(Bill W) September 16, 2009 – Wayne Johnson will be attempting to win his second Canadian Nationals in a row at the Ohsweken Speedway near Ohsweken, Ontario, Canada this weekend. The two-night affair will cap off four nights of racing in a row spanning from Iowa to Ontario for the Knoxville, Iowa driver. Last weekend in California, he finished tenth in the prelim at the Gold Cup Race of Champions before suffering a DNF in the B main on Saturday.
Wayne’s preliminary night at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico was Friday, and he qualified 20th quick in the field. “That kind of put us behind for the weekend,” says the Oklahoma City native. “They use the same point system as the Nationals, so we were down 38 points from qualifying alone.”
Driving Harold Main’s #35A, the hill got steeper in the heat, thanks to track conditions. “We started inside row three, but it was on the bottom in the grease,” he says. “The outside rows got the jump on us down low, and we ended up sixth and more points behind.”
Things were working well in the car, however and he transferred through the B. “The car was working well in the B,” says Wayne. “Rob Hart has been helping me and the car felt good. The car was really good all weekend, all but the first two laps we ran.”
Wayne started 20th in the Gold Cup prelim, and stayed on the track long enough to register a 10th place finish on the tacky ¼ mile bullring. “Going from 20th to 10th looked good on paper, but we really weren’t passing too many on the track,” he says. “It was more a result of them falling out.”
Wayne’s point total put him inside of row four for the B main. He was working toward a transfer spot to the main event before a mechanical problem surfaced. “We were able to get up to fifth behind Kraig Kinser,” he says. “I bicycled up, and when I came down, we had a broken steering gear.”
Chico can be choppy, and that was the case last weekend. “It was pretty rough, narrow and heavy, even for the final,” says Wayne. “It was real tough to pass. (Donny) Schatz was able to move from the back to sixth, but he didn’t really pass cars…a lot of them wrecked. We were happy to get out of there in one piece in a way. Some of the guys wadded up one or even two cars. I have to thank the Main family again for letting me come out and run.”
Wayne will compete tonight at the Clay County Fair Speedway with the World of Outlaws in the FattFro #14AJ. He will leave early Thursday morning for Ontario and race Thursday night in Ohsweken with the Empire Super Sprints. On Friday and Saturday, he will attempt to win his second straight Canadian Nationals driving for Glenn Styres and Miles Hill. The race will pay $9,000 to the winner on Saturday. “I’m looking forward to it,” he says. “I’ve got Rob working with me still this weekend, so we’re going to go and try to win that thing again!”
Fisher Motors for Sale!
Wayne has a pair of Fisher motors for sale…
- Charlie Fisher 410 – AllPro 286-4; 2/900 Engler; 16 nights from new; 6 nights from fresh; $30,000
- Charlie Fisher 410 – AllPro 286-2; 2 13/16 Engler; new block last rebuild; Knoxville Nationals A Main 5 consecutive years; 5 nights since fresh; $22,500
Call 405 306-5426…
Wayne Johnson Apparel in Stock!
2009 Wayne Johnson apparel for both men and women is now in stock! T-shirts, long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, tank tops and hats are all in! To order, e-mail Wayne at WayneJohnsonRacing@yahoo.com or stop by the trailer at the track.
Wayne’s Website
To learn more about Wayne and the team, log on to www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com!
Wayne’s World
Rob Czarnecki from Milwaukee, WI asks: Wayne, based on this year's Wednesday's with Wayne updates it appears that you have had an off year. Do you attribute that to any one thing, or is it a combination of things? I'm used to seeing your name popping up all year long telling of you winning a race somewhere so I'm wondering if this year is the result of a lack of funding, lack of motor, or just one of those years where your snake bit no matter where you go. Thanks for your time, and I look forward to reading about your performance in the A-Main at the 50th Anniversary Knoxville Nationals.
Wayne answers: The answer is really simple. The lack of funds is the biggest thing. If there wasn’t a lack of funds, we’d be running one car consistently all year. The next biggest thing is the lack of consistency, and getting in and out of a lot of different cars. I really appreciate the opportunities I’ve had with a lot of great people, but you’re always better running the same stuff all year.
Wayne’s Tech Tips
I hear Goodyear tires will be back in force next year. Will that cause you to go back to the drawing board, or will it be an easy transition?
Wayne: I ran a Goodyear on the left rear at Kilgore this year, and it went pretty well. We’ll wait to see what happens, because it could change sprint car racing quite a bit. A lot of guys have deals with Hoosier, and they’re even talking about a right rear and a left rear tire rule next year. A lot of the rule changes just cost the racer more money. I think you should be allowed to run any tire you’d like, as long as you run the same one all night long.
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!
“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 FattFro, Stone Mountain Access, Bral Restoration, Deberg Concrete, TNT Custom Golf Carts, www.RacingThreads.com, CnB Mushroom Farms, Maxim Chassis, ARP Wings, Hoosier Tire, Simpson, Weld and ButlerBuilt for all their help!
- Bill Wright on Sep 16, 2009
- Article Date: 9/16/2009