|
Wednesdays with Wayne – New Arrival!
(Bill W) October 3, 2007 – It was a big week for Wayne Johnson and his wife Erin, as they welcomed their new daughter, Paige, into the world…naturally on a Wednesday! Paige came into the world on September 26 at 5:58 p.m., weighing in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces, and measuring 20 inches long. After the necessary time in the hospital, Wayne had to hustle to the West Plains Motor Speedway for Saturday's American Sprint Cars on Tour race at the 3/8 mile oval.
It was a tough turnaround. "To be honest, I don't think I was in it mentally," says Wayne of his trip to West Plains, Missouri. "We got to the hospital at 7 p.m. on Tuesday night, and didn't get home until Friday at 2 p.m. I had about three hours of sleep a night there. I was tired and not as motivated as I should have been. It had also been two months since I'd been in the 360 and I usually need one race to adjust when I switch between the cars."
West Plains was a new venue for the Knoxville, Iowa resident. "The track fooled me a little," he says. "When we got there, it was really sticky, and I had heard it was one of the slickest places. I was looking forward to it, but in hot laps, I was so stuck I couldn't hardly turn. We freed the car up, but when I watched the heats, it dried quickly and we changed it back!"
The draw set Wayne up to start seventh in his heat. "We were actually pretty good," he relates. "I drove up to second in the first lap, when a caution came out. They put me back to third, and on the restart, it just wouldn't go. I don't know what happened to the car, but it got really loose and we ended up fourth, which put me out of the dash. If we would have been third, we would have made it."
His work was cut out for him in the feature. "We started tenth, and drove up through there a little bit," says Wayne. "We fell back a little at the start until we got a little rhythm going. The car just wasn't great. I don't know if it was me or the car. I came up on Jerrod Hull, and we were racing for around tenth. He raced me like we were racing for 20 million dollars! We did that for seven or eight laps before I drove around him, and that really held me up in the end."
Wayne picked it up and reeled in the top five. "Towards the end, I was able to run down (Brian) Brown," he says. "The car was actually getting better, and I think the track took a little rubber. I was just so loose early, that the rubber helped me to get going pretty good. I honestly think if the race would have gone longer, we would have been in the top three or four." In the end, he would settle for a sixth place finish, and retain his second place run in the ASCoT standings.
Looking Ahead
Wayne will take this weekend off, but the ASCoT will be back in action at the Devil's Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas on Friday, October 12 and Saturday, October 13. The weekend will include the Wesmar Racing Engines Challenge. Only five nights of racing remain in the ASCoT season, as Wayne tries to track down Gary Wright in the standings. "We'll be a little more rested, a little more aggressive in Dallas," he says.
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
Mike Arthur in Amarillo, TX Asks: Do you follow sports outside of racing? What are your favorite teams?
Wayne answers: Football. I'm a big Oklahoma Sooners fan and a big Dallas Cowboys fan. I can't watch much else. I played baseball, but it's too boring for me to watch. Sometimes I watch the Lakers.
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
In 31 ASCoT features this year, Wayne has three wins 22 top fives and 26 top tens.
"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!
Paige is just a day old in this photo, and she's already sporting dad's shirt!
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
|
