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Wednesdays with Wayne – Dutch ter Steege!
(Bill W) October 10, 2007 – Sixty-eight points. That's what separates Wayne Johnson from the American Sprint Cars on Tour point leader, Gary Wright. The two-night Devil's Bowl Winternationals on Friday and Saturday night will go a long way in deciding a champion, and should attract a star-studded field. Johnson is focused on one thing, however, getting back to victory lane at a track he has had success on in the past.
Of the four ASCoT showdowns at the Devil's Bowl Speedway this season, Johnson has one win and Wright has two, with the other going to Jake Peters. Both Wright, from Hooks, Texas, and Johnson have stellar records at the famous ½ mile oval, and when one wins, usually the other is close behind. Add Jason Johnson, who has a nice record at Devil's Bowl as well, and that should give the rest of the field a solid trio to shoot at.
The only thing that has changed for Wayne since his move to Knoxville has been the time spent on the road driving to Mesquite, Texas. "It's a lot longer trip now, than it used to be, that's for sure!" he says. "I think it's about 11 ½ hours from Knoxville. It's about three hours from Oklahoma City."
He spent much of his youth with his father and brothers at the Devil's Bowl, but remembers the first time he was behind the wheel there. "I remember pulling in for the first time as a driver, and though I had been there many times, coming in as a driver was a lot different," he says. "I was 16 or 17 years old. They had trees outside of the back straightaway at that time, and the racetrack was really sticky that night. It was awesome; you could just flatfoot around the place."
His viewpoint changed after one incident. "I don't remember who it was, but somebody went into the trees! That made the track from being really cool, to me saying, 'Holy ****!' I mean that guy went in the trees!"
The distance between himself and Wright for the $50,000 first place prize paid to the ASCoT champion is not lost on Wayne. "It's time to get down to business," he says. "There aren't hardly any races left, so we're going to make something happen at Devil's Bowl! We'd like to whoop on some Texans like my Sooners did!"
One Texan will be particularly sticky to deal with. "This is one of G.W.'s best racetracks, as is Little Rock," says the 2000 ASCS National Champion. "That's true for me too, but if I can pull this off, that will make it all the more impressive I think. If we can get that done, we've done something. I think we can do it, but we've done enough talking, it's time to do something about it!"
After a weekend off with family, Wayne feels refreshed as he heads south. "We went to West Plains and I was tired and worn out. I wasn't into it at all. Now we've had a couple weeks off home with the baby, with some sleepless nights. I'm pretty excited to go on the road and get some sleep!"
As if the ASCoT points battle wasn't enough, Wayne will also be shooting for a new motor from Wesmar in the Wesmar challenge. He is among the twenty-six drivers invited to compete for the hardware. In addition, other prizes will be awarded: 2nd – Maxim chassis, 3rd – Eagle frame, 4th through 8th – cylinder heads from Brodix, 9th – Simpson Voodoo Helmet, 10th – Set of Pro Shocks, 11th – MPD right rear wheel, 12th – MPD left rear wheel, 13th – two MPD front wheels, 14th through 26th – Hoosier tires and Weld certificates
Looking Ahead
Another of Wayne's favorite tracks will host the Short Track Nationals October 25-27. I-30 Speedway and its banked ¼ mile red clay oval will be the venue for the richest event in 360 racing in 2007. The STN will be sanctioned by the American Sprint Cars on Tour this year, and serve as the season finale for that series.
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
Don in Oskaloosa, IA asks: I'm curious about the first time you raced competitively. What kind of race was it, and what happened?
Wayne answers: I remember well my first race in a "Big Car". I raced go-karts and stuff before that, but I remember best my first race in 1987. It was in a 100" open wheel, non-wing car at State Fair Speedway in Oklahoma City. They called them modifieds then. Other than wheel-packing my brother's cars, I hadn't driven one. I had never driven one at speed. I finished fourth in the A main. A good memory of mine is racing with Dutch ter Steege. He was the track champion in that class, and still races. He's been around forever. Well, I passed him cleanly. He passed be back and really waylaid me. He wheeled the **** out of me. And I did the same thing to get back by him. I thought he was a pretty mean guy. I remember sitting in the stands as a kid, and he got into it with someone on the front straightaway, and it took like nine cops to remove him. That night when I was racing, I weighed about 102 pounds, soaking wet. After the races, here he came. I'm thinking, "Oh ****!" He came down and said, "I see you're going to make it in this business. You did what you're supposed to do. I tried to intimidate you, and you didn't take it." That was pretty cool.
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 had great successes at Devil's Bowl. In 39 career features run there, he has five wins, 23 top 5's (59%) and 30 top 10's (77%). Looking at the last 27 features run, Wayne has finished in the top five 20 times (74%).
"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 head to the Devil's Bowl this weekend! (Dave Zortman Photo)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IAUSA[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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