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Wednesdays with Wayne – Busy Week Ahead!
(Bill W) May 21, 2008 – Things didn't start out the best for sprint car driver Wayne Johnson last Saturday night, but by the end, he was a hard-charger again. Knoxville Raceway was not its typical self, lending to one-lane racing, but Wayne found himself coming from the tail to record an 11th place finish. This week will be a busy one for the Knoxville, Iowa driver as after Knoxville on Saturday, he'll head south to race in Mississippi and Tennessee.
A late pill draw didn't help matters in time trials, as a day-long strong wind and abundant sunshine made quick work of the famous ½ mile. With a strong 35-car field assembled, it wasn't the night to go out late. "We really screwed up on the qualifying," says Wayne of the futile attempt at a setup with the conditions and his 25th quick run. "We were way off, way too tight."
Qualifying one spot out of the heat race invert, Wayne would have to post seventh in his heat race. With the heat transferring the top five to the feature, he had some work to do. "We had the car nice all night long; there just weren't a lot of opportunities to pass," he says. "There in the heat, we were able to make a couple of moves early to get in a transfer." Transfer he did, after finishing fourth.
With the one-tire rule at Knoxville, and rubber-down conditions imminent Wayne and the FattFro #14AJ team had a plan. "We had a definite strategy, but it didn't work out the way we thought it might," he says. "We put a new 25 right rear on, thinking that everyone else's tires were looking bad and there would be a lot of flats. Turns out, it didn't go green long enough for that to happen and for those tires to heat up. The cautions kind of screwed us up."
Not only were there cautions in the 20-lapper, but they were spaced out well. Drivers were able to cool their tires under yellow flag conditions. Nonetheless, Wayne found his way from his 20th starting spot up to 11th, earning hard-charger honors and an extra $300. "I don't even know how we got to 11th to be honest," he says. "We passed a few early, but after that, it was just follow-the-leader. I remember going down there thinking I was going to go around them on the outside one time, and thank goodness the caution came out, because I was out to lunch!"
Wayne will be back at Knoxville Saturday night for Wal-Mart night. The team will leave for Mississippi after the races, where they will compete with the Tim and Mike Hammers/Robbie Forbes #94 at the Greenville Speedway in Mississippi on Sunday night with the USCS. They'll also run Clayhill Motorsports near Atwood, Tennessee on Monday, Clarksville Speedway in Tennessee on Tuesday and Camden Speedway in Tennessee on Thursday with USCS before returning to Knoxville for the following weekend in the 410.
T-shirts and Hats
Separate shirts for the H&H #94 and FattFro #14AJ are now available at the trailer. Keep an eye on www.RacingThreads.com in the near future or visit the trailer to get your Wayne Johnson merchandise.
Wayne's Website
To learn more about Wayne and the team, log on to www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com!
Wayne's World
Bob Nelson from Knoxville asks: Last week you spoke about "dirty air'. This week can you address the subject of "dirty drivers"? Back in the day, the term dirty driver was thrown around quite a bit. I remember Ray Lee Goodwin telling me that he knew which drivers NOT to pass on the high side. Does that sort of thing still exist today; do drivers know among themselves who the "dirty drivers" are?
Wayne answers: I don't know if any of the drivers are "dirty" in the sprint cars. You know who you can trust to be close to, usually. I think there are some that are out of control. I don't think anyone is intentionally dirty, because things cost so much now, and the cars are so fast. People don't run into each other, but they may have ways to move another guy out of the way. I feel that's part of racing, and there are some nights when people think I'm a dirty driver. I'll do whatever it takes to win the race, you can count on that.
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's record in USCS competition is unmatched. In nine career feature starts, he has never finished out of the top five. Included in that resume, are four wins, all coming last year (in six tries). They were recorded at North Florida Speedway (2-3-07), Malden Speedway (MO) (4-20-07), Clay Hill Motorsports (TN) (5-28-07) and Columbus Speedway (MS) (11-10-07). The event at Columbus Speedway featured two main events. Wayne won the first one, started 20th in the second and charged to fourth.
"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 Technology (www.cermatechnology.com), www.RacingThreads.com, CnB Mushroom Farms, Maxim Chassis, ARP Wings, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld and ButlerBuiltfor all their help!
Wayne at Knoxville on Saturday (Bob Jones Photo)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IA USA[email protected]
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