Wednesdays with Wayne – Going Fourth!
(Bill W) June 13, 2012 – Fours had it for Wayne Johnson last weekend at the Eagle Nationals near Eagle, Nebraska. A pair of fourth place finishes, paired with two wins by Brady Bacon have made for a great race in the Lucas Oil ASCS National point standings. Wayne hopes that when the dust clears from seven races in just over a week’s time, he will be on top.
Things started with Friday’s prelim at Eagle Raceway. Wayne ran second in his heat after starting third. “Seth Bergman and Brad Loyet were messing with each other on the start,” he says. “Loyet took off and jammed the brakes. I got into the back of him and knocked the nose wing off. But I still outrun Bergman with no nose wing (laughs)! That got us in the redraw.”
The redraw saw Wayne start the main event outside of row three. “The car was really not any good,” he says. “We were just hanging on. I just didn’t get the car tight enough it was too loose for the way the track slicked off.”
Still he would come home a respectable fourth amongst a stout field. “We were just free,” says Wayne. “The first night was a little bit harder to pass. The track was slick to a curb. You could run the bottom or the top in three and four. In one and two, it was usually the top. Guys like Brady (Bacon) could run the bottom on both ends.”
The Knoxville, Iowa driver had locked himself into Saturday’s finale and drew the fourth starting spot. “We tightened it more than we had Friday, but it still wasn’t enough,” says Wayne. “We were still way too loose in the feature. Right now, I’m just going off the notes we used with success earlier in the year, and I’m not tightening it up enough. Early in the year, the racetracks have a lot more grip. Doing the same thing isn’t working.”
Still, Wayne found his way to battle for the runner-up spot Saturday. “We were up to second at one point, battling with (Jack) Dover,” he says. “I got messed up, and into some other cars. At one point, we were back to sixth. We rebounded alright.”
This week will be a busy one. ASCS Speedweek begins with the Summer Nationals this Friday and Saturday night at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway near Mesquite. It will then continue in Chatham, Louisiana (Monday), Murfreesboro, Arkansas (Tuesday), Lawton, Oklahoma (Wednesday) and Salina, Oklahoma (Friday). The seventh race will be at Lucas Oil Speedway near Wheatland, Missouri. “We’re struggling a little bit without one of our guys, but we’ll be ready,” says Wayne. “I’ve never been to Chatham or Murfreesboro, so that will be interesting. It’s been awhile since we’ve been to Lawton too, but we were there plenty.”
The tight point race between Wayne, Bacon and Jason Johnson has them separated by just five points from first to third. “Isn’t that crazy?” says Wayne. “They’ve all taken provisionals and I’ve yet to. I hate provisionals. I would be leading by a good margin without those, but you have to play the game.”
Category: Driver Updates, News, Wayne Johnson
