From Bill W, photo courtesy of John’s Racing Photos
October 28, 2009 – Wayne Johnson traveled to California to compete at last weekend’s Trophy Cup at the Tulare Thunderbowl. In the end, he would finish 12th and 14th in the Harold Main #35A in the biggest 360 show of the season on the West Coast. This weekend’s Short Track Nationals south of Little Rock, Arkansas has been postponed a week, so the Knoxville, Iowa driver will have the weekend off from racing.
With every lap on the track worth points, Wayne settled in on Friday. “I believe we were right around 26th quick,” he says. “That wasn’t the greatest, but we ran pretty well after that. We ended up in the front row after the invert and we were able to win the heat.”
Wayne’s best run of the weekend came next as he surged from the tenth row up to a twelfth place finish in the prelim. “We started back in row ten, and things were running pretty well,” he says. “We didn’t have the fastest car, but we were pretty decent out there.”
Coming into Saturday with a decent point total, the #35A team prepared for a start back in row four of the heat race. “We came into Saturday twelfth in overall points,” says Wayne. “We were able to get up through there pretty well in the heat. We drove by some good cars. We were really motoring.”
Hopes were high heading into the finale on the high-banked bullring. “I felt pretty good with our chances for a good finish there starting fifteenth,” says Wayne. “Unfortunately, our setup was way too loose and we could never really drive forward. We were spinning the tires out there.”
The end result was a fourteenth place finish. The postponement of the Short Track Nationals to November 5-7 causes a conflict for Wayne between Little Rock’s race and the World Finals in Charlotte, North Carolina. He was to drive for Miles Hill and the #07x team out of Canada, but he will race at I-30 Speedway. “I have to apologize to Miles and the rest of that team,” he says. “I was committed to doing this deal at Little Rock with the 360. We’re prepared to go down there and hopefully do well.”
Wayne Johnson Apparel in Stock!
2009 Wayne Johnson apparel for both men and women is now in stock! T-shirts, long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, tank tops and hats are all in! To order, e-mail Wayne at WayneJohnsonRacing@yahoo.com or stop by the trailer at the track.
Wayne’s Website
To learn more about Wayne and the team, log on to www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com!
Wayne’s World
Bill W asks: What do you think of your chances in getting another Short Track Nationals title?
Wayne answers: Looking at the pre-entry list, I’d say about 1 in 114! I think we’ve got a good shot. So much is about the draw and getting the right luck.
Wayne’s Tech Tips
What tracks have you used the most and least stagger on?
Wayne: Smaller tracks like ¼ miles, you’re going to need more stagger than you do on a bigger one. I can remember back in the day at Tulsa Speedway, we ran 18-20 inches of stagger pretty regularly. Anymore, we don’t get lower than we do at Knoxville with 9 or 10 inches.
Got a question for Wayne? Each week, Wayne will answer your questions about “Tech Tips”, or anything that’s on your mind. If you ever wondered what a part on a sprint car is all about, send an e-mail to us at sprntcar@iowatelecom.net, 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!
“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 sprntcar@iowatelecom.net with “Wayne” in the subject line.
Wayne would like to thank FattFro, Stone Mountain Access, Bral Restoration, Deberg Concrete, TNT Custom Golf Carts, www.RacingThreads.com, CnB Mushroom Farms, Maxim Chassis, ARP Wings, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld and ButlerBuilt for all their help!