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Wednesdays with Wayne- Three Spots Short!

Despite running a limited 410 schedule this season, Wayne Johnson and the Two-C Racing team fell just three spots short of the championship event at the Knoxville Nationals last weekend. It was the end of an up and down fortnight for the Oklahoma City driver. A disappointing 360 Nationals preceded the Nationals, but once the 410 was put in the frame rails, Wayne made the cut at the Capitani Classic, and locked himself into Saturday night’s program at Knoxville. This weekend will see three races. He’ll run with the Sprint Invaders at the Lee County Speedway in Donnellson, Iowa, before getting back to ASCS National action at the St. Francois County Raceway near Farmington, Missouri Saturday, and at the “High Roller Classic” at the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia Sunday.

Wayne’s preliminary night ended upside down at the 360 Nationals, and then the two-time champ drove from 15th to ninth in the B main on Saturday. “We found some motor issues on the 360 deal,” he says. “That was our problem there. We definitely weren’t happy with our outing at the 360 Nationals. We didn’t hurt the car too bad though, and we were able to come back with it last week.”

At the Capitani Classic a week ago Sunday, Wayne tied in 11th quick and won his heat to make the show amongst the 62-car field. “I just wish we could’ve run a little more with the 410 this year,” he says. “That’s only like six races that we’ve run with it this year. We were able to make the cut there, but I just don’t feel like we’ve done it enough this year to be sharp with it.”

He timed in 18th quick in Wednesday qualifying for the Knoxville Nationals. After finishing fourth and making it through the heat race, he finished eighth in the main event. That was good enough for 20th overall in points. With the format, that set him up outside row two for Saturday’s B main. “The whole Friday show is better for the fans now,” says Wayne. “But it’s really not fair to the guys starting up front in the B. In the past, we would have been locked in. The guys on Friday can leap frog you, and they make money while they’re doing it. On the other hand, we can’t give up our spot.”

In the end, Wayne would checker seventh in the non-stop 22-lap B main on Saturday worth $6,000. “You’re always optimistic going in that you’re going to win the thing,” he says. “But with everything that’s going on this season for us, I felt pretty good about it. I’m not going to lie. To be a couple of spots out of the A on Saturday…I felt o.k. about it. I’m not completely happy with it, but it could have been a lot worse.”

This weekend will be a good test to see where the 360 car is heading into the rest of the ASCS season. “We want to make sure we have our motor issues fixed, so we’ll be running Donnellson on Friday night,” says Wayne. “We’ll go on to Farmington and Sedalia with the ASCS this weekend, and then I think we have the next week off.”

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