(Bill W) May 11, 2011 – Two weeks at Knoxville, two quick times, two great heat runs, and still not a lap has been run in the feature. Last Saturday night, an accident started in front of Wayne Johnson at the drop of the green. He had nowhere to go, ending his night prematurely. The BDS Motorsports #38 team hopes to change their early season luck by making repairs to the sprinter and they anticipate competing in the 410 class this weekend at Knoxville.
For the second week in a row, Wayne blistered the 360 field with quick time. For the second week in a row, he made a charge from a ways back in his heat. He was able to finish first at the checkers. “When we’ve run, everything has been great,” he says. “The car, the Super Shox…just everything has been working. Everything is clicking and jelling. We just need some luck.”
With an invert draw of twelve, Wayne would start outside row six for the feature. The week before he was unable to start due to a stripped out cam spud. “We’re giving everyone a head start all year long,” he says of the invert of twelve. “Like I told Bryan…he’s a new car owner, and he’s kind of going through the new car owner blues a bit. We’re definitely turning things around though.”
With cars bouncing off each other in front of him at the drop of the green, Wayne clipped Jonathan Cornell and went for a ride. “Hopefully, we can make ½ a lap next week!” he jokes. “We’re at Maxim (in Springfield, Illinois) now getting the car repaired, and we’re picking up some other stuff.”
The Knoxville, Iowa driver described the incident to start the feature. “I thought I had them cleared,” says Wayne. “I drove to the bottom, and I barely clipped Cornell’s front end. A half-second later and I would have cleared him. It was definitely a hard crash. It tore up everything, but that took the blow.”
Replays have been analyzed over and over, but in the end it was another racing incident for Wayne. The good part was, no one was injured. “It looked a lot worse than it was,” he says of the crash. “All the parts you see flying off the car are absorbing the impact. I have the best safety stuff there is. My Butlerbuilt seat kept me contained. I did have a crack in the helmet from a wing stand, but all the safety features did their job. There are things we are working with today thinking about Aaron Berryhill’s crash last weekend at Devil’s Bowl too.”
The team is busy planning for Knoxville and hopes to have their Parker 410 powerplant ready for action. Their luck is bound to change. “If we can get everything together, our intention is to run in the 410 class this weekend,” says Wayne.
Big Sale on T-Shirts!
Wayne Johnson Racing has a variety of 2010 apparel and it is ALL on sale! $10 for t-shirts, hats, women and kids’ shirts and more! E-mail WayneJohnsonRacing@yahoo.com to place your order!
Buy Your Outlaw Wings from Wayne
Wayne is an Outlaw Wings dealer located in the Knoxville, Iowa area. Wayne credits the new Outlaw top wing for his 2009 wins at Little Rock and Cowtown. Contact Wayne for your Outlaw Wing, as he has some special Holiday deals going! 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
Carl Bell asks: What is the most physically demanding track that you have driven on?
Wayne answers: Really, it’s any track that gets heavy, fast and rough…one that you’re on the gas and having to fight through holes all the way around. Just about any track can do that from time to time. It could be a track the size of Little Rock, or it could be a big half-mile like Knoxville.
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 won at last one race in Florida for four straight years (2007-2010). The wins were evenly split between 410 and 360 competition. In 2007, he won with USCS at the North Florida Speedway in Lake City. He beat the All Stars (with plenty of WoO in the house) at Volusia Speedway Park in 2008, beat the All Stars again at East Bay in 2009, before winning the $14,500 to win "King of the 360's" in February of 2010.
“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 the following for making this possible: BDS Motorsports, Parker Machine, Champion Oil, BMRS Brown and Miller Racing Solutions, Max Muscle, Butlerbuilt, Hinchman, Schoenfeld Headers, Super Shox, Hoosier Racing Midwest, Rod End Supply, Fuel Safe, Simpson, Conroy Pneu Controls, KSE, Maxim Chassis, Kinsler Fuel Injection, Astro Titanium, ITI Lubricants, DMI, Laser Carwash and Speedway Motors
Attached: Wayne is in there somewhere (Robert Kocak Photo)
- Admin Account on May 11, 2011
- Article Date: 5/11/2011 by Bill Wright