|
Wednesdays with Wayne – Octoberfest in November!
(Bill W) November 12, 2008 – Sprint car driver Wayne Johnson got a taste of Octoberfest in November. Wayne traveled east to the Hagerstown Speedway in Maryland for the first time ever last weekend, joining Pennsylvania car owner Pete Postupak and his team for a weekend of racing at the historic ½ mile oval. When the dust cleared, the results were good!
Octoberfest was to be staged the last weekend in October, but weather postponed it to last weekend. The weekend was open for Wayne, and he received the call from Pennsylvania midweek. It turned out to be a good combination. "I got a call on Tuesday, and we took off on Thursday morning," he says. "It ended up working out pretty good. Pete's got a great racecar and a great crew. They are good guys."
The format called for a heat race on Saturday, and the 50-lap feature on Sunday. All shows were run in the afternoon. That's not an ideal situation when you start seventh in your heat behind Fred Rahmer, Lance Dewease, Alan Cole and Lucas Wolfe, but Wayne made the most of it by running fifth. "We were only there about an hour on Saturday," he relates. "We started seventh and ran fifth in the heat. It seemed like everyone was in my heat!"
The sprint action on Sunday followed 100-lap features for the late models and small block modifieds. Without practice, Wayne headed out, starting fourteenth in the feature based on his Saturday heat finish. "We didn't hot lap or anything, we just went out there," he says. "We probably put a little too hard (compression) a tire on. We put a 55 and a 20 on, and Fred Rahmer (winner) put a 25 and a 15 on."
Despite driving for the first time in the #25, and for the first time at Hagerstown, Wayne got down to business in a hurry passing cars on an otherwise one-lane rubber-down track. "We were just passing guys," he explains. "The car was that good. To do that on a track like that, you have to be going good. Some missed the groove in front of us, and some you just had to be patient with. One guy (Bill Brian Jr.), I ran down so fast that I couldn't avoid him, and to keep from getting hooked up with him, I had to lay on it, and he spun out. That was really the only contact we made surprisingly."
The surge got as high as the top five, but Wayne would settle for a respectable seventh at the checkers against a band of experienced East coast drivers. "We were up to fifth for awhile there, but the driver screwed up a bit," he explains. "Cody Darrah and Stevie (Smith) got back by us. The brakes were going away on the car, and I had to pump them like crazy. I couldn't get the rhythm I needed."
All in all, it was a good trip. "I was pretty happy with it, and I think Pete and the guys were too," Wayne adds. "I really want to thank them for the opportunity."
2009 plans and preparations are in the works, so stay tuned to Wednesday's with Wayne for any upcoming announcements!
T-shirts and Hats
Separate shirts for the H&H #94 and FattFro #14AJ are now available at the trailer.
Wayne's Website
To learn more about Wayne and the team, log on to www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com!
Wayne's World
Carly McConnell from Shermans Dale, PA asks: Where do you think the Pennsylvania Posse stacks up as far as racers across the country?
Wayne answers: We've got some great drivers out in the Midwest, but a few of the guys out there could rank up there with anybody. There's definitely a lot of talent out there, it's one of the hotbeds for sprint cars, just like Knoxville, Ohio or California. It's fun racing out there with them.
Got a question for Wayne? Send it to us at [email protected], and we may answer it in this section! Put "? for Wayne" in your subject line. He'll try to keep it clean if you do!
Wayne's Fast Facts
It looks like Wayne's sprint car 2008 season may be finally over. In all, he competed in 66 feature events, winning 11 times (17%), garnering 32 top fives (48%) and grabbing 45 top tens (68%). He drove a total of seven different cars. In order of appearances, they were: Mike and Tim Hammers/Robbie Forbes #94, FattFro #14AJ, Mike Anderson #18, Glenn Styres #94, Glenn Styres/Miles Hill #77x, Harold Main #35A, Pete Postupak #25.
"Wednesday's with Wayne"
"Wednesday's With Wayne" is an up close look at the past, present and future of colorful and talented sprint car driver Wayne Johnson. You'll never know what to expect next with Wayne, so don't miss us on Wednesdays!
To receive "Wednesday's with Wayne", send an e-mail to [email protected] with "Wayne" in the subject line.
Wayne would like to thank H&H Enterprises, Pearson Farms, R&A Farms, FattFro, Stone Mountain Access, Deberg Concrete, www.RacingThreads.com, CnB Mushroom Farms, Maxim Chassis, ARP Wings, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld and ButlerBuiltfor all their help!
Wayne's latest crew member Wilbur is single! You must like dogs! E-mail him at [email protected]
Wayne at Hagerstown (Jason Walls/WRT Web Designs Photo)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IAUSA[email protected]
If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me!
@BillWMedia
www.OpenWheel101.com
|
