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Wednesdays with Wayne – Cowboy Up!
(Bill W) May 14, 2008 – A southern trip through Oklahoma City and Dallas saw solid results despite mechanical ills and a mistake in setup for sprint car driver Wayne Johnson. The Knoxville, Iowa driver was hoping for a win or two out of the trip to two of the tracks he has the most success at, but he will have some time before the American Sprint Cars on Tour series returns to action. He will focus on getting the 410 ready for this Saturday's event at the Knoxville Raceway and beyond.
Last Friday's ASCoT event at the State Fair Speedway in Oklahoma City saw some tough luck before and during the heat for Wayne. Starting on the front row, were Gary Wright and Jason Johnson, the two drivers leading him in the point standings. If that weren't enough trouble hit after the green fell. "On the first start, Mike Peters got into the back of me and we were hung up," says Wayne. "That put us on the tail, so we did well to get back to fourth. That wasn't a heat race I needed to go to the back on!"
Salvaging fourth in the stacked heat put Wayne outside row six for the main event on the heavy 3/8 mile banked oval. From the outset, the car was working well and he shot forward quickly, but mechanical gremlins would surface. "We were good early…we shot up into sixth real quick," says Wayne. "Then the power steering line broke a fitting on the seventh lap. You could call me 'cowboy' from that point on, because we raced without power steering the rest of the way. I actually felt like we had a car that could win from twelfth, so that was disappointing. I was coming on early, the car was working well, but after the power steering thing, I just had to fight to maintain."
Traveling to Dallas and the Devil's Bowl Speedway, Wayne's luck (or lack of) the draw continued with a 44. Despite a tough number, Wayne persevered from row three to win his heat over Gary Taylor and Skip Wilson. "We were able to get up there through the heat race," says the 2000 ASCS National Champion. "The car was nice there."
Wayne qualified for the top eight in passing points and a redraw that saw him draw…you guessed it…the eight! The draw would be the least of his problems as he wrestled with the Mike and Tim Hammers/Robbie Forbes #94 all feature long. "We actually started sixth, because Berryhill broke," says Wayne. "We were really no good at all once the race started. I screwed up by getting the car way too loose. I thought the racetrack would get tighter and tighter, like a normal Devil's Bowl, but it started to blow off and we were loose. I don't miss there very often, but I missed it big time on Saturday."
Missing a setup at the Devil's Bowl is unlike Wayne, who prior to Saturday, had finished in the top four in his previous eight visits to the ½ mile oval. At the checkers, he would miss fourth by one spot, after a late pass by Gary Wright. "I got to racing with Gary Taylor, and going into three I got jacked up a bit," says Wayne. "That gave G.W. a run on me."
The ASCoT will have a long break until June 20, when Wayne looks forward to the series visiting his home track, the Knoxville Raceway. Until then, Wayne will get plenty of laps at the "Sprint Car Capital of the World" as he drives each and every Saturday night in the 410 class. He looks forward to spinning the FattFro #14AJ for awhile. "I'm as excited to race Knoxville as I have been to race anywhere for a long time," he says. "Mostly, I think it's because it's so close to home. We can just drive up the road here and race. That beats all the hours we've had on the road this year."
Up Next
Wayne will settle into racing at the Knoxville Raceway with the 410 for awhile on Saturdays. However, he will mix in USCS action during their speedweek activities at the end of May. He will run the #94 with USCS at Greenville Speedway in Mississippi on Sunday the 25th, Clay Hill Motorsports near Atwood, Tennessee on the 26th, Clarksville Speedway in Tennessee on the 27th and Camden Speedway in Tennessee on the 29th before returning to Knoxville on the 31st.
T-shirts and Hats
Separate shirts for the H&H #94 and FattFro #14AJ are now available at the trailer. Keep an eye on www.RacingThreads.com in the near future or visit the trailer to get your Wayne Johnson merchandise.
Wayne's Website
To learn more about Wayne and the team, log on to www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com!
Wayne's World
Ronny in Pryor, OK asks: Wayne, when drivers talk about "dirty air" and "clean air" what are they talking about? Is there a difference between the stock cars and sprint cars in that respect?
Wayne answers: I don't really know much about stock cars, but "dirty air" comes when you're following someone, and he takes the down-force away from you, and you don't get the air across your wing to keep your car loaded. You try to stay out of that "dirty air", because it will unhook the car on you. If someone gives you a big slidejob and takes the air away, your car will fall on the right rear on exit. That's why with the speeds these days, you don't see people following close behind one another. Years ago, you would see a guy run someone down on their bumper on the straightaway, but you don't see that much anymore. You see more of guys going a half-a-car length wide either way when they're following. It's tricky to learn as a driver, especially at places like Knoxville, Devil's Bowl or Eldora. It makes a big difference at the larger tracks.
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
Wayne had a good 2007 season at Knoxville in the 410 despite a limited number of starts. He only failed to finish in the top ten on two occasions. One was the Knoxville Nationals finale when he finished a respectable 11th, and the other was Knoxville's Season Championship night when he was a DNF. His finishes chronologically were 7th, 10th, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 3rd (Nationals Prelim), 11th (Nationals finale), 3rd, and 20th. He should get a few more starts this season at Knoxville in the 410.
"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, Cerma Technology (www.cermatechnology.com), www.RacingThreads.com, CnB Mushroom Farms, Maxim Chassis, ARP Wings, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld and ButlerBuiltfor all their help!
(Highfly'n Photo)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IA USA[email protected]
If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me!
@BillWMedia
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