have done better or regretting that you didn't do this, than you aren't working as hard as you should be. If you come home happy, then you better have won and were way ahead of everyone else."

The VIR and other East Coast raceways will become more familiar to de Wardt as time goes on. During regional races, de Wardt spent most of his time in the West, Midwest and even Canada. Now, he will race throughout the country

"I was in Virginia two years ago, so it had been a long time," he said. "There was this turn that used to be complicated for me. It was easy this time."

De Wardt opened his April 23 race in 12th after qualifying heats but moved up to finish fifth, a pretty impressive climb, considering the talent in the field. At the national level in the Skip Barber Racing Series, drivers receive one car for the entire weekend and can make minor set-up changes only.

At the VIR, long straightaways enabled drivers to get the feel for drafting and how to use it as a race strategy, though de Wardt did most of his racing alone.

"I had no draft at all for the race," he said. "If you were following a pack of cars, as soon as you got on it, they got away from you because they were drafting. As long as I stayed consistent, I would gain back the time I lost if I made a mistake. It was a pretty hectic race. A lot of people were going off course."

Later that day, rain started to fall, making qualifying for the April 24 race more difficult. De Wardt ended up in fifth after qualifying but finished ninth in the race.

"It went OK," he said. "I lost it out of the start."

De Wardt, who spent last week wrapping up his college coursework, will race Thursday in Lime Rock Park in Connecticut.