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(Bill W) March 30, 2011 – It was a successful debut for the new team of driver Wayne Johnson and Owner/Mechanic Bryan Sundby at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Mesquite, Texas. An opening night sixth place run with the Lucas Oil ASCS National Series led to a run up front in the finale before an admitted driver error ended the night after running into a tractor tire. Sundby last teamed with Glenn Crossno’s non-wing #38 on the left coast and has worked in the past with drivers such as Sammy Swindell. “Bryan and I worked in the past a bit when I drove for (Scott) Benic,” says Wayne. “He was working for him when we were at the Chili Bowl. He’s not trying to reinvent the wheel. He knows what it takes to make a driver comfortable.” The draw didn’t go nearly as good as the car did at the famous ½ mile, but Wayne managed a fourth place finish in his Friday heat after starting eighth on a tacky surface. “The track was heavy for the heat race,” he says. “Bryan had the car really good. We were rushed a bit, but we’re still plowing away trying to get things done.” Starting tenth in the preliminary main event, Wayne charged forward on the familiar oval and finished in the sixth spot. “We had a few throttle issues,” he admits. “The throttle springs were a little too stiff for my foot. We had a few similar issues with it that we had last fall, but we got those figured out.” The Knoxville, Iowa driver became more comfortable in the car each time it took to the track. “The balance of the racecar was off just a bit on Friday night,” says Wayne. “We worked on that and fixed the problem.” Things went even better in Saturday’s finale. After starting eighth again in the heat, Wayne forged to a third place finish and a fourth row starting spot for the feature. “We were really good on Saturday,” he says. “We had another good heat run from back in the pack. The balance of the car was on.” The 2000 ASCS champ would drive in the top five for much of the feature, and briefly found his way up to third. “At one point, we drove by (Danny) Lasoski for third, but the caution came out and we had to go back,” says Wayne. “I really think we had the car to beat in that race.” While running fourth in pursuit of the leaders, he clipped an infield tractor tire. “It was just a driver mistake,” he says. “What can you do? I thought we were really good for the first week out. The Parker motor ran really well.” The team will be headquartered in Wayne’s Knoxville shop. They will take some time off to get things organized and prepare for both some 360 and 410 action in the coming weeks. “We’re taking this week to get everything in order, and then we’ll head over to I-80 on April 8 and 9 next weekend,” says Wayne. “I couldn’t be happier with the way things are going for us.”
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