Wednesdays with Wayne –Fireworks at Knoxville!
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
by Bill W – Wayne Johnson provided the fireworks a little early last Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway! An American Sprint Cars on Tour rainout in Wheatland, Missouri provided the opportunity to get some laps in at Knoxville before the upcoming 360 Nationals. After starting 12th in the 360 feature, Wayne cut his way to the front like a hot knife through butter in the H&H Farms #94!
With Wayne being a newcomer to the 360 class at Knoxville this season, he was locked into the rear of heat race number one. The first three laps saw him struggling mightily to gain any ground. “I ran out of tear-offs by lap three,” he says. “I started with 14 (tear-offs), but the guys in front of me kept running through the slop on the low side. There was a big water hole low in two, and that’s where we got held up.”
Wayne was ready to slow to bring out a caution, but was able to keep the few spots he had gained when a competitor spun in turn two and restarted fifth. “I wanted the caution for myself,” he admits. “I was chugging to a stop, but the yellow came out for the spin, so I gassed ‘er up and kept my spot!”
The restart gave him new life and after moving up to 2nd, Wayne was the high point man in the heats. When a 12 was drawn for the feature invert, he headed for a start outside row six. No worries, however, as the car was hitting on all cylinders and he was fourth by the completion of lap one. “It was the best the car has driven all year long. We’ve been fast this year, but that was the best the car’s felt.”
After early leader, Dustin Selvage, got sideways on lap four, Wayne assumed third behind Joe Beaver and Dave Hall. By lap seven, he was on Beaver’s bumper and challenged for the point. “When I slid him the first time, I jumped the cushion just a little bit and he got back under me,”
says Wayne. “After that, I told myself that we’re not going to be sliding back and forth and not going forward. I decided to ride around and get a little closer…I was a car length back the first time. I decided to get to his rear bumper before I did anything, because I had the faster race car.”
On lap 10, Wayne slid in front of Beaver and began to run away with the 20-lap event. Coming through three and four on the last lap with an 8.4 second lead over Beaver, flagman Doug Clark brought out the caution for a slowing Tyler Thompson. The veteran didn’t seem phased by the slowing of the action. “I wasn’t worried about the last caution. The only thing I really worried about was someone trying to slide me into turn one, so I prepared myself for that. I saw that Joey was still second, and Hall was in third, and I’d already driven by those guys. After I saw the restart on video later, I saw how good we were, so it wasn’t a factor.”
Coming into Knoxville, Wayne was unsure how the car would perform. “I wondered how our motor would do here to be honest. After competing in the 410 for so many years here, and watching Jake Peters and Josh Higday…those guys are rocket ships around there! I just can’t believe we had such a big lead (8.4 seconds)! It does give us a lot of confidence going into the 360 Nationals.”
Wayne’s Website Is Up!
Visit Wayne’s new website at www.WayneJohnsonRacing.com! Check back often for updates, as it is a work in progress!
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