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Wednesdays with Wayne – Unleashing the Big Iron!
(Bill W) April 4, 2007 – For the first time in 2007, Knoxville's Wayne Johnson will unleash the "Big Iron", the FattFro #14AJ 410 sprint car! Johnson will join the World of Outlaws at I-55 Raceway in Pevely, Missouri on Saturday. The high-banked 1/3 mile speed plant is just south of St. Louis. After a trip to Chicago to pick up the 410, crewmen Jeremy Rankin and Curt Brooks will help put the finishing touches on the machine before heading for Pevely with their long underwear packed.
Johnson will try to avoid encountering anything solid. In his only visit to Pevely in April of 2005, Wayne made contact with the fence in WoO action. His luck hasn't changed when driving at I-55 on the popular Playstation sprint car game. "I hit the fence every time we play that thing," he laughs.
Wayne relates I-55 to a track where he visited victory lane on July 3, 2005. "It races a lot like Huset's (Speedway, Brandon, SD). Huset's is a lot flatter on the bottom side, (Pevely)'s a little bigger than Huset's, but they're pretty similar in how you race them."
The talented driver's last 410 start was a good one. Racing with the now defunct National Sprint Tour (NST), he finished fifth in a star-studded show at Junction Motor Speedway in McCool Junction, Nebraska last September. All he did in the race before that, was finish eighth in the 46th Annual Knoxville Nationals. He says, "I'm really looking forward to getting back into the 410. I look forward to racing with the Outlaws, and see what we've got. It's the first weekend for their new tire rule. Those guys may be a little bit out to lunch, at least as much as they can be. It's not going to change the playing field much. The guys with corporate money, and seat time are going to usually dominate anyway. But it might give local guys like myself a chance."
The transplanted Oklahoma City native likes the new WoO tire rule that is limited to Hoosier compounds of SC12, SC15 and SC25. "I like the new tire rule. You do have a choice. At Knoxville (last year) everyone had one tire. The biggest part that I like the most, is it saves the owner money. And by God, we need more owners. Those guys (WoO) race so much more than we do, and may guess on the compounds better, but with this rule they only have three choices."
The transition from the 360 to the 410 may seem hard, but is the easier one for Johnson. "Really for me, it's harder to go from the 410 back to the 360, because when you go run a 410 race, you have so much power that you can get out of trouble. You have to be much smoother with a 360, you can't turn the wheel, and you've got to keep your momentum up. For me, the 410 is easier to drive than a 360. The 360's are more even, making it harder to pass."
It will be back to qualifying for Johnson as well. "That was the biggest struggle for me when I started in the 410. I had never qualified. I had raced every corner of every lap. I've become a pretty good qualifier, I just hope I haven't forgotten how to do it!" Judging how Wayne timed at the Nationals last year on a limited schedule, his confidence should be high in that area.
The #14AJ will feature an Eagle chassis and be powered by a Charlie Fisher bullet. The color schemes will be similar to the red, white and black 2005 look that Wayne sported in Knoxville weekly action, but the colors will be somewhat reversed. Stop by and say "Hello" to the guys at Pevely!
A Look Ahead
The crew has been prepping the #94 owned by Mike and Tim Hammers and Robbie Forbes, for the two-night 360 ASCS-Midwest vs. ASCS-Northern Plains show on April 13 and 14 at I-80 Speedway at Nebraska Raceway Park near Greenwood.
The American Sprint Cars on Tour will kick back into action on April 21 at Magnolia Motor Speedway in Columbus, Mississippi. The following week will see the group headed to 67 Speedway in Texarkana, Arkansas on April 27 and I-30 Speedway in Little Rock on April 28.
Wayne's World
Brock from Beaumont, TX asks: Are you looking forward to returning to some of the tracks down South you grew up on? Which do you rate as your favorites?
Wayne answers: I'm looking forward to getting back to some of the tracks where I started. Mostly because it gives me the opportunity to catch up with a lot of old friends that I haven't seen in awhile and that I enjoy racing with.
I would say some of my favorites are the Devil's Bowl Speedway because I've been going there a long time and it's a fast, high-speed place. My other favorite would definitely be Oklahoma City because that's where I grew up. The track's new to me but the fans are still awesome!
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
The last twelve World of Outlaws feature events at I-55 have been won by twelve different drivers (going backwards chronologically: Donny Schatz, Brooke Tatnell, Kraig Kinser, Chad Kemenah, Danny Lasoski, Craig Dollansky, Steve Kinser, Tyler Walker, Jac Haudenschild, Daryn Pittman, Randy Hannagan, Stevie Smith). Wayne would make lucky 13.
"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, Eagle Chassis, Fast Wings, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld and ButlerBuiltfor all their help!
 Wayne at OKC (ASCS)
Bill WrightBill W MediaMonroe, IA USA[email protected]
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