(Bill W) March 28, 2012 – Wayne Johnson has always been strong at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway near Mesquite, Texas, and he proved it again Saturday night as he made a mad charge through the field to register a second place finish. He and the Wayne Johnson Racing #77x team will run a pair of shows this weekend. Friday night, they will run with the ASCS-Lone Star series at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Waco, before running an NCRA event at the 81 Speedway in Park City, Kansas on Saturday.
With a tough Lucas Oil ASCS National Series field on hand, Wayne’s draw was not conducive to an easy night. “We drew a 72, which can always be tough with a field like that, but I think we rebounded well,” he says. “We were able to go from eighth to fifth in the heat race. That was enough to get us in the show, but not the redraw.”
Passing points barely got Wayne into the feature, and he started 15th. “I ran the bottom the first part of the race,” he says. “We were a little tight up top, so I stayed down there. I tried the top early on, but I was really tight. Actually, the racetrack was heavier come feature time than I’ve probably seen it. It was really locked down. The moisture just kept coming up.”
Wayne progressed up through the field until a red flag stopped things on lap 12 while he was running sixth. “The car was good,” he says. “We usually go good at Devil’s Bowl, but that’s as good as the car has felt all year. They had a red flag for Danny Wood. I almost made some adjustments, but I decided not to. I’m glad I didn’t. The racecar really got good at the end.”
Wayne was fourth by lap 15, and a restart with 24 laps down saw him make his move. “We were able to get by Brady (Bacon for second) there late using the top on the restart,” he says. “At that point, I knew I had to try something, and the car had freed up quite a bit. The fuel load had burned off of it. I was able to roll the top at the end. I wish we would have done that a little earlier, and maybe we could have gotten Jason (Johnson) earlier.”
He would settle for second behind Jason Johnson. “We had a good car,” says Wayne. “We came up through there pretty well. A couple of late cautions helped us out, but we were pretty fast. At the end, I thought we were catching Jason, but we ran out of laps.”
Wayne returns to Waco Friday, where he is one for one as far as feature wins. It has been a while since he has been to 81 Speedway. “The only time I’ve ever run there (Waco), we were able to win in Brian Parker’s car two years ago,” he says. “It has been a long time since we’ve run Wichita, I can’t remember. We were able to win in the NCRA 410 shows there, but I can’t remember the last time.”
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!
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!
Wayne’s World
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
On April 16, 2010, Wayne took Brian Parker’s #9x to victory in ASCS-Lone Star action at the Heart O’ Texas Speedway in Waco. Brad Welborn finished second, ahead of Kevin Ramey, Kolt Walker and Preston Peebles II. He led every lap.
Partner of the Week – Simpson Performance Products
Simpson Performance Products is headquartered in New Braunfels, TX with more than 80,000 sq. feet of manufacturing and warehouse space. Many of our restraints, helmets and flagship parachutes are manufactured and tested right here. Simpson fire suits and crew uniforms are manufactured outside of Los Angeles, CA in our 52,000 sq. foot facility. Simpson also employs the largest customer service and sales team devoted solely to servicing NASCAR customers of any racing safety supplier, based in the heart of NASCAR country, Mooresville, NC. Visit us online at www.TeamSimpson.com!
"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 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.
Attached: Wayne at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway (Jimmy Jones Photo)
- Admin Account on Mar 28, 2012
- Article Date: 3/28/2012 by Bill Wright