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Wednesdays with Wayne – Jack of all Trades Heads for Volusia!
(Bill W) February 6, 2008 – Three top ten finishes against elite competition would be o.k. in most people's book, but sprint car ace Wayne Johnson left East Bay Raceway near Tampa, Florida wanting a little more after last weekend's Ronald Laney "King of the 360's". Wayne passed 29 cars in three feature events, and he can draw from that as he switches to 410 racing this week at Volusia Speedway.
It was a familiar tune as Wayne lined up next to Gary Wright in row three of his heat race to start his sprint car season Thursday. The two battled back and forth last season for the American Sprint Cars on Tour championship. Unfortunately, early track conditions were a deterrent in getting towards the front. "We got in a heat race with a bunch of guys who weren't up to speed in front of us. The racetrack was still as wet as all get out. Finally when we cleared all that stuff we were running well."
Wayne went on to finish the heat fourth, but it wasn't enough to make the main event. "We won the B from the front, and that put us starting 20th in the A. We were coming up through there pretty good, but it doesn't take long to run 25 laps at East Bay, and starting back that far made it tough!" A charge saw Wayne pass 11 cars, finishing 9th. "We were pretty happy with that," he adds.
The Friday night prelim started a little smoother. Wayne started fourth in his heat and finished second behind pole-sitter Tim Crawley. That set him up inside row five for the feature. Despite a weekend-best fourth place finish, it may have been the worst his car felt all weekend. "We actually went from ninth to fourth in the first lap," he says. "We kind of maintained there. The car wasn't 'great' at all. All weekend, we struggled a bit. They always say, whatever you learn in Florida, you have to forget when you go back home."
The 2008 transition from Eagle Chassis to Maxim will require some tweaking. "It's (Maxim) a little different than what I'm used to, and we're just trying to figure out what it likes," relates Wayne. "It's a lot tighter on the right rear than the Eagle I'd been running since 2001. We've just got to keep working on it to figure out what it likes."
Unable to lock himself in the top six for Saturday night's finale put Wayne in the same boat as 50 other drivers, and he drew outside row three for his heat race. He was unable to gain any spots, and for the only time all week, moved back a spot. "We went forward in every race except the heat race on Saturday night, and that really put us behind," he says. "We really struggled in that heat. We didn't go far enough when we needed to free the car up."
The finish gave him some work to do to make the big show. "Starting 11th in the B?" says Wayne. "Oh my gosh! To miss all the cars starting in front of me while I went by them wasn't easy." But go by them he did, as he finished in the third and final transfer.
Despite a bit of a loose condition this time around, Wayne started picking cars off from inside row twelve. He entered the top ten and the ninth place car of Daryn Pittman. "I got behind Daryn Pittman and couldn't get by him for the longest time," he laments. "We were actually coming up through there pretty good before that. That allowed (leader) Jason Johnson to lap us both at the same time. I got by Pittman shortly after and was driving on Jason's bumper there pretty much after that. So starting so far back really cost us."
The caution flew, and there was no getting his lap back. "Then there was the restart, and I don't know how to be a lapped car," says Wayne. "I was just trying to get out of everyone's way, and that let Pittman get back by us. I don't like when lapped cars are in my way when I'm leading, so I didn't want to be in their way either." Wayne would settle for the steady 23rd to 10th run, which was amazing in itself after the rough heat race to start the night.
The Mike and Tim Hammers/Robbie Forbes #94 team will head to Volusia Speedway for some All Star Circuit of Champions/World of Outlaws racing next. FattFro's Al Christoffer is supplying the motor. "I think we'll throw our (set-up) book out the window and start over going back to the 410 at Volusia," says the 'Jack of all Trades'. "I've got a good feeling about this week. I think I'm on to something and we're going to be fine." If passing 29 cars in three nights is any indication, Wayne will be just fine.
Volusia Update
On Tuesday night, Wayne qualified a disappointing 21st, but came back to win his heat race with the All Star Circuit of Champions. He was unable to finish the main event. Complete Volusia coverage next week in WwW!
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 Website
To learn more about Wayne and the team, log on to www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com!
Wayne's World
Dale in Oklahoma City asks: You are running a lot of races in a row this week. I've heard Volusia can be sandy. What does the daily maintenance consist of there?
Wayne answers: You've got to service the motor and make sure the dirt is out of it, the torque ball, the torsion bars, birdcage and bearings. You really have to look over everything, because the sand is horrible down here. We washed the sand out of the car from East Bay for a whole day, so everyday you pretty much have to rebuild the thing. It's really not anymore work than what we normally do, you just have to work harder to get the sand out.
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 experience at Volusia is limited, but in 2006 he scored a pair of top five finishes when the United Sprint Car Series (USCS) visited in February. He drove the Sather #94s that weekend. The top ten runs at East Bay gave Wayne five such finishes in six events the past two years.
"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 East Bay Raceway (Allan Holland)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IAUSA[email protected]
If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me!
@BillWMedia
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