5/9/2018
ASCS
Wednesday’s With Wayne: A Tale of Two Groves
(Image Credit: BertWojo Images)
Bryan Hulbert – MECHANICSBURG, Penn. (May 9, 2018) Traveling east to Pennsylvania with the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by Sawblade.com, Wayne Johnson’s weekend was a mix of results with a weekend high fifth at Williams Grove Speedway, followed by a 16th place finish at Selinsgrove Speedway.
Rolling fifth to third in Friday’s opening Heat Race, the move netted Johnson the third starting spot in the final Qualifier where the result was a second-place finish.
“Friday night, I really thought the draw as going to kill us, but we rebounded and passed some cars so that put us on the second row in the Qualifier, and on the start of that, Alex [Hill] spun so that moved us to the front row and I had that won, but that late caution I entered turn one trying not to miss the bottom and just gave up to much speed and let Hodnett get by me on the outside, but we were still good.”
Rolling to the grid sixth, Wayne moved to fifth quickly. Battling several laps with Lucas Wolfe, the No. 5w finally gained the position only to have his top-wing come apart. Moving Johnson back to fifth, the Outlaw Wings No. 2c was able to hold off any challenges from there despite some uncertainty in the tires as the race went on.
“The feature playout out kind of follow the leader. At one point I thought I needed to move up and keep my momentum and that’s when Wolfe got by me, but we got back to fifth when his wing blew off but there at the end, we got really loose to where I was just hanging on. We were running out of tire there at the end, but I had a tire shake at the beginning where I couldn’t run the car as hard as I needed to so that let those guys get away from me. I just kept thinking I was going to be in trouble, so I didn’t want to push it and not finish.”
Starting his night at Selinsgrove Speedway with a fifth-place finish in the fourth Heat Race, a sixth in the Qualifier put Johnson in the final transfer spot for the A-Feature.
“Our biggest problem at Selinsgrove is we just didn’t have enough gear in the car. I think the track just looked bigger than we thought it was and it raced differently so that’s where I think we screwed up. I probably could have had 20 points higher in gear, but we went forward every time we hit the track except the feature. We just didn’t have any speed like those other guys did but no more passing than we did, I felt pretty fortunate to get into the feature without having to run a B-Main but I left there upset with the way I had the car,” explained Johnson.
“We’ve been really good with big tacks over the years and kind of struggled with our short track program, and now it’s swapped. We’ve got our short track program working, but it’s just one of those deals where we need to work at it.”
Getting a chance to work on his short track setup, the No. 2c will follow the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by Sawblade.com into a three-race swing that starts Wednesday, May 9 at Humboldt Speedway. Following that will be Lakeside Speedway on Thursday, May 10 and I-30 Speedway on Saturday, May 12.
“Lakeside and I-30 have been pretty good to me. We ran Humboldt last year at that Regional show and we were good at the start, then faded so we’re going to try some things there, but I need to thank my buddy, Vern. He came down with us and helped me drive this Pennsylvania trip. He’d never been there, so it was nice for him to come out. He helped me get Wayne Johnson Racing started so it’s nice when he can get on the road with us.”
For continued updates on Wayne Johnson and TwoC Racing, you can follow them on Facebook (http://bit.ly/2o5zneX and http://bit.ly/2BsrIja) and Twitter (@wjr77x).
Recent Results:
5/4/2018 – Williams Grove Speedway (Mechanicsburg, Penn.)
Heat: 3rd [5th]
Qualifier: 2nd [3rd]
A-Feature: 5th [6th]
5/5/2018 – Selinsgrove Speedway (Selinsgrove, Penn.)
Heat: 5th [7th]
Qualifier: 6th [7th]
A-Feature: 16th [16th]
Season To Date:
Races: 22; Wins: 2; Top-5: 10; Top-10: 15; Top-20: 19;
Up Next:
May 9, 2018 – Humboldt Speedway (Humboldt, Kan.) with Lucas Oil ASCS
May 10, 2018 – Lakeside Speedway (Kansas City, Kan.) with Lucas Oil ASCS
May 12, 2018 – I-30 Speedway (Little Rock, Ark.) with Lucas Oil ASCS
Follow Wayne Johnson and TwoC Racing
Facebook (Wayne): http://bit.ly/2o5zneX
Facebook (TwoC Racing): http://bit.ly/2BsrIja
Twitter (Wayne): @wjr77x
Twitter (TwoC Racing): @TwoCRacing
Online: https://www.myracepass.com/profile/?r=15868&rt=driver
Sponsors:
Wayne would like to give special thanks to his sponsors who have helped keep him behind the wheel and on the road: Todd Carlile, Outlaw Wings, The Oil Medics, Sebastian Sandblasting & Powder Coating, DHR Suspension, Chalk Stix, Rod End Supply, Astro Titanium, Schoenfeld Headers, Simpson, ButlerBuilt, Xtreme Accu-Tach, Weld Wheels, Kustom Sprint Car Supplies, Fisher Racing Engines, Speedway Graphics and Canyon Apparel.
Submitted By: Bryan Hulbert