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Wednesdays with Wayne – Defying the Draw!
(Bill W) October 15, 2008 – The draw has been a challenge for Wayne Johnson most nights for some time now, but he made the most of it last weekend. Starting in the back of the pack with 45+ cars in the field each night at the Cowtown Speedway in Kennedale, Texas last weekend, he still managed another pair of top five finishes in the First Annual Cowtown Nationals. This week, he'll head to a more familiar Dallas area track, as he'll tow to Mesquite's Devil's Bowl Speedway for the Winternationals.
A heavy track that was claiming shoe soles even after the racing was done, greeted the competitors on Friday. A lightning fast racetrack provided a tough challenge to move forward in any race, and Wayne was starting at the tail of his heat. Managing a third place finish, he would line up tenth for the 30-lap finale.
The Oklahoma native fared well in his debut at Cowtown, driving forward to fifth, one spot out of locking himself into Saturday's finale. "I just tried to put the car in spots that were tough for the guys in front of me to deal with," says Wayne of his Friday run. "I had to just run in there, and they could run over me or hit the brakes. Really, that's what we had to do. The track is on the narrow side anyway, and Friday night as heavy as it was…that made it twice as hard to pass."
The heat draw did not go well Saturday either. Stuck in a tough heat and starting back in row four, Wayne could get only as far as fourth. That was six spots short of an A main position. Starting outside row one in the B, he would take the early lead, but in the end, he finished second to Jack Dover. "Dover had the faster car early in the night," says Wayne. "He was going well. That hurt us for a starting spot in the feature, but we ended up o.k."
Grabbing the final starting spot (22nd), Wayne quickly surged forward on a much slicker racing surface. The high side of three and four built a cushion, and Wayne took advantage. "I ran the high side of three and four for the whole race," he says. "There weren't a whole lot of guys up there, and we were driving around them. There was a big hole down in turn one, and coming off of two it was slick until the end of the straightaway."
Wayne picked cars off left and right, and had moved into the top ten by the halfway point. Late in the race, he set his sights on Kenneth Walker who was running fifth. Wayne roared around him and finished an impressive fifth, earning hard-charger honors.
This weekend Wayne will head to the Devil's Bowl where he has five career wins, and has been in the top five in nine of his last ten races at the historic ½ mile. He has the Mike and Tim Hammers/Robbie Forbes #94 Maxim/Fisher primed. "This Fisher motor has run well, and for seven nights now, the worst finish is fifth," he says. "As bad as we drew, it was a pretty good weekend at Cowtown to be honest. Things will open up big-time at Devil's Bowl this weekend, and we're ready to roll."
Wayne is a Cover Boy!
Wayne appears on the October Sprint Car and Midget Magazine cover! Pick it up at a track near you, or subscribe now! Noted author Dave Argabright wrote the feature on Wayne! Check it out!
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
Bill W asks: You seemed extremely disappointed with your Oklahoma Sooners last week. Where do you see them headed the rest of the season?
Wayne answers: The National Championship game! Texas will get beat by Missouri this weekend, so that will put us back into third. Alabama will be number one, everyone else will stumble and we'll play Alabama in the championship game! No worries…
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
This week in 2000, Wayne was victorious in the ASCS prelim at the U.S. Dirt Nationals at the Terre Haute Action Track in Indiana. He beat Randy Martin, Jason Sides, Dale Howard and Tim Crawley. He finished third in the finale behind Jason Johnson and Crawley, sealing his ASCS title.
"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, Deberg Concrete, www.RacingThreads.com, CnB Mushroom Farms, Maxim Chassis, ARP Wings, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld and ButlerBuiltfor all their help!
Wayne competes at the Cowtown Nationals last weekend (Rudy Garcia Photo)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IA USA[email protected]
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