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Wednesdays with Wayne – Dashing Debut!
(Bill W) March 13, 2013 – In his first three nights with the World of Outlaws, Wayne Johnson was a perfect three for three in qualifying for the Dashes in some strong fields. Unfortunately, a rock to the head and a flat tire derailed him in two of the features. His best finish came in the second of two nights in Las Vegas where he finished ninth. This weekend, the Wayne Johnson Racing #77x will be racing with the WoO at the Thunderbowl Speedway in Tulare, California.
Last Wednesday marked the first night in Vegas. Wayne qualified 15th, ran second in his heat and drove from 9th to 6th in the Dash. "Qualifying is huge, and we've been able to do that," he says. "You need to get through the heats too. For one reason or another, our features just weren't where we wanted. We had a few issues. We'll keep plugging away."
An incident with a rock broke Wayne's helmet and ended his night early in the main event. "About fifteen laps in, I got plugged with a rock in the helmet," he says. "I was struggling a bit before that. The restarts have been killing me. I really need to work on that. You're not supposed to get out of line, but these guys are out of line in every direction!"
The final night at Vegas saw an 11th quick qualifying lap, a heat race win. He would start second in the Dash. "We were good that night," says Wayne. "We qualified well and won the heat. We were just way too tight in the Dash. I think I dropped to fourth on the first lap (and finished ninth)."
The team got things squared away in the main event. "We freed it back up for the feature, and ran around there in fourth the whole race," says Wayne. "I came up to lap Kraig Kinser and he was running the bottom…so I went to the top. That was not the place to be. (Jason) Sides got by me there on the bottom."
After running in the top five most of the way, the Knoxville, Iowa driver struggled after a caution and finished ninth. "I ran fifth until about six laps to go," says Wayne. "There was a caution, and on the double-file restart, (Donny) Schatz had a right front flat in front of us and he parked me. That messed me all up and we were shuffled back to ninth. I just need to work on the restarts."
Saturday saw the WoO move on to Tucson. "We were able to qualify well (10th) and again and win another heat. We moved forward in the Dash too (8th to 7th)."
A first lap incident, however, shaped the rest of the night and led to another DNF. "On the first lap, we didn't have the strongest start and (Danny) Lasoski got on the inside of me going into turn one," says Wayne. "That moved me up the racetrack and my right rear contacted (Craig) Dollansky. That cut the tire. I went to the back and ran around a few laps. With these races, you aren't going to make more money when it's so hard to get back through there. We just pulled off and saved it for another day."
This weekend, the high-banked bullring in Tulare should favor Wayne. "Our experience there is limited," he says. "We drove for Harold Main there. We also ran an Outlaw show there. We were in the top ten and a right front shock broke off. I think I've been there only four times or so, but we're looking forward to it."
Follow Updates on Facebook!
Wayne will update as his race night goes on at his Facebook page. Find it by searching for Wayne Johnson Racing or clicking the following link…
http://www.facebook.com/#!/WayneJohnsonRacing
Outlaw Wings – "The Wing with an Attitude"
Check out the new "recessed rivet" design put out by Outlaw Wings. Talk to Wayne about purchasing Outlaw Wings for your car! Outlaw Wings – "The Wing with an Attitude"!
Wayne's World
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!
Wayne's Fast Facts
When Wayne won the 2000 ASCS National title it was impressive in more ways than one. He was able to win eight times over the 42 race schedule and finished in the top ten 90% of the time. His eight wins on the tour in Fred and Jo Threatt's #29 came on eight different tracks in seven states: Arkansas (Crowley's Ridge Speedway), Missouri (Sedalia's State Fair Speedway, Joplin 66 Speedway), Oklahoma (Muskogee Speedway), Iowa (Knoxville Raceway), Tennessee (Atomic Motor Speedway), Texas (Route 66 Speedway) and Indiana (Terre Haute Action Track).
Partner of the Week – Simpson Performance Products
Simpson Performance Products is headquartered in New Braunfels, TX with more than 80,000 sq. feet of manufacturing and warehouse space. Many of our restraints, helmets and flagship parachutes are manufactured and tested right here. Simpson fire suits and crew uniforms are manufactured outside of Los Angeles, CA in our 52,000 sq. foot facility. Simpson also employs the largest customer service and sales team devoted solely to servicing NASCAR customers of any racing safety supplier, based in the heart of NASCAR country, Mooresville, NC. Visit us online at www.TeamSimpson.com!
"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 Johnson Racing would like to thank Vern Rengen and Missile Motorsports, Sebastian Sandblasting & Powdercoating, Williams Motorsports, Outlaw Wings, Team Achieve, The Oil Medics, Smiley's Racing Products, Hoosier Tire Southwest, Simpson, Butlerbuilt, Super Shox, Maxim, Speedway Motors, Rod End Supply, Schoenfeld Headers, 517 Design and Canyon Apparel.
Wayne races at Las Vegas (Malcolm White Photography)
Bill W Media
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