Wednesdays with Wayne – Finding Balance!
(Bill W) May 29, 2013 – What had been a struggle at finding balance with the racecar for Wayne Johnson and the Wayne Johnson Racing #77x team seemed remedied with a solid run at I-80 Speedway near Greenwood, Nebraska last Thursday. The team heads out with the World of Outlaws this week. Friday the series hits Attica Raceway Park in Ohio before heading up to I-96 Speedway near Lake Odessa, Michigan on Saturday.
Wayne headed down to the Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Missouri last Wednesday for action with the ASCS National Series. He would finish second in his heat. “We’ve been struggling with our balance, which is no secret,” he says. “We went to Valley to kind of experiment with some things. It was a car we ran last year that we haven’t even taken apart.”
The Knoxville, Iowa driver would suffer a DNF in the main event. “We struggled a bit there,” says Wayne. “I ended up hitting a tire and bending a tie rod, so I pulled in during the feature.”
Wayne would start fifth in his heat race at I-80 Speedway on Thursday and work his way to the front before finishing second. “We made a few changes at I-80, and the car was really good,” he says. “The other heat races were run on the bottom, so that’s where I ran. We were able to get to the front, and then (Brian) Brown just found the right place on the racetrack to get by us. I screwed up a little bit there on the last lap and checked up a bit.”
He would run in the top five for most of the main event. “The balance of the racecar was a lot better as far as drivability,” says Wayne. “We changed a few things on the car. We made some adjustments and we were just a little off…mainly because we changed so many things and a few things didn’t jive together. The key is I think we found out what we need going forward.”
Wayne was best with clean air ahead of him, and feels he has a handle on the racecar. “Running by myself, it was best,” he says. “I was able to drive back by some guys that had passed me. I was free on the restarts. Once I got up to speed and got the wing back, I was going well.”
It will be time to hit the road for Ohio tomorrow. “We leave tomorrow morning for Attica,” says Wayne. “We’ll be with the Outlaws pretty much through the King’s Royal. We’ll be picking up two motors this week and we’re excited to get a bunch of races in here the next few months.”
Category: Driver Updates, Wayne Johnson
