By Bill W
(Bill W) November 2, 2011 – The eyes of the sprint car world are on Charlotte, North Carolina, and the World Finals at The Dirt Track at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. The World of Outlaws finale will also see Wayne Johnson in attendance as he competes in the #77x. Last weekend, a bid for the Short Track Nationals win ended with a DNF, but the Knoxville, Iowa driver picked up one of the most special Awards in his career.
Things started at the I-30 Speedway near Little Rock, Arkansas last Thursday. Wayne was able to get a heat run in the family #77x, running second after starting fourth. “We really had a good run in the heat on Thursday,” he says. “Seth (Bergman) got too far out in front of us to catch him, but the car was good.”
The rains came right before the third Qualifier. Wayne was scheduled to start inside row three after earning the ninth highest point total in the heats. He would finish fourth on a track that was sloppy. “They started with us on Friday, and that was a big disadvantage,” he says. “They probably should have run the (Friday qualifiers) heats first, because the racetrack was greasy and hard to pass. The guys who had their qualifiers in on Friday definitely benefited from that.”
Despite a tough run in the Qualifier, Wayne locked into the A main. After starting outside row six, he moved up to seventh. “I felt in the feature we were going well,” he says. “Again, the racetrack was really ‘too good’. Guys weren’t missing or making enough mistakes for us to get up through there any further than we did.”
Wayne’s point total saw him start fifth in the second B main of the night. The event took the top seven to the $15,000 to win, $2,400 to start finale. Wayne would finish fifth, and start the big show inside of row eight. The track saw a lightning fast bottom that saw most of the field on the low side. “Starting in the back of that show…you’re really not going to advance forward too much when the track is like that,” he says. “We passed three or four cars before we stopped. I was back there racing with Jason Johnson and Brad Sweet for twelfth like we’re racing for the lead. The race is $2,400 to start and $2,750 for fifth. It wasn’t worth it at that stage to ride around and destroy something. If our car was moving forward, we would have stayed out there, but I decided to pull it in.”
Close to 80 cars didn’t make the main event, so all was not lost. Also, Wayne won the “Josh Howard Perseverance Award” just 15 months after almost losing his foot in an accident in Washington. The award is dedicated to Josh Howard, who suffered a serious injury a few years back at the Short Track Nationals. “Winning that Award was really one of the coolest things that has happened to me,” says Wayne. “I’ve always kind of been friends with those guys (Howard family). That made it special. Josh definitely hasn’t lost any of his personality or swagger! He still has that attitude!”
The World Finals commence Thursday with two sets of time trials. The racing gets underway with Friday’s prelim and concludes with Saturday’s finale set to air LIVE on Speed Channel. “We’re really excited to get down there,” says Wayne. “I think we’ll have a good showing. I’ve had a pretty good history at Charlotte, and it’s one of the big races you want to win.”
Outlaw Wings!
Check out the new “recessed rivet” design put out by Outlaw Wings. Talk to Wayne about purchasing Outlaw Wings for your car! 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
Bob Sheridan asks: Does having to qualify twice in one night for the Charlotte weekend add to the pressure?
Wayne answers: Somewhat, if you are bad in the first set of time trials. You don’t have much time to figure out what went wrong. That’s tough, but I kind of like it to be honest. You get the qualifying out of the way, and get to be more in race mode on Friday and Saturday. Anymore, we are like the Cup guys. We’re trying to get everything we can out of those things in qualifying. When it comes to the racing, you change your car up quite a bit.
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 competed at the World Finals at Lowe’s in 2008. He timed 6th in round one, and 21st in round two in Miles Hill’s #77x. After blowing his motor in the prelim, he put in “Old Lucy”, won the B and finished 10th in the feature. In the finale, he drove from 21st to 11th.
“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.