[i (Bill W) December 2, 2009] – Today and tomorrow, Wayne Johnson can be seen walking the aisles at the International Motorsports Industry Show in Indianapolis. The Knoxville, Iowa driver will be seeking opportunities for sponsorship, or downright ride-hunting as his plans for 2010 are currently a blank slate. As we look at the future, we’ll also look back on a 2009 season where Wayne competed for eight different open-wheel teams in 82 races covering 15 states, Australia and Canada.
Chicagoan Al Christoffer has funded the FattFro #14AJ for several seasons, but the team cannot continue without some help. The rig and hauler are in Illinois, and Wayne is looking for opportunities. “If sponsorship isn’t found, the #14AJ is going away,” he says. “It will be no more, it’s that simple. Al has a midget and we’re going to run it at the Chili Bowl, but after that, we don’t have anything. I don’t have anything out at my shop at all to work on, and I don’t have a ride for 2010. Al has been good to me, but he just can’t do it on his own anymore.”
After returning from Australia where Wayne was injured (tailbone) in January of 2009, the FattFro team was waiting in Florida to start the season. He would notch his first win of the season at East Bay in front of Greg Hodnett, Daryn Pittman, Mark Smith and Terry McCarl. “We struggled starting out at Volusia,” he says. “I was a little discouraged with some of the problems we had with the car. We started to figure some things out there towards the end of the week and we went over to East Bay. We had never won a race there, but we were able to pull it off against some pretty good competition. We were able to find the balance we were looking for with the flat wing.”
Early intentions were to run for points at Knoxville with the 14AJ. Changes in rules and intentions by the track changed the car owners’ plans. “I basically had the rug pulled out from under me as far as Knoxville went,” says Wayne, who lives two miles from the track. “With the rule changes and the possibility of a draw, Al decided he didn’t want to do that with the 14AJ. We picked 30 races to run with that car with Al’s budget, and I was scrambling to find other rides to fill in the blanks on the schedule. We ended up running nine different racecars. That’s tough, and it’s not something I’m planning on doing next year.”
In 2009, Wayne ran the Scott Benic #2B midget at the Chili Bowl, the Brett Smith #39 in Australia, the #14AJ, the Harold Main #35 on the West Coast, the Cooper #01 in Jetmore, Kansas, the Marty Johnson #81 at Knoxville, the Miles Hill #07x at Ohsweken, Ontario and Eldora, and the Gorby #G1 at the Ultimate Challenge. “When you have a new team to run for all the time, it usually takes the whole weekend to get things rolling,” he says. “It’s hard enough to be consistent when you are running with the same team all the time, let alone when you are changing every week. All of our wins (four) came in the FattFro car, because that was where we were the most consistent, and the car we ran the most races in.”
Consistency is the key for Wayne in being successful in the sport. “I really want to race for one team,” he says. “We can win, and we have nothing to prove there. We’ve won a lot of big races, and that’s something most drivers never get to do. I think we’ve done it with a whole lot less than most too. Sometimes you have to wonder why your name doesn’t come up for some of the bigger rides with the Outlaws when the same drivers are recycled so much.”
Wayne ended up running the #14AJ at 42 events. He ran for Main on the West Coast in 23, notching three second place finishes (Southern Oregon Speedway, Cottage Grove Speedway, Silver Dollar Speedway). “We got some of the bugs worked out with that team eventually,” he says. “The night after I ran second to Shane Stewart at Cottage Grove (ASCS National), I had already driven by him early in the race. I felt we were going to win, and the driver made a mistake coming off turn four and tagged the wall. That broke the Jacob’s ladder and we ended up sixth. We had a lot of little stuff like that that plagued us.”
Wayne was on his game at the Knoxville 360 Nationals. He would win his prelim, and finish second in his quest to win a third championship. “We were really good that week,” he says. “Jesse Hockett was able to rent one of his motors to us, and we went out and won the prelim pretty handily. We ended up second on Saturday night to someone (Terry McCarl) who basically has an unlimited budget. If you get beat by someone who has won at Knoxville as much as he has, and there is new equipment on the car almost every time he hits the track, you can’t feel bad about that.”
Wayne got hotter as the season came to a close, winning prelims at the Short Track Nationals and the Cowtown Speedway November Sprint Shootout. He would finish second at the STN in his quest for a second win there. “If you look at the 360 races that the #14AJ competed in, we were pretty darn good,” he says. “We borrowed a motor from the Hammers (#94 team) to run at Cowtown and Devil’s Bowl in October. We were up front at Cowtown and got upside down, and we made a good charge at Devil’s Bowl. We got our good motor from Charlie (Fisher) for the Short Track Nationals, and we ended up winning the prelim there and running second on the final night. We won the prelim the next week at Cowtown and ran fifth in the final with a broken shock. We were able to run from tenth to third the first night in Tucson (Western World) and had a mechanical failure the final night. That was a pretty good run.”
There are plans for January, not only at the Chili Bowl, but for Australia as well. “We’re running for Brett Smith again at the (Grand Annual) Classic,” he says. “We’ll leave a day after the Chili Bowl. Our plan is to be over there about ten days and hit several shows. After that, when we get back, we just don’t know.”
Buy Your ARP Wings from Wayne
Wayne is an ARP Wings dealer located in the Knoxville, Iowa area. Wayne credits the new ARP top wing for his wins at Little Rock and Cowtown. Contact Wayne for your ARP Wing, as he has some special Holiday deals going! ARP Wings – “When Downforce Matters”!
Wayne’s Website
To learn more about Wayne and the team, log on to www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com!
Wayne’s World
Rollie Nelson asks: You’ve raced a lot of places. Is there a place you haven’t been that you’d like to race?
Wayne answers: I’ve been lucky to have raced at a lot of the tracks across the country, but one that I’ve never been to is Lincoln Speedway in Pennsylvania. I’ve heard a lot about it, but I’ve never been there.
Wayne’s Tech Tips
What are the steps for inspecting a frame for damage after an accident?
Wayne: The biggest thing is to check for broken welds. With the powdercoating, the separation is pretty easy to see sometimes. Other times, it’s tougher. You also want to make sure it is straight. We don’t have a jig to put the car on, so a lot of times we’ll string-line it.
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 Dec 02, 2009
- Article Date: 12/2/2009