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(Bill W) March 18, 2009 – Wayne Johnson steered the Harold Main #35A to a solid 11th place finish in the Mini-Gold Cup at the Silver Dollar Speedway in Chico, California last weekend. The positive finish came Saturday night, following a disappointing qualifying effort on Friday night that set the team behind the 8-ball. Next, the World of Outlaws will head to the Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare Friday and Saturday. Saturday’s night started well with the 8th quick time of the night amongst the 50+ competitors. Things started well enough as he pushed off third in his heat, but the car began to smoke. “It was an oil leak,” Wayne relates. “I thought a line had come off, but it was just too much oil put in the car. It was a brand new motor, so I didn’t want to take a chance on hurting it. They just got it. I was concentrating on the gauges, and not on driving the car.” The drop-off resulted in a sixth place heat finish, but a
second place run in the B lined Wayne up inside row eight for the 40-lap
main event. He quickly surged up to ninth, despite a one-groove racing
surface around the bottom of the ¼ mile oval. “I was stuck behind Kerry
(Madsen) there (in ninth), and I just got a little too anxious,” he says. “I
just hit the high side and said, ‘I’m going by him!’ Then I spun the tires
and said, ‘No, I’m not.’ It was frustrating.” The Friday prelim started badly, and it was an uphill battle
from there. Wayne qualified 41st in the 54-car field. It was his first 410
start at the Silver Dollar Speedway. “The car was just pushing badly,” he
says. “Anytime I picked up the throttle, it shoved the nose out. I just
couldn’t give it the throttle.” Wayne is appreciative of the opportunity Harold Main has given him. “I want to thank Harold and everyone here with the team,” he says. “We’re planning on hooking up later in the year and putting a schedule together. We’ll try to run some more stuff out here.” Wayne was planning on doing some sight-seeing around San
Francisco today with guide and historian, Kevin Eckert. Friday and Saturday
will bring Tulare, a track he has never competed at. “I don’t know too much
about it really,” he admits. “These guys haven’t been there too much. I’m
not really sure what to expect.” “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!
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