By Bill W
July 18, 2012 – Wayne Johnson swept last week’s action with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series at the Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, Oregon. He took both nights on Friday and Saturday, and heads into this week with some momentum. The series will hit Banks, Oregon on Thursday night, before tackling Grays Harbor Speedway in Elma, Washington on Friday and Saturday.
Things started Friday night with the prelim at Lebanon. The facility has been reconstructed since Wayne’s last visit in 2009. “It is a completely different racetrack then when we were there three years ago,” he says. “It is beautiful. It’s a completely different place. It reminds me of Lucas Oil Speedway (Wheatland, Missouri). I think they’ve only run two or three shows there.”
A bad draw saw Wayne start outside row four of his heat, but he would claim a redraw position for the feature after climbing to fourth. “It was a loaded heat,” he says. “The car was working really well. We were able to get by Gary Wright and (Seth) Bergman. Then we drew the four for the feature.”
The Knoxville, Iowa driver worked the Wayne Johnson Racing #77x methodically towards the front to take the win. “We just kind of rode around there for a while,” he says. “I bided my time, and ended up getting to Roger Crockett in traffic. We were able to get by him, and won that deal. Our car was awesome all week.”
Having locked into Saturday’s finale, Wayne watched the racetrack to make preparations. Soon he found himself in the runner-up position, chasing down another leader. “We drew the four again,” he says. “We rolled around in third for a while, before we finally got into second. We were chasing Travis (Rilat). We were catching him a little bit at a time, but I didn’t know if I was going to have enough or not.”
Wayne caught a break and capitalized to take the point. “A couple cars got together, and that got me to (Rilat),” he says. “That was with five or six laps to go. I didn’t want to do anything with him yet. The way the track was, I knew if I passed him, he would just slide me back. I wanted to wait until the end of the race to do it. On the white flag lap, I slid him and cleared him by a mile. He ended up hitting the fence and the caution came out.”
The yellow flag period put Wayne’s chief ASCS rival on his tail, but he would pull away for his sixth series’ win of the year. “It was green, white, checker with Jason (Johnson) on my bumper,” he says. “I just drove away at the end they said.”
Last Wednesday, Wayne ran tenth at the Electric City Speedway in Great Falls, Montana. “We started 17th and we were up to fourth,” he says. “Then the track took rubber, and I was way too tight. I ended up dropping back to tenth. It was pretty uneventful. We just went on to the next one.”
Tomorrow night, ASCS hits the Sunset Speedway in Banks for the first time ever before heading to Elma. “We’ve never been to Banks,” says Wayne. “I hear it is really small. Of course, we love to go to Elma. There are a lot of good people up there.”
Wayne is being treated well while in Oregon. “Belinda Thompson was great to help us here and give us a place to stay at the Village Green in Cottage Grove,” he says.
Follow Updates on Facebook!
Wayne will update as his race night goes on at his Facebook page. Find it by searching for Wayne Johnson Racing or clicking the following link…
http://www.facebook.com/#!/WayneJohnsonRacing
Outlaw Wings – “The Wing with an Attitude”!
Check out the new “recessed rivet” design put out by Outlaw Wings. Talk to Wayne about purchasing Outlaw Wings for your car! Outlaw Wings – “The Wing with an Attitude”!
Wayne’s World
Jack Carson asks: What are some steps you go through when you see a track for the first time?
Wayne says: The first thing you want to do is see if it imitates anywhere else. Where have I been that looks like this? You try to put a setup on, and just watch as much as possible. Sometimes you go right out and you have it. Some tracks, it takes a little longer to figure out.
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
Thirty main events into the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series, Wayne has competed in every one. He is second in A main wins with six, and leads the series with 24 top five finishes and 28 top ten finishes.
Partner of the Week – ButlerBuilt Professional Seat Systems
No matter the form of motorsports, ButlerBuilt’s leadership makes it the most successful seat in the industry! Winners utilizing ButlerBuilt in the last two weeks span a wide range of motorsports: Kyle Busch, Bubba Pollard, Tyler Walker, Jonathan Allard, Brady Short, Jason Sides, Josh Fisher, Shannon McQueen, Wayne Johnson, Bud Kaeding, Jessica Zemken, Lynton Jeffrey, Jason Johnson, Brooke Tatnell, Levi Jones and many more! To learn more about the Butler Advantage, visit www.ButlerBuilt.net today!
“Wednesday’s with Wayne”
“Wednesday’s With Wayne” is an up close look at the past, present and future of colorful andtalented 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 Johnson Racing would like to thank Vern Rengen and Missile Motorsports, Sebastian Sandblasting & Powdercoating, City Vending, Outlaw Wings, Team Achieve, The Oil Medics, Century Signs, Smiley’s Racing Products, Hoosier Tire Southwest, Simpson, Butlerbuilt, Super Shox, Maxim, Speedway Motors, Rod End Supply, Schoenfeld Headers and RCM Design.