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Wednesdays with Wayne – "Wayne"erd for a Night!
(Bill W) June 27, 2007 – Brainerd, Minnesota became "Wayne"erd for a night when Wayne Johnson copped the American Sprint Cars on Tour feature at North Central Speedway there last Wednesday night. A charge from 11th to 2nd at the Dakota State Fair Speedway in Huron, South Dakota on Saturday night pulled him to within six points of Gary Wright in the season ASCoT point standings.
When Wayne saw the North Central Speedway for the first time, he didn't know what to think. "When we got there, the straightaways looked like runways, and the corners looked like they were getting ready to plant corn," he says. "The straightaways were slick and black, and the corners looked like a plowed field."
The track conditions improved as the night went on, and Wayne was able to grab a heat win and a second place finish behind Jason Johnson in the Pole Dash. The two ASCoT travelers are unrelated, and are undoubtedly the hottest 360 drivers in the country right now. It seemed that the 25-lap slugfest would come down to the first corner, and Wayne took full advantage of the situation. "In the feature, I got the jump on Jason right from the get-go and led every lap. It was pretty slick, the way we like it. Towards the end it got racy all the way across…you could run top or bottom," says Wayne of his winning ride.
He was able to hold off Gary Wright early, and keep Jason Johnson behind him the entire distance to record his 7th feature win of the year. The big scare came after the checkers had flown. "I came to the checkers at the end of the race," Wayne says. "There were two lapped cars right in front of me set to wreck (including Wade Nygaard), and I ran right into them. I thought I was going to get upside down! It knocked the nose wing off, and even bent one of the front tubes. Just the jar of hitting him so hard bent the wing shaft back. It was crazy!" The crowd roared when Wayne said how much his Mississippi car owners would love his phone call telling them he had won in Minnesota.
With another tally in the win column, it was on to Huron. The night got off to a rocky start with a fourth place run in his heat race. "It (the track) was really heavy to start the night, and of course, we drew the first heat. There was no way to pass and we started fifth and ran fourth," says Wayne.
Starting inside of row six, Wayne wasted no time in heading for the front, despite using used tires. "In the feature, the track got wide," he says. "The groove was right around the top, or right around the bottom. We were going really good. The car was really a rocket ship! We really seem to have the fastest car wherever we go, we just can't seem to draw right now! Eventually, that will turn around, so watch out!"
In the latter stages, as his car adapted well to the Huron oval, Wayne approached the leader. "We actually passed Jason on the last lap with a slider that didn't stick," he says. "We had run him down before a caution (three laps to go). He was running the top all the way around, and I was running the bottom in one and two and the top in three and four. We really didn't need that caution, because we were in heavy, heavy lapped traffic, and I got right on his rear bumper coming out of turn four when he was kind of hung up behind a car. We probably could have got him, but the caution came out. After the restart, we just took a shot with the slider, and couldn't make it stick."
The second place finish at Huron marked the eighth straight top five finish for the driver of the Mike and Tim Hammers/Robbie Forbes #94 in ASCoT racing. "Everything's clicking for us right now. Kind of like it was early in the year. We went through a lull there, but everything's back to clicking again!" Wayne looks forward to racing in Missouri in the week ahead.
A Look Ahead
Three venues in Missouri and one right across the border in Kansas await the ASCoT tour. On Saturday, June 30, they will be at the Lucas Oil Speedway in Wheatland, Missouri. The Missouri State Fair Speedway in Sedalia will host the series on Tuesday July 3. The Daniel McMillin Memorial at Double X Speedway in California, Missouri will run on Independence Day, and on Saturday, July 7, the ASCoT will hit Lakeside Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
On the Air
Wayne made an appearance on the "Win It or Wear It" show hosted by Brian Brown and Scotty Cook last Monday night. To listen in to the archived interview, log on to www.RacinBoys.com and click the "Videos" link.
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 Is Up!
Visit Wayne's new website at www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com! Check back often for updates, as it is a work in progress!
Wayne's World
Jimmy in rural Knoxville asks: Who are your non-racing heroes?
Wayne answers: I'd have to say my dad. Just for the man he was. He taught me a lot about life and the whole nine yards.
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 has achieved victory three times at the Missouri State Fair Speedway. He topped an ASCS race on August 1, 1997, and also on May 27, 2000 when he bested Jason Johnson, Randy Martin, Michael Dupuy and Steve Gennetten. His final win came in Winged Outlaw Warrior action on May 25, 2003 ahead of Tracy Nichols and Jimmy Sills.
"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, www.RacingThreads.com, CnB Mushroom Farms, Eagle Chassis, Fast Wings, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld and ButlerBuiltfor all their help!
Wayne found victory at the North Central Speedway in Brainerd, MN (Stan M)
Bill W MediaMonroe, IA USA[email protected]
If this post isn't results, stories or something c
constructive, it isn't me!
@BillWMedia
www.OpenWheel101.com
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