WAYNE JOHNSON TAKES 3RD AT BROWNFIELD IN M&S CAR

Source: ALK Promotions
Date: 09/24/2008

Sprint car fans at Grays Harbor Raceway this weekend got a taste of how things get done in the 360 sprint car ranks out east, courtesy of a hard charging Oklahoman by the name of Wayne Johnson.

If not for a little bad luck on Friday, Johnson possibly could've been starting up near the front of Saturday's A-Main event in the Fred Brownfield Memorial Sprint Challenge. Starting ninth, Johnson drove the wheels off his car and finished third in the Mike & Shaylen Motorsports No. 18 Shark-powered Eagle sponsored by SignMart, Anderson Power Washing, Burlington Collision, Tri-County Truss and Heavy D.

Before Thursday night, the former ASCS National champion had never set foot in Washington, let alone race here. After Saturday night, Johnson was saying he couldn't wait to come back to race again.

Johnson ran away with a heat race victory on Friday night and had a good starting position in the 30-lap preliminary feature. He eventually drove by local star Mitch Olson to take the lead, and Johnson was getting around the high-banked 3/8-mile clay oval so quickly it was clear no one would've caught him. Then Johnson's lone stroke of bad luck all weekend happened suddenly as he had a faulty U-joint, which ended his night.

Johnson again won his heat race on Saturday night, but his 17th place finish after the U-joint failure on Friday night hurt him in the points as he just missed the top eight. He would've been involved in the pill draw and had a shot at the front couple of rows. Starting ninth, Johnson moved his way forward but with the last 30 laps of the 40-lap event running non-stop, the cars had stayed spread apart and Johnson, though one of the fastest cars on the track, couldn't track down Roger Crockett and eventual winner Shane Stewart and settled for a strong third place finish.

Despite the luck on Friday, it was a successful weekend for Johnson and the M&S Motorsports team, and Johnson expressed strong interest in returning for next year's Fred Brownfield Memorial Sprint Challenge.

See Also .:

News Index | E-mail to a Friend