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Wednesdays with Wayne – Back to 'Old Lucy' This Week!
(Bill W) August 27, 2008 – Weekly 410 racing at the Knoxville Raceway has been an exercise in frustration for Wayne Johnson. The Oklahoma transplant has struggled on his home track thus far in 2008. His lone win came with the best of the business in town during the Nationals, so that made last week's results all the more disappointing. This week, he'll go back to his faithful motor on Saturday, and then race at Lake Ozark Speedway on Sunday with the 360.
Wayne has qualified for the last six Knoxville Nationals finales, and the last five have been powered by the Fisher motor he has affectionately named, "Old Lucy". Last Saturday the FattFro #14AJ team decided they would try their newer version. The fresher motor has only a handful of shows on it, but has not run up to expectations. Just before the Nationals, it was pulled in favor of Lucy, and the results were immediate, resulting in the preliminary win worth $12,000.
After detecting what they thought was a problem in the fuel line in the newer version, the team decided to give it another try last Saturday. The qualifying results were familiar, as Wayne timed in 18th out of 27 cars. "I don't know what the problem is with that motor to be honest," he admits. "It's a good thing we went with 'Old Lucy' at the Nationals, because with this one, it would have been horrible."
Wayne struggled to a third place finish in the heat race after starting on the pole. As one of the most talented drivers anywhere, he seldom goes backwards in any race. "It was frustrating, and more than anything it was the problem with the motor," he says. "With the other motor in, like we'll have this week, we should be fine."
Things improved for the feature, and the Maxim chassis was set up well. Though the groomed ½ mile oval was wide, it still held a lot of moisture and seemed to gain in speed as the night went on. By the halfway point of the 20-lapper, Wayne was in the top ten after starting 15th. "We were o.k. in the feature…coming up through there pretty good," he remembers. "The track was heavy and that makes it hard for everyone, because that makes everyone fast."
Wayne continued to pick his way forward, following sixth row starters and quick timers, Danny Lasoski and Billy Alley. As the trio moved towards the top five, a caution flag came out late in the event. After that, Wayne dropped a few spots and finished 10th at the checkers. "I don't know what happened on that last restart, whether it was a tire sealing, or what, but we went backwards," he says. "We had gotten up to seventh behind Billy at one time there."
One thing is certain. "Old Lucy" will be back under the hood of the #14AJ at Knoxville this weekend for Season Championship Night. Sunday, Wayne and the Mike and Tim Hammers/Robbie Forbes #94 360 team will tow down to Eldon, Missouri for the Lake Ozark Speedway Nationals, and the $3,000 to win finale!
T-shirts and Hats
Separate shirts for the H&H #94 and FattFro #14AJ are now available at the trailer.
Wayne's Website
To learn more about Wayne and the team, log on to www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com!
Wayne's World
Jeff from Des Moines, IA asks: It seems like a lot of guys had problems with the rear-end of the car during the Nationals, and you had some problems in Jackson. This seems to be a bigger problem than ever? Why do you think that is?
Wayne answers: I'd have to say it's a combination of two things…lighter parts and more horsepower. That puts more pressure on the driveline to the rear-end than it's ever had. Actually, our problem with the rear-end at Jackson, was the broken U-joint. The vibration from that, beat the hell out of the rear-end.
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 year in the 410 at Knoxville has been a lesson in frustration. Included is a seventh place finish, an eighth, a tenth, two elevenths and two twelfths. Coming into this season he had won five weekly 410 races dating back to 2003, and had finished in the top five 42% of the time and the top ten 64% of the time in all Knoxville 410 shows during that time. On the other side of things, he has won four times in six tries this year with the 360. His two lone defeats came when he dropped out in June with mechanical problems, and when he went to the back of a large Brodix Tournament of Champions field early in the race, and came back to fourth.
"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!
(Conrad Nelson Photo)
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
[email protected]
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@BillWMedia
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