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Wednesdays with Wayne – Little Rocky!
(Bill W) October 31, 2007 – Happy Halloween! The Short Track Nationals did not go as Wayne Johnson had envisioned. The problem was not the car as it was fast every time it hit the track. Obstacles came up, however, and in the end, it was two altercations with other competitors that ultimately sidelined the Knoxville, Iowa driver on Saturday night. With no second chance, and competing against 100+ of the best in the business, that was "all she wrote".
A heavy and fast track, fueled by three days of rain greeted competitors in the first prelim on Thursday. Wayne found himself outside row two for the heat and rode it out for a third place finish. The finish left him 17th in points after the heats, and starting outside row two in his qualifier. After the green flag flew, he quickly disposed of Garry Lee Maier and Doc Sloan, tracking down leader, Matt Covington.
That's when Wayne's shot at a good starting spot in the feature were dashed. "Unfortunately, as we went to pass (Covington) he spun and collected us," he says. The lap five incident sent him to the back. He was able to surge back to fifth in the 12 car field, squeaking into the tenth row of the main event. The Mike and Tim Hammers/Robbie Forbes #94 was a rocket from there, passing eleven cars to finish eighth in Thursday's feature.
The finish outside of the top three left Wayne joining 98 other drivers in starting all over on Saturday in a quest for 14 remaining spots. Things started well enough after a heat race win from the second row. The win gave him the third highest point total after the heats, and just staying out of trouble would have landed him in the main event. Trouble found him though, as he was trying to duck under Jon Freeman on the second lap. A move too close to the tractor tires on the low side of turns one and two eliminated one of the fastest cars in attendance.
At least Wayne was happy with the car's performance. "The car was good all weekend, we just ran into some bad luck where we were caught up in some stuff," he says. "That can happen at Little Rock."
Wayne was unhappy with the point system used by the American Sprint Cars on Tour for the event. He looks for consistency between the big events sanctioned by ASCoT, and was led to believe that it would be different last weekend. The system used cost him second place in the standings, as Jason Johnson passed him by six markers after qualifying for Saturday's main event. "My point is, for special races like Florida, the Nationals and the Short Track Nationals, the points should be the same," he says. "I don't care what system they use, but it should be consistent. The whole format they used last weekend really bit us."
Wayne will put 360 racing behind him for this weekend as he'll tackle The Dirt Track at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. The track will host the season finale for the World of Outlaws, and Wayne is looking forward to his first trip there since 2002 when the WoO co-sanctioned with their Gumout series. "We're ready for Charlotte," he says. "We hope everything goes better than Little Rock. I don't think they've got the infield tires there!"
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
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 drove the Fred and Jo Threatt #29 at Charlotte in his May 2002 visit. Despite rough qualifying efforts over the two-night show, he charged from 21st to 12th in the prelim and 24th to 17th in the finale.
"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 will be back in the FattFro #14AJ this weekend (Doug Johnson)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IAUSA[email protected]
If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me!
@BillWMedia
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