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Wednesdays with Wayne – Drive for Five Ends!
(Bill W) June 25, 2008 – The quest to win five in a row fell short last weekend for sprint car driver Wayne Johnson. It wasn't for a lack of effort. After drawing deep in a star-studded American Sprint Cars on Tour field of 50+ sprint cars, Wayne persevered and took the lead before the halfway point of the 25-lap event. Unfortunately, mechanical gremlins ensued and the streak was done. The team got the 410 out for Knoxville on Saturday, and headed out to complete the rest of the ASCoT Northern Tour.
Hopes were high heading into the Friday ASCoT tilt at the Knoxville Raceway in the Mike and Tim Hammers/Robbie Forbes #94. Wayne finished second in his heat race after starting sixth, passing the likes of Gary Taylor, Brett Mather and Kenneth Walker. The run was good enough for a redraw position in the 25-lap main event (fourth).
At the drop of the green flag, Wayne trailed fellow ASCoT runner Jason Johnson as the pair left the rest of the field well behind them. Wayne closed using the low side of the track, but started pulling up on the leader on the high side around lap nine. He made the pass for the lead in turns three and four on lap ten and started putting lapped cars between himself and Johnson. Seven laps later, he had four lapped cars between himself and second when the motor that was bidding for five wins in a row, dropped a valve and ended his run.
In Victory Lane, Johnson mentioned that he fell asleep when Wayne flew by him with a "slider". The way Wayne saw it, neither was accurate. "What they told me he said was a little confusing to me. I guess I tried to wake him up when I was alongside of him racing for the lead…I don't know," he says. "We drove right by him too on the outside…no sliders. Our car was definitely the fastest on the track while we were out there! We got word that Jason's crew had named his new motor 'The Wayne Killer' before the night started, but I think we definitely killed ourselves in that one."
It was back to the FattFro #14AJ 410 sprint on Saturday night at Knoxville. With a new bullet under the hood, the team was expecting better than their 12th quick run in time trials. After getting through the heat, Wayne finished where he started in the main event (11th). "Our 410 program is behind right now," he says. "We struggled with the car. The motor was good. We're going to have to try some new stuff there. We're running flat wings, and nobody that has been fast has been running them. We also had to run the 25 on the right rear last week when our motor was running good, so that isn't a good gauge for August either. To be honest, we haven't had enough time to spend racing that car to get the bugs worked out."
The ASCoT traveled to Hartford, South Dakota and the I-90 Speedway on Tuesday night. After a tough draw, Wayne drove from 8th to 5th in his heat on a tacky track. After wiring the B main field from the pole, he lined up 18th and drove to 12th in the feature. "We were trapped behind Jason Sides for most of the race," he says. "We got up to 11th or 12th pretty quick, but the track was just a little too good to move forward."
The ASCoT will hit Dakota Fair Speedway in Huron, South Dakota this Saturday night.
Bill W Takes a Break
Bill W Media will take a break (barring any special editions) next week as he heads to Pennsylvania. A regular edition of "Wednesday's With Wayne" will return on July 9.
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
Ron O'Connor asks: Wayne, do you remember the Outlaws coming to Oklahoma City when you were a kid? Was it a big deal for you and your family?
Wayne answers: Yea, we always went. I was always a big Steve Kinser fan, and it seemed like he always won. It was a big festival. Mom, dad and the brothers all loaded up and went to the races. It was always packed to the gills down there.
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 won eleven sprint car races in 2007. Incredibly, he won those eleven races in ten different states. According to www.OpenWheelTimes.com, the features won last year bested the nine he won in 2001, and the eight he won in 2000 and 2005. Wins in 2007 came at North Florida Speedway (FL), Devil's Bowl Speedway (TX), State Fair Speedway (OK), Malden Speedway (MO), Susquehanna Speedway Park (PA), Clay Hill Motorsports (TN), North Central Speedway (MN), Knoxville Raceway (IA), Wilmot Speedway (WI), Langlade County Speedway (WI) and Columbus Speedway (MS).
"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 Advanced Lubrication Technology (www.cermastore.com), www.RacingThreads.com, CnB Mushroom Farms, Maxim Chassis, ARP Wings, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld and ButlerBuiltfor all their help!
Wayne races the FattFro #14AJ at Knoxville last Saturday (Conrad Nelson Photo)
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
[email protected]
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@BillWMedia
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