|
Wednesdays with Wayne – Short Track Nationals Next!
(Bill W) October 22, 2008 – Wayne Johnson is ready for the Short Track Nationals at I-30 Speedway in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Knoxville, Iowa driver won the race in 1997, and is due for a second trip to victory lane there. This weekend's event will coincide with the conclusion of the American Sprint Cars on Tour season, and after last weekend's Winter Nationals at Devil's Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas, Wayne has all but clinched a third place finish in the season standings.
Wayne's prowess at the Devil's Bowl is not matched by many, but heavy rains preceding the event made things heavy and rough all weekend. On Friday night, Wayne drew outside row three of his heat and found his way to third trailing Kenneth Walker and Jason Johnson to the line.
The winner of five career feature wins at the famous ½ mile lined up outside row five for the main event. The track stayed extremely heavy and Wayne and crew chief Jeremy Rankin guessed wrong on the setup and finished ninth. "We got the car way too tight on Friday," says Wayne. "We just weren't rotating the corners. Our Charlie Fisher motor was plenty good; we just didn't have it set up."
Wayne won his heat from outside row one on Saturday night. He was tied with Trey Robb with the second highest point total through the heats, but since Robb was in an earlier heat, he was the recipient of a redraw opportunity. Wayne settled inside row number four for the 25-lap main event. "We were really fast," he says of his Saturday run. "We got up to third in a hurry, and went off the back straightaway to avoid a collision with Travis Rilat. That took us back to seventh or so."
Wayne came back quickly, and was back into third by lap 15. Five laps later, he was on the bumper of leader Jason Johnson, when the caution came out. "We got back up to second, and we were second behind Jason Johnson on the restart," Wayne remembers. "When it went green I got into a hole down in turn one and bicycled it. I thought we had him there, and the next lap going into turn one, the brake pads fell out and flew off the end of the racetrack. That was it. We were the fastest car on the racetrack before that."
Without brakes, Wayne pulled in with an official finish of 16th. This week, he'll return to another track he has run well at over the years, the I-30 Speedway. He likes his chances of coming home with a second win in the Short Track Nationals, having already taking home the Knoxville 360 Nationals and the Canadian Nationals this season. "We have the best motor there is, but motor isn't much in Little Rock," he says. "You need to have a good chassis with good tunin'. We plan on coming out of the weekend with the 'W'."
Wayne will be trying some things out tonight in a scheduled practice session on the red clay bullring. His prelim will be tomorrow night (Thursday). Next week, he'll head to Charlotte, North Carolina to compete at the World Finals with the World of Outlaws.
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
Jim Bowe from Memphis, TN asks: Is the new format of splitting the drivers amongst two nights at the Short Track Nationals something that you agree with?
Wayne answers: I don't like the Sprint Bandit format where you run two heats to be honest. It is better to have the cars split up with that format, so you aren't running against everyone. If you draw a bad number, which I'm good at, with a split field, if you are running well, you should be able to put yourself in good position to win.
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
Although the last couple of years haven't been kind to Wayne at the Short Track Nationals, he has an impressive record. In ten starts in the finale, in addition to his 1997 win, he has recorded seven top ten finishes (3rd in '94, 8th in '95, 1st in '97, 10th in '98, 8th in '99, 7th in '02, 6th in '03). In 43 career feature starts at I-30 Speedway, Wayne has three wins, 18 top fives (42%) and 28 top tens (65%).
"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!
 (Ryan Northcote Photo)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IAUSA[email protected]
If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me!
@BillWMedia
www.OpenWheel101.com
|
