By Bill W,TJ Buffenbarger photo
September 21, 2011 – Wayne Johnson didn’t reach the top rung of the ladder in Saturday’s Canadian Nationals at the Ohsweken Speedway in Ontario, but he did the next best thing, driving from 24th to 2nd in the finale. In addition, he won a special match race on Friday to receive the “Mr. Sprint Car” cup. The Knoxville, Iowa resident is working to find a way to run his equipment this weekend at the Daniel McMillin/Jesse Hockett Memorial at the Lucas Oil Speedway near Wheatland, Missouri on Friday and Saturday.
Thursday night at Ohsweken was “Fan Appreciation Night”. After running second in his heat, Wayne suffered a DNF in the feature driving Miles Hill’s #77x. “We had a few issues with the car, and just couldn’t finish the race,” he says. “We pulled in. We just couldn’t get it going. It was a night for experimenting and trying some stuff.”
A match race on Friday night titled “Mr. Sprint Car”, saw Wayne take top honors after besting Bryan Howland in round one, followed by Jarod Horstman, Tom Huppunen and teammate Jamie Collard. “We were good,” says Wayne. “That Charlie Fisher power plant was taking off really well. You had to slowly go up to the line and watch the green light. It was kind of like a drag race. As soon as I hit the throttle pedal, that thing was going. I was able to beat my teammate Jamie Collard, who beat me in the weekly show there a couple weeks ago.”
Twin Features saw fifteen cars in each, running fifteen laps. Wayne was twelfth after a race incident. “We started sixth or so, and we were running pretty good,” he says. “We got up and were passing Jessica Zemken for second. Her nerf bar made contact with my left rear wheel and cut the valve stem off. It was only 15 cars for 15 laps in those races, so it was pretty much over from there. That race is just a tune-up for Saturday really.”
The big night came and Wayne had a bit of a rocky beginning in qualifying and his heat. “There were six heat races of ten,” he says. “You qualify with your heat races, so you are on even ground. We qualified fourth out of ten and missed it a little bit.”
A DNF in the heat set up his charges through the B and A. “We were really good in the heat,” says Wayne. “We started fourth, and we were second coming off of two three-wide. Two cars got together, and Kyle Sauder came out of the pack and knocked me off the track. I thought we were going to turn over big time. It knocked the front end down and tore all the brake lines.”
The team had a lot of work to get ready for the B. “We had to really thrash and work hard to get it ready,” says Wayne. “Right before we went out for the B, we got it ready. We started twelfth or fourteenth, and we were able to run it up to second.”
The main event saw Wayne charging through the stout field. “Thirty cars and thirty-five laps,” he says. “We started 24th, and there wasn’t a caution until lap 28. We were up to fourth by then, but ninth in line. With seven laps to go, we went from fourth to second.”
His last pass came on the last corner, and it was his teammate who was bested in a photo finish. “I beat Jamie there to the line by .001 of a second,” says Wayne. “That was kind of cool. We hadn’t even put new tires on for the feature. That’s how good the car was.”
Wayne is hoping he can race this weekend, but could use some help. “We’re working on my stuff to get ready for Wheatland,” he says. “We’re looking on some help with fuel and tires to be able to get down there. That would make it a lot easier.”
Buy Your Outlaw Wings from Wayne
Wayne is an Outlaw Wings dealer located in the Knoxville, Iowa area. Wayne credits the new Outlaw top wing for his 2009 wins at Little Rock and Cowtown. Contact Wayne for your Outlaw Wing, as he has some special Holiday deals going! Outlaw Wings – “When Downforce Matters”!
Wayne’s Website
To learn more about Wayne and the team, log on to www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com!
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!
Wayne’s World
Phillipe Jauron asks: Has the caliber of 360 drivers in Canada surprised you?
Wayne answers: It doesn’t surprise me, because there are good racers all over. It’s definitely picked up in the last few years since I started there. I don’t think the drivers have gotten better, they just hadn’t had sprint car racing for a long time up there. It’s not surprising, they have some really good drivers. Jamie Collard is in his second or third year in a sprint car, but he ran tenth or eleventh when the Outlaws were up there driving a 360. He’s the only driver ever to make an Outlaw dash with a 360.
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!
Wayne’s Fast Facts
Wayne won the 2008 Canadian Nationals after starting sixth. Dustin Daggett was second, ahead of Bryan Howland, Dale Blaney and Chuck Hebing. He was third quick and won his heat that night. He netted around $8,000.
“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.