Wednesdays with Wayne – Adventures at Dirt Cup!
(Bill W) July 1, 2015 – The trip for the Wayne Johnson Racing #77x had an interesting beginning at last weekend’s Dirt Cup at Skagit Speedway in Washington. A series of on-track incidents slowed things, but the team is ready for this weekend’s action with the Lucas Oil ASCS Series at Grays Harbor Raceway in Washington.
Things started well on night one Thursday. “The track can be really narrow at Skagit, especially early in the night,” says Wayne. “We were fortunate enough to start on the front row and win our heat.”
That put Wayne in the redraw. He would start eighth in the feature and checker fourth. “We were decent and the track widened out a bit,” he says. “I actually felt we had a second place car, and maybe even a winning car. We got by a couple of those guys in front of them, and had the cautions come out. The last restart, our right rear was a little soft. We rolled up a little and couldn’t get it going.”
He would draw the pole of the first heat on Friday. “The bottom was sloppy and I was trying to push Travis (Rilat) up as much as I could,” says Wayne. “It was so narrow coming out of four. We kind of got the jump on him on the start, but the bottom of the straightaway was so greasy. He beat me to turn one and we finished second.”
With the number of cars in the field, that left Wayne one spot out of a starting spot in the feature. “We were leading the B with three to go, and I came up on a lapped car,” he says. “I was trying to figure out where to go and Blake Hahn got into me. It blew out the right rear tire and smashed the wing in. We got it fixed in the work area. We had three laps to pass ten cars, and we got up to sixth.”
After two nights, he was ninth in overall points and would start in that spot for Saturday’s finale. “Things started well,” says Wayne. “We got straight to fifth. Brock Lemley had the wrong gear in, and his car almost died coming off the corner. I almost ran over him. When I dodged right to miss him, Jordan Weaver got into us. That blew another right rear, broke a radius rod and bent the Jacob’s ladder. We went to the work area and ‘Slippy’ (Conner Nelson) got her fixed up and got us back out there.”
Wayne charged towards the front again. “We restarted dead last and got it back up to sixth or seventh,” he says. “I had been killing it on the bottom. On a restart with about six to go, everyone in front of me went to the bottom. I guess their crew guys let them know. I was going to be ‘King Kong’ and rip it around the top. I thought it would be no problem to get about half of them in one corner. My right rear was a little soft from the long caution. I caught the curb wrong and tipped it over!”
The team will be ready for this weekend. “We’ve taken the car all apart this week to make sure everything is together,” says Wayne. “We’re looking forward to getting to Grays Harbor this weekend.”
Follow Updates on Facebook!
Wayne will update as his race night commences 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 Fast Facts
In July of 2012, Wayne returned to Grays Harbor Raceway two years after a nasty crash almost claimed his foot. After running second on the preliminary night, he won the finale over Shane Stewart, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Roger Crockett and Brad Loyet.
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!
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Wayne Johnson Racing would like to thank partners, Todd Carlile, Townline Variety, Outlaw Wings, City Vending, Stone Mountain Access Systems and product sponsors The Oil Medics, Sebastian Sandblasting & Powdercoating, Rod End Supply, Astro Titanium, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson, Butlerbuilt, Xtreme Accu-Tach, Weld Wheels, Slade Shocks, Kustom Sprint Car, Fisher Racing Engines, Team Achieve and Canyon Apparel.
(Rob Kocak Photo)
Bill W Media
Monroe, IA USA
sprntcar@hotmail.com
Twitter: @BillWMedia
- administrator on Jul 01, 2015
- Article Date: 7/1/2015