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Wednesdays with Wayne – Fast in Florida!
(Bill W) February 4, 2009 – Wayne Johnson is off to a good start in Florida in the FattFro #14AJ. Disappointment hit last Friday in Ocala, when he left a possible win on the table in the form of motor trouble, but he rebounded last night at Volusia Speedway Park with a sixth place finish with the best of the business in attendance! The weather may be frigid for Florida right now, but the Knoxville, Iowa driver is just warming up!
Last night's run started well for Wayne from the start. After his motor "Old Lucy" lost a valve at Ocala Speedway, Charlie and James Fisher tuned in his other Fisher engine for Volusia action. The result was a 3rd quick time in qualifying with 48 of the best sprint car drivers in the field. "Early on, the track was decent, but a little rough," says Wayne. "That motor hit on all cylinders and we were going real well. That motor is a pounder."
Starting sixth in a heat race that included World of Outlaws competitors Tony Bruce Jr. and Joey Saldana, All Stars champion Dale Blaney, and central Pennsylvania stars Mark Smith and Cody Darrah starting in front of him, Wayne surged to fourth and a transfer to the main event. "Holy (Cow), are these heats stacked," he says. "When I looked at the lineup I said, 'We aren't 360 racing anymore, are we?' You can't go to sleep at all. You have to hit all your marks with these guys."
After drawing a three for his starting spot in the feature, Wayne battled with Danny Lasoski and Stevie Smith for several laps before falling back a bit. Despite a resurgence, and a sixth place finish, he was disappointed with the handling of the car in a race that saw Donny Schatz win after restarting at the tail of the pack early on. "We were just way too loose on the setup," he explains. "We fell way back to ninth at one time. It started slicking off towards the end and started taking some rubber. That helped us get back through there a few spots. Hey, it was our first finish of the year without a DNF (including Australia). Woo hoo!"
Ocala
Wayne's time spent at Ocala Speedway last weekend was shorter than planned. Things started well despite being the first car to qualify on a slick surface Friday. Eventually, his laps would be good for sixth quick. "We were quick time for quite awhile," he says. "We were the first car out and it was pretty greasy. That's when I knew we had a good racecar."
Wayne showed he had a dominating race car by quickly driving from fifth to second in his heat race, but disaster struck with two to go, and he limped home in that position. "With about two laps to go, we dropped a valve. We had run (heat winner) Terry (McCarl) down by then. Charlie and James are down here helping us, and I want to thank Mike Anderson out of Washington for supplying us with a backup (Shark) motor while we're down here too."
Wayne drew the pole for the feature event, but motor woes forced him to start at the tail and duck in to collect start money. The disappointment was evident in his voice. "To be honest, starting on the pole, I don't think there was a car in that field that would have had anything for us," he says. "We were that good."
Wayne will get five more opportunities to duplicate his win one year ago in All Stars/WoO competition at Volusia, tonight through Sunday. Next week, he'll take on East Bay Raceway near Tampa for a pair of 410 shows there.
Wayne's Website
To learn more about Wayne and the team, log on to www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com!
Wayne's World
William asks: I hope you land a WoO or a good national ride. You have earned it. If you don't, is there a chance that we may see you racing weekly at Knoxville? Also, I noticed your OU racing helmet at KC. Don't forget, it is a former Iowa Hawkeye player Bob Stoops leading the way. Good luck to Stoops and the Sooners!
Wayne answers: That's (Knoxville) the plan right now, but I'd still like to put an Outlaw deal together. We're partnering with Harold Main and his #35 car out West. We'll run Chico and Tulare with him for sure. I'd love to run Vegas and Watsonville before that somehow too and then get headed back this way through Arizona with the WoO.
Wayne's Tech Tips
Front Wing Angle – I try to get the angle on the front wing as low as possible, so it doesn't effect the clean air the top wing is getting. Some guys do the opposite, trying to angle it into the top wing. As far as the angle itself, it's usually between 25 and 28 degrees.
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!
"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 FattFro, Stone Mountain Access, Deberg Concrete, TNT Custom Golf Carts, www.RacingThreads.com, CnB Mushroom Farms, Maxim Chassis, ARP Wings, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld and ButlerBuiltfor all their help!
Wayne in action at Ocala (R.E. Wing Photo)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IAUSA[email protected]
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