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Wednesdays with Wayne – Open Wheel Memories!
(Bill W) August 29, 2007 – It was another solid run for Wayne Johnson at Knoxville Raceway last Saturday night. Wayne survived contact with another competitor to finish third in 410 action at the famed half-mile oval.
Despite coming out last and registering the sixth quick time of the night, the Knoxville, Iowa driver thought he could have been better. "I think if we would have run the second lap (in time trials) around the top, we would have been better. The bottom is usually the place to be in qualifying. I knew (quick qualifier) Skip (Jackson) went around the bottom, but there was just too much on the top and not enough down where I was."
The start of the heat race saw Lynton Jeffrey get by Wayne, who started in row three, for the sixth and final transfer. "I got a bad start when (Dion) Hindi didn't take off right away," says Wayne. "That lost me a few spots, but when I got back by Jeffrey (for sixth), I was alright. With the tire rule, once you get in a transfer spot, you don't want to use up the tire. You just want to get the tire up in a good spot." Wayne would also get by Bob Weuve to finish fifth in the heat, locking him inside row four for the 20-lap main event.
Using the rough bottom of turns one and two and the cushion in turns three and four, Wayne moved up early. "The racetrack really only had one groove to it, just the cushion, and that makes it hard to pass," he says. "We worked the bottom of turns one and two for awhile, but it went away later. I don't like just riding around the cushion. It's too hard to pass."
On lap eight, Wayne passed Jack Dover for third. Two laps later, Wayne hit the turn one inside berm, and Dover got back by. When Wayne went to the low side of turn three and four, he had the momentum to clear Dover, but the two contacted further into turn four. "I hated that (Dover) wrecked," says Wayne. "After I looked at the video, I saw it wasn't anyone's fault. We didn't touch hard, it barely scuffed my tire. I was already to the cushion and going forward when we made contact. He must have been trying to go around me, but there wasn't any room! If I would have hit my mark in one and two, we wouldn't have had that problem. I bumped the berm in turn one, and it shot me out in the middle."
Despite getting upside down, Dover was able to rejoin the field after making repairs. Wayne continued in third, but couldn't gain enough ground on leader, Hindi, or Brian Brown and settled for the show position. "I want to win at Knoxville this season, and we're coming back this Saturday to try to do it," says Wayne.
In addition to Knoxville Raceway's Season Championship on Saturday night, Wayne will be competing in the FattFro #14AJ at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa on Sunday night in their $2,500 to win 410 event.
The Art Car
Wayne Johnson left with a new car last Saturday night at Knoxville. He became a bidder in the charitable Partners Unlimited Art Car Auction through Partners Unlimited. The cars were decorated by youth organizations in central Iowa, and auctioned off.
Wayne explains that he did have motives in buying the pink decorated ride. "I bought the car for Chirpy (crew chief Jeremy Rankin), to run the Enduro here. That's the same night as Cedar Lake (Jerry Richert Memorial), so now I'm not sure what we're doing with it!"
LaSalle IRA show on September 22
On September 22, the Interstate Racing Association will be running at the LaSalle Speedway in LaSalle, Illinois. Al Christoffer, owner of the FattFro #14AJ is one of the promoters of the event. More details will appear here in the coming weeks!
T-shirts
T-shirts can now be ordered at www.Racingthreads.com and Wayne's trailer. Wayne would like to thank Racingthreads.com and FattFro for all of their help with this!
Wayne's World
Bob in Knoxville Asks: Wayne, what was your favorite class in school......or, did you go to school?
Wayne answers: Home Ec, because that's where all the girls were! I did learn some valuable skills. I'm a good cook, just ask my wife! I wasn't a big fan of school, to be honest. I was suspended for three days in the 9th grade, because I was reading Open Wheel magazine in class. The teacher told me to put it away and get my book out. I got the Open Wheel back out and started reading it again, and she grabbed it and tore it in half! The only problem with that was, it came out of the library and she had to pay for it.
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 never competed at the 34 Raceway in West Burlington, Iowa. Despite having not visited victory lane in 11 features at Knoxville this year, Wayne has finished in the top ten on ten occasions. His only finish out of the top ten was 11th in the Knoxville Nationals Championship feature.
"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, Cerma Technology (www.cermatechnology.com), www.RacingThreads.com, CnB Mushroom Farms, Eagle Chassis, Fast Wings, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld and ButlerBuiltfor all their help!
Wayne is race-ready at Knoxville on Saturday
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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