Wednesdays with Wayne – Finding Speed at Devil’s Bowl!
(Bill W) April 23, 2014 – The Wayne Johnson Racing #77x may not have had the results they were looking for at Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas last weekend, but they had a fast racecar. The Knoxville, Iowa driver used his experience at the ½-mile oval to lead ten laps on Friday night, and with the help of Rick Ferkel, felt good all weekend, despite a pair of DNF’s. This week, the team continues with the World of Outlaws at the Salina High Banks in Oklahoma, and at the weekly show at Knoxville Raceway.
Wayne started on Friday at Devil’s Bowl with 12th quick, and a heat race win. “I can’t say enough about my buddy Rick Ferkel,” he says. “He really got me rolling down there. Twelfth quick was perfect. That put us on the front row of the heat race. We were able to get the jump on Kerry Madsen there and win it.”
An invert of six in the Dash put Wayne on the pole. He took advantage with another win. “We won pretty convincingly there,” he says. “The car as really working well in the Dash.”
Wayne led early on and continued to run amongst the leaders. “We led the first ten laps or so,” he says. “We started to get a little free. (Donny) Schatz got by us, but we were still second. I got frustrated a little bit. I should have calmed down a little bit and I would have been fine. I got to a lapped car and I tried to run around the outside of it. That got me back in third.”
A change in the motor signaled something was amiss in the #77x. “Something started sounding a little funny with the motor, and I thought, ‘Oh here we go,’” says Wayne. “On lap seventeen, I was running fourth and it was spraying fuel on me. At that point, I just pulled it in. The fuel nozzle got knocked loose.”
Saturday’s finale saw Wayne timing in 13th quick, and starting fifth in the first heat race. “The first heat is the tough one,” he says. “We got a horrible start. We got the car a little too tight. I jumped the curb and I stopped to bring out a caution. The right front wheel packed full of mud. We were able to drive it back up into a transfer though.”
Wayne would start the main event 13th. “On the first start, we were up to eighth or ninth,” he says. “Steve Kinser spun, so we had to restart. On the next start, we got as far up as ninth. Kevin Swindell and I started playing slidejobs, and David Gravel got in the mix. For a few laps, it was a three-way battle. I got shuffled to eleventh, and that’s where I was going to run.”
Unfortunately, the veteran driver suffered a miscue. “We were still a little tight,” says Wayne. “The racetrack was getting slim up in one and two on the curb, and I ran in way too hard with about three to go. From there, I just pulled in.”
Wayne was happy with the way the XXX chassis powered by Fisher engines was feeling. “We’ve been superfast,” he says. “Devil’s Bowl is a good track for us, and that helps. We’re hoping to keep it going this week at Salina and Knoxville.”
Category: Driver Updates, Wayne Johnson
