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Wednesdays with Wayne – Help Needed for Vegas!
(Bill W) February 18, 2009 – Wayne Johnson is looking ahead to more racing in the near future. He is hoping that will be Las Vegas on February 26 with the World of Outlaws, but it's looking more and more like it will be the Mini-Gold Cup at Chico if support for the long road trip to the desert is not found. After wrapping up a successful Florida trip with the FattFro #14AJ that included a win at East Bay near Tampa, Wayne is champing at the bit to get back out on the track.
Wayne does know that he will be driving Harold Main's #35A in action at both the Mini-Gold Cup in Chico, California on March 13 and 14, and at the Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, California on March 20 and 21. "Right now, Chico is the next race we know for sure we'll run," says Wayne from his home in Knoxville, Iowa. "I want to thank Harold Main for giving us an opportunity out there and also at Tulare."
Wayne has not shut the door entirely on running an Outlaw schedule the next month or two. "I'd love to run Vegas and Manzanita with the FattFro car and then drive for Main in California, but we need additional funds to do all that traveling with the rig," he says. "We have the equipment to run, but we would need help with travel and tires, stuff like that. Of course, we'd still run for someone else, but time is getting short for Vegas!"
If Wayne can't latch on to something with the World of Outlaws schedule in mind, he does live almost next door to the "Sprint Car Capital of the World". "As of now, we're running Knoxville with the FattFro car," he says. "A guy would be silly to live two miles from the track with the best paying weekly show in the country, and not make it over there as often as possible. If that's the way it is, we can't complain. There are a lot of drivers out there who would be happy to be in my shoes."
Finishing Florida
After Wayne won the East Bay opener on Tuesday, he qualified ninth in last Wednesday's finale at the 3/8 mile oval. "I screwed up my line a little bit on the qualifying," says Wayne. "I missed it a bit and that put us behind the eight-ball a little bit. You really wanted to make the top six there. It was a lot slicker than the night we won."
The heat went well, with Wayne winning from outside row two. "We were in the third heat, but still two-tenths quicker than anyone else in the heats," he says. "The car was really good, and maybe we should have kept it the way it was, but we decided to tweak it and tighten it up more."
Wayne started the finale in row five, but the car was not responding. "Basically, we screwed up the setup," he relates. "I'm not going to say anything bad about my guys, though. They nailed it the night before (when he won) and did such a good job. It ended up being way too tight."
Wayne struggled to a ninth place finish after dropping back several spots. "We were not good at all," he says. "At one time, even a 360 passed me! Finally I got pissed at the world and got up in the wheel a bit. I started getting back by some of those guys and we were able to get by (Fred) Rahmer at the end there. We weren't as bad as some, I guess."
It's the little things that matter most, and the Florida trip showed that minor details can make some big headaches. "There were some problems mechanically we had, that we didn't really get sorted out until East Bay," says Wayne. "But now they are, so that's a good thing, I guess. You'd hate to have to start the season out and not find them for several races. It is kind of sickening, because it was a little thing that could have made all the difference in the world of us getting to the front, but you can't worry about that now."
Wayne is very thankful for those that made it possible for him to compete in Florida. "First and foremost, Al Christoffer gave us everything we needed to run down there and I'd like to thank him for letting us run down there. I'd also like to thank the guys from Deberg Concrete and TNT Custom Golf Carts for sponsoring us on the Florida trip. I look forward to continuing a relationship with those guys. Of course, Jeremy (Rankin) and Curt (Brooks) worked hard as well."
Wayne's Website
To learn more about Wayne and the team, log on to www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com!
Wayne's World
Pat Vos asks: What drivers were you impressed with or surprised by in Florida?
Wayne answers: I would have to say Cale Conley. I know him pretty well, and he came down and showed what he could do to a national audience. James Fisher was the crew chief for him, and their whole program is run well. That motor was built in 2001, and what he did after only being in a sprint car fifteen times was pretty impressive.
Wayne's Tech Tips
What does running the motor "lean" mean?
Wayne: It means you're not getting enough fuel vs. air to the motor. It will cause the motor to burn up a piston. You can get a motor so lean, that it won't run. Depending on what the air is outside, you can miss it a little bit and it will burn up, or you can miss it a lot and it won't run. That's exactly what happened to us at Charlotte last Fall. We didn't have enough fuel based on the altitude of the air. In Florida, the altitude was 2000 feet below sea level. That's some good air, so the motor can't get enough fuel in that case.
Got a question for Wayne? Each week, Wayne will answer your questions about "Tech Tips", or anything that's on your mind. If you ever wondered what a part on a sprint car is all about, send an e-mail 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!
"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 FattFro, Stone Mountain Access, Bral Restoration, Deberg Concrete, TNT Custom Golf Carts, www.RacingThreads.com, CnB Mushroom Farms, Maxim Chassis, ARP Wings, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld and ButlerBuiltfor all their help!
Wayne on the gas at Volusia (John's Racing Photos)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IAUSA[email protected]
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