OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Holding the point lead following the first four rounds of the season, Wayne Johnson will return to the Lucas Oil American Sprint Car Series presented by the MAVTV Motorsports Network full time in the JRS Trucking/Outlaw Wings No. 2c sprint car.
No stranger to the American Sprint Car Series, the 2000 National Tour champion’s first ASCS win was at Lone Star Speedway in 1993. Since then, Johnson has topped the tour 55 times, including his most recent victory during the 2022 season opener at the Devil’s Bowl Speedway.
Fourth in overall tour wins, Johnson leads in overall A-Feature starts with 514. His record also includes 164 podium appearances, 256 top-five efforts and 389 top-10 finishes.
“The format was a big reason, honestly. Having that weekend off, going to Devil’s Bowl and seeing how everything played out and how the format worked,” Johnson said. “I think it’s going to play out better in the long run where the old draw system could bite you pretty bad sometimes.”
The past two seasons Johnson has raced with the World of Outlaws.
“After I looked at the schedule and being on the Outlaw tour for the past two years, slowing down actually feels kind of good,” he said. “With this schedule, it’s what I want to do at this time in my career, where I’m not gone for months at a time. The Outlaw deal is tough; those guys are the best in the business, that’s why they are out there. I realize I’m 50 years old. I don’t know how much longer I’ll keep doing this, but the changes that I’ve seen and the direction Terry [Mattox] is going, I’m looking forward to seeing how it goes this year.”
While the goal is the season-ending $50,000 champion’s check, Johnson will still have plenty to do with plans to race a lot at Knoxville Raceway and various other 410 sprint car events around the Midwest.