|
Wednesdays with Wayne – Mixed Results!
(Bill W) July 18, 2007 – Wayne Johnson continues to field a fast race car in every event he competes in. Heading into the American Sprint Cars on Tour Speedweek, he and Gary Wright stood tied in the point standings race. The two would start the week tangling for the win at I-30 Speedway near Little Rock, Arkansas on Saturday.
Little Rock
A second place run in his heat at I-30 put Wayne inside row five for the feature. By the time there was a stoppage on lap four, he was up to fifth. By lap eight, Wayne was on Wright's tail in a battle for the lead. "We came from ninth and caught Gary Wright," says Wayne. "We actually got alongside of him a couple different times, and traffic screwed us up a little bit. He got a car length or two away from us at the end of the race."
The second place finish was a good one, and Wayne was impressed with the track crew. "The racetrack was beautiful. My hat is off to those people…they had so much rain. The straightaways were slick. They packed it hard because they didn't want it to get rough. It was a bit slick, but had holes in it that you could get a hold of. It was just a little bit rough, but it was really racy. You could bounce through the holes and catch them to move forward. It didn't build a cushion like it normally does, but it was good."
CreekCounty
Moving on to Creek County in Sapulpa, Oklahoma on Monday, the draw reared its ugly head before a single engine was turned over. "I can't seem to buy any luck! We drew bad again (51) and started seventh in the heat," says Wayne. "We made it up to fourth, but a car got disqualified so we moved up to third. It was just enough points to get me in the dash."
In the dash, the Knoxville, Iowa driver finished second, setting him up on the front row beside pole-sitter Kenneth Walker. Unfortunately, disaster loomed ahead. "We took the lead from the start, and we led for six or seven laps before we crashed," explains Wayne. "I had lapped a couple of cars, and then came upon a big group of them. The whole racetrack was blocked. I saw this car coming out of the infield, and Travis Rilat was banging off of Cody Branchcomb and I was right in the middle. I was trying to figure out where to go, but I was trying to stay away from everybody at the same time. Rilat got into Branchcomb. He got into the wall and ended up flipping right into me."
The crash hobbled the driver a bit. "My leg hurt bad, it felt like I broke it, but I was able to finally put weight on it. It wasn't a good race to be leading, because later (Tim) Crawley was taken out too." Darren Stewart was able to take his first National tour event since the 2005 season.
Despite the misfortune, Wayne continues Speedweek with a load of confidence on board. "We've had the best car everywhere we've been, hands down! The car's been awesome; we just can't seem to get the luck right now. We've never worried about points and we won't start now, we're just trying to win races!"
A Look Ahead
The rest of Speedweek:
Thursday, July 19: Devil's Bowl Speedway, Mesquite, TX
Friday, July 20: State Fair Speedway, Oklahoma City, OK
Saturday, July 21: Lawton Speedway, Lawton, OK
After Speedweek, everything will be focused on Knoxville. Wayne will be returning home to run the 360 Nationals that run from Thursday August 2 to Saturday August 4. Wayne will also pilot the #14AJ FattFro 410 on Saturday, August 4 in preparation for the Knoxville Nationals August 8-11. He will also compete in the Front Row Challenge on Monday, August 6 at the Southern Iowa Speedway in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
Taking a Break
Wednesdays with Wayne will take a break next week. Be sure to keep up with Wayne's progress at www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com!
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 World
Jean asks: What do you think of Jeremy Rankin your main crew man? We wish you the best at racing, you deserve it and your crew.
Wayne answers: Jeremy is a great guy and great mechanic. He's stepped up to the plate in a crew chief role and is doing an excellent job. He's behaving himself for the most part.
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
Monday's DNF was the first for Wayne since April 28, 2007 at I-30 Speedway near Little Rock. The streak spanned 20 shows. Wayne registered a top ten in all 20 of those shows, and finished in the top five in 16 of them!
"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!
(ASCS)
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
|
