This message was edited on
October 29, 2008 at
06:44:05 AM by Bill W
Wednesdays with Wayne – Taking the Challenge!
(Bill W) October 29, 2008 – There's no doubt that Wayne Johnson had one of the fastest of the 96 cars assembled at last weekend's Short Track Nationals. After driving to a third place finish on Thursday night, he locked Mike and Tim Hammers/Robbie Forbes #94 into Saturday's finale. After that, things got wild for the Knoxville, Iowa driver. This weekend, he'll head to the Vault Finals with the World of Outlaws at the Lowe's Motor Speedway Dirt Track Thursday through Saturday.
Wayne started with a good draw on his Thursday qualifying night at the I-30 Speedway near Little Rock, Arkansas. He won his heat from outside row two in the Sprint Bandit format, and then charged from 8th to 4th in his qualifier. After starting third, he settled in that same position, trying several times to make the high side work on a difficult racing surface. The third place finish locked him into Saturday's $15,000 to win finale. "Everything went well there," he says of Thursday. "We learned some things out West (in Chico on October 4) for the short tracks and we brought it back and it worked really well."
The top three from each qualifying night were locked into the Pack Dash for Cash on Saturday. The Cheaters' Draw saw Brian Brown pull a six and give it to Wayne. "I owe one to Brown now for giving me the six," says Wayne of the gesture. "When I gave him a salute at Devil's Bowl…that was a sign to give me the 'one'. We were running really well in the dash, better than anyone. We went from sixth to second in one corner. That had a lot to do with me taking the challenge too."
The charge from sixth to second gave Wayne the confidence for taking that challenge after winner Tony Bruce Jr. passed. Comp Cams put up an additional $5,000 to the driver who would draw an inversion of 4, 6, 8 or 10 and then win the feature. I-30 promoter Tracy Clay put up another $5,000 making the bonus $10,000. In addition, Wayne was given $2,000 just for accepting it. The team was not happy with his decision, especially after the "10" was drawn for his starting spot. "Everybody was pretty upset with me for taking the challenge," says Wayne. "Part of my thinking was, I thought there was only one race left before the feature, and there were four qualifiers. That was my fault. I also didn't know there was a '10' in there, so I was figuring I had a 33% chance of getting the four. If we had the four, I like our chances. To make the $4,350 we made in the end, you would have had to run top four anyway."
Wayne started out well, but it became evident after a few laps, that the track had nothing left and yielded to rubber-down, one-lane conditions. Despite that, Wayne moved up to sixth by the halfway point. "Our car was fast," he confirms. "I don't know that we would have had anything for (leader Tim) Crawley, but we would have been right there. When you can drive by guys like Danny Lasoski, Terry Gray, Jeff Swindell and Jesse Hockett on a rubber-down track, you are going good!"
Wayne got into fifth running Tim Shaffer when trying to pass him in turn three late in the going. The impact spun him out, and flattened the right front tire. "That whole thing was my doing…the right front flat," says Wayne. "I was B.S.ing with the other drivers on the front stretch before the race. I told them if I was coming up to the top five late in the race, I was going to knock them out of the race to get there. Desperation mode set in there, and I tried to get Shaffer out of my way!"
The DNF ended a promising weekend for Wayne, but the payday would have been worse had he not taken the challenge. This weekend, he's excited to partner in Charlotte with the team he won the Canadian Nationals with a month ago. "We're teaming up with Glenn (Styres) and Myles again," he says. "This time, it'll be #77x and the sponsor is Iroquois Poker along with, of course, Ohsweken Speedway. I'm really looking forward to getting down there."
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
Larry Marsh asks: What are your plans for racing after Charlotte?
Wayne answers: Right now, as far as I know we're running the midget race before Christmas in Kansas City. We'll also be at the Chili Bowl, of course. If something comes up as far as Australia, obviously I'd be open to any offers there. I'd love to go back down there.
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 has concluded his 360 season for the time being. According to www.OpenWheelTimes.com, he competed in 50 feature events in a 360 in 2008, collecting 9 (18%) wins, 30 (60%) top fives and 40 (80%) top tens. He had a flair for the dramatic in his wins, taking his second career Knoxville 360 Nationals (IA) title, and the Canadian Nationals at Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario, Canada. He also grabbed prelims a the 360 Nationals and the Jackson (MN) Nationals (after starting 18th).
"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!
Bill W MediaMonroe, IA USA[email protected]
If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me!
@BillWMedia
www.OpenWheel101.com
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