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Wednesdays with Wayne – Victory at Volusia!
(Bill W) February 13, 2008 – Wayne Johnson made a vow the morning of Wednesday, February 6, 2008. He wasn't going to shave until he got a win. We were all spared, because just a few hours later, against 52 of the toughest sprint car drivers around, he stood in victory lane at Volusia Speedway. The popular win by the low budget team against the "Goliaths" on hand was dubbed an upset by some, but a closer look shows us a calculated strategy working to perfection.
The race was the second of three All Star Circuit of Champions events at the Volusia Speedway. A 17th quick time in qualifications and a second place heat run (finishing where he started) offered little foreshadowing of what was to come in the 25-lap main event.
As the green flag fell in the feature, Wayne moved the Mike and Tim Hammers/Robbie Forbes #94 forward from his 9th starting spot. "We were able to ride around the bottom and stay with those guys," says the Knoxville, Iowa driver. "We got up to sixth pretty quick, getting by Jason Sides and Greg Hodnett. We were just riding around the bottom staying down out of the rubber. I wanted to save some tire for the end. If I could stay down there longer than everyone else, I was going to have a lot more tire at the end."
The dry-slick surface saw many drivers heading for what little rubber they could find in the middle of the track. "The racetrack was slow, but as the rubber got laid down, it got faster and faster," says Wayne. "I could tell guys like (Sam) Hafertepe were really using their tires up. I was just waiting and biding my time."
As Danny Lasoski and Hafertepe left the rest of the field behind them at the midway point, Wayne was thinking about a strategy that would take advantage of the tire tread he had remaining. "Finally we made it up to about fourth, and then coming off of turn two, I could tell the car in front of me (Mark Smith) was pulling away a little bit, because he was up in the rubber," he says. "That's when I moved up into it to make sure I wasn't going to get freight-trained. I stayed with him and got to third."
Now in the rubber that had developed on the racetrack, Wayne benefited from the tread he had, and others did not. "The top two guys (Hafertepe and Lasoski) were gone at that point," he says. "They were a full straightaway ahead of me. I just started pounding it a little harder, and ran them down in a lap. When I got to them, I had such a run that I wanted to slide by Hafertepe for second. I had such a good run that we ran by both of them!"
Once in front, the veteran let loose. "I was like a rabbit running from a bear there!" says Wayne. "I probably used the tire up a little much just to get away from them. I didn't know how far I was in front, but they said it was about a straightaway." A look at the right rear after the race showed Wayne got everything out of it! The $7,000 victory was the first in 2008 for Wayne, who utilized a 410 power plant supplied by FattFro's Al Christoffer.
Though there were six nights of racing at Volusia, there was only one shining night for Wayne. The rest of the week saw the crew chasing the car and struggling in qualifying against a star-studded and unrelenting field of sprint cars. "We tried everything," says Wayne. "Something was just wrong with the motor. We were lucky the track was slick on Wednesday. My car was as straight as a string qualifying every night. I went out the last night (Sunday), and the racetrack was pretty good. I was happy with my lap, I thought it was pretty good, but I was .3 of a second off quick time. The car was driving nice, so we have to attribute it to something with the motor."
A week that saw many high dollar teams switching motors, the #94 team tried to figure out how to make the one they had run as good as possible. "We were chasing things all week trying to figure out the problem," he says. "We only had the one motor, so switching it wasn't an option. There wasn't any sense starting tenth in a heat race when you qualify that bad. It's not going to happen. You're just wasting money at that point."
Vote for Wayne in the Alltel Challenge
Wayne's win gave him a unique opportunity to receive $12,000 the Alltel Dirt Car All Star Challenge. Fans will choose one Volusia winner as their All Star driver. The winning vote getter will receive $12,000! You are allowed to vote once per day through March 16, so get online at vote at www.AlltelAllStar.com!
Wayne's popular win has put him on top of the voting polls to this point, but he could definitely use your vote every day, because the Late Model guys are coming to Volusia! "It would be pretty cool to win that deal…$12,000 would be huge for a team like ours," he says. "The problem is, it's fixing to get tougher and tougher. The late model guys are going to be coming in, and you know how many fans they bring! Keep voting! We're not beyond begging!"
Up Next
The #94 team will take a couple of weeks off before competing in the Gulf Coast Nationals on February 29 and March 1. The Golden Triangle Raceway Park near Beaumont, Texas hosts the ASCS-Gulf Coast series the first night and will pay $2,000 to the winner. The finale will be held at Houston Raceway Park and will pay $3,000 to win.
Friday and Saturday March 7 and 8 will find the team in USCS competition at Greenville Speedway in the owners' home state of Mississippi.
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
Jennifer from Houston, TX asks: Do you think the competition on ASCoT will be stiffer this year? Sounds like Don Droud Jr. and Zach Chappell are going to run the whole thing.
Wayne answers: I think it was pretty tough to begin with. Throwing those guys in there, makes it all the tougher. It's one of the roughest series out there as far as I'm concerned.
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 113 career wins have covered 14 states and Western Australia. Wayne has won in Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Tennessee, Indiana, Kansas, Wisconsin, South Dakota, Minnesota, Florida, Pennsylvania and Mississippi.
"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 beside a big Alltel cell phone in Volusia Victory Lane (Allan Holland)
Not much left on the right rear at Volusia! (Allan Holland)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IAUSA[email protected]
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