By Bill W
June 1, 2011 – This weekend will be special for the BDS Motorsports #38 team and driver Wayne Johnson. They will be supplying a car for new Hall of Fame inductee Gary Wright for Friday night’s Masters Classic at Knoxville Raceway. Wayne will compete in the companion 360 show before heading out after the races to Little Rock, Arkansas, to pick up the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series event there. He’ll be competing there with Wright, who will fly down after his well deserved induction.
Three races were on tap for the Memorial Day weekend. Wayne drew a starting spot in the back of his heat and surged to a win Thursday at the I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Nebraska. “We’ve been fast,” he says of the machine tuned by Bryan Sumby. “We’re not drawing well in the heat race, but it’s one of those deals. I used to stress about that, but if you can pass cars it doesn’t matter where you start. That heat, we were passing cars.”
Wayne’s lack of drawing luck returned and he started seventh and finished sixth on a one-lane racetrack. “Drawing in the back of the feature redraw is tough,” he says. “Especially on a night like I-80, where it rubbers down right away, and you just can’t pass. I could have probably run sixth in a 305. It was kind of like a high-speed freight train.”
The Knoxville, Iowa driver moved over to the Junction Motor Speedway near McCool Junction, Nebraska with the ASCS-Midwest series on Friday. After winning his heat from row two, he settled into the third starting spot for the main event. “The racetrack looked like it was going to get rubber-down for the feature,” says Wayne. “The owner watered the cushion right before the feature, but it really had the same effect. Now it was a one-lane race on the cushion.”
Brian Brown and Danny Lasoski started up front, and Wayne kept them within striking distance before settling for third. “You put those caliber drivers on the front row and it’s going to be tough,” he says. “We did get close at one time in traffic. We were experimenting a little bit with too high a gear, so we couldn’t exit the corner with them. Then the caution came out, and there went our chance.”
A rough track greeted drivers on Saturday at the Knoxville Raceway in Iowa, and Wayne was excited to do some 410 racing. “We were lucky not to get anyone hurt,” he says of the track. “I don’t know who organized that dirt removal mid-week. That was the worst racetrack I’ve ever seen at Knoxville. You wouldn’t believe what we’ve had to do with the racecar this week…the things that are cracked or loose.”
Wayne came out mid-pack in the 32-car field and timed in a fast second quick. “We were in an experimental Parker Engine there, so it was good to get second quick right out of the box,” he says. “We felt pretty good about it. I guess we bounced through those holes faster than the others.”
He managed to finish third in his heat after starting sixth. “It was a deal where you didn’t know which way the car was going to go through those holes,” says Wayne. “You didn’t know if you were going to bounce into someone, or what. It was spooky.”
He would finish a disappointing ninth. “We weren’t good in the feature,” he says. “We tried some things to get better, but we actually made it worse. We were along for the ride. I couldn’t turn it.”
So it will be 360 racing this weekend on Friday at Knoxville, and on Saturday at the I-30 Speedway near Little Rock.
Big Sale on T-Shirts!
Wayne Johnson Racing has a variety of 2010 apparel and it is ALL on sale! $10 for t-shirts, hats, women and kids’ shirts and more! E-mail WayneJohnsonRacing@yahoo.com to place your order!
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!
Wayne’s World
Mike Olson asks: I hear guys like you talking about shocks. What has changed in shock technology since you started racing?
Wayne answers: When I started, we only had a couple of manufacturers to choose from. It was a hydraulic shock. Now, there are lots of manufacturers. We have nitrogen gas shocks and lots of different compressions and adjustable options. The technology has come a long way. We’ve gone from buying a shock and putting it on, to dyno-ing the shocks. Brian at Super Shox has simplified things though. He does all the work for you.
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 held off Sammy Swindell to win his prelim feature in 2009 at the Short Track Nationals in Little Rock, Arkansas. Tony Bruce Jr. was third, ahead of Paul McMahan and Marshall Skinner. In the finale, the 1997 STN champ would finish second to Bruce, and he was followed by Shane Stewart, Travis Rilat and Swindell.
“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 the following for making this possible: BDS Motorsports, Parker Machine, Champion Oil, BMRS Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Max Muscle, Butlerbuilt, Hinchman, Schoenfeld Headers, Super Shox, Hoosier Racing Midwest, Rod End Supply, Fuel Safe, Simpson, Conroy Pneu Controls, KSE, Maxim Chassis, Kinsler Fuel Injection, Astro Titanium, ITI Lubricants, DMI, Laser Carwash and Speedway Motors.