|
Wednesdays with Wayne – 360 King!
(Bill W) August 6, 2008 – Wayne Johnson is on top of the 360 world again after winning the 18th Annual 360 Nationals at Knoxville Raceway last Saturday night! The hard-earned win was the second (the other was in 2000) in his career, and was a huge boost heading into tonight's 48th Annual Knoxville Nationals. Wayne will attempt to qualify for his sixth straight championship event.
Friday night's 360 prelim saw Wayne score his first victory of the weekend. After a sixth quick effort in time trials, he won his heat from row three. He would settle in behind leader, Jesse Giannetto at the outset of the 20-lap main event. "I was running the bottom behind Giannetto," says Wayne. "I knew I couldn't pass him, so I went to the top to try to get some momentum. I was reeling him in, but then I saw a car on the bottom and it was Gary Wright. I thought I better get back to the bottom. The leaders went to the top, and I shot by on the bottom. This car has been awesome at Knoxville and it showed it again that night."
Wayne's Friday point total was good enough for fourth overall. The 25-lap 360 Nationals championship on Saturday, saw the Knoxville driver settle in behind front row starters Jason Johnson and Gary Wright. "The car was really tight early, so I wanted to bide my time until it came in," he says. "The first caution came with six laps down, and Gary pulled in (broken bracket), which gave me second. I had such a good restart on Jason's (Johnson) bumper, and I had a plan going in that whichever way he went, I was going the opposite. He went low, and I got a big run around the outside."
The pass looked easy, but Wayne wasn't planning on passing for the lead so early. "We got the lead a lot earlier than I was planning, but once we did, we were rolling," he says. "This (360 Nationals) was one of our goals that we set last winter, we wanted to do this for the car owners. It was great to have them up here from Mississippi. I can attribute it to the hard work my crew and owners have put in, the great motor Charlie Fisher of Fisher Motors has supplied us, along with our Maxim chassis, AFCO shocks and ARP Wings." After Saturday night, other than the ASCoT race in June at Knoxville when he blew up, Wayne is undefeated at the famous track with the Fisher under the hood.
Sunday's 360 BRODIX Tournament of Champions proved again that if Wayne wasn't the fastest car come feature time, he wasn't but a tick off. After a third quick effort in group qualifying, Wayne failed to make it through his heat and had to win the B to qualify for the 30-lap event. His adventure from row ten to fourth was strange. "If it could happen it did on Sunday in the feature," he says. "On the first restart (lap five), (Brian) Brownie shot something up at us and into the car. It broke my favorite helmet and then lodged underneath the throttle pedal and it wouldn't go. Then we stopped (lap six), got that out of there, went to the back and got going up through the field. On the caution with about 15 to go, there were no brakes, so we rode it out to a 4th place finish. So we went from 19th to 12th to 30th to 4th, so we saw about everybody that was running. It was fun."
Wayne was also charging in the 410, on Saturday and Monday at the Front Row Challenge in Oskaloosa. The reason he was moving forward centered on some poor qualifying efforts. "We're not qualifying well with the 410, but we're racing decent with those guys," he says. "We're debating on using our new motor or 'Old Lucy', the motor that's been faithful to us the last few years in getting us into the big show."
A respectable Saturday run from 13th to 8th was followed by a 20th to 12th effort in the Front Row Challenge. "Our motor was a little better on Monday, but the car was off," he says. "When you're working on one aspect, it's hard to work on everything. The times the way they are, it's tough to keep starting in the back and coming through there with a 410. The cars are just that much harder to pass."
We'll find out tonight if "Old Lucy" can get the job done!
Wayne's Website
To learn more about Wayne and the team, log on to www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com!
Wayne's World
Bill W asks: What do you remember about your first Nationals trip?
Wayne answers: My first trip to the Nationals was in 1994 or so. I just knew that I needed to come and race. It was way too big a party for me not to be racing! I needed to be out on the track, and we got our first shot at the 410s in 1998 with Archer.
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
Only six drivers can claim they've made the cut for the Knoxville Nationals finale the last five years. Wayne is one of them. He's joined by stalwarts Donny Schatz, Steve Kinser, Danny Lasoski, Terry McCarl and Shane Stewart. He hasn't been a backmarker either. The last two years, he's finished 8th and 11th, and also has registered a 13th place finish. A trip to the podium is an eyelash away. He knows the way there as he proved last weekend.
"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, Cerma Advanced Lubrication Technology (www.cermastore.com), www.RacingThreads.com, CnB Mushroom Farms, Maxim Chassis, ARP Wings, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld and ButlerBuiltfor all their help!
Wayne and Paige celebrate a 360 Nationals championship (Conrad Nelson Photo)
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
|
