{"id":59499,"date":"2022-02-11T09:00:42","date_gmt":"2022-02-11T14:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=59499"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:20:43","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:20:43","slug":"sick-week-drag-race-profile-wayne-hemmingway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/racing\/2022\/02\/sick-week-drag-race-profile-wayne-hemmingway.html","title":{"rendered":"Sick Week Drag Race Profile: Wayne Hemingway"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sick Stats<\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Hometown: <\/strong>Clayton, North Carolina
Vehicle: <\/strong>1989 Dodge Caravan Turbo
Color: <\/strong>Twilight Blue Metallic
Engine: <\/strong>2.5L
Tires:<\/strong> M&H Racemaster 23×8.5×15
Chassis: <\/strong>7.5
Personal Best: <\/strong>11.77<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you choose the vehicle you are racing with?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the one that is most prepared, even though I feel like I\u2019m unprepared. This van has sentimental value to me, as it previously belonged to my best friend, Gus. He bought it new in 1989 and started racing it right away. Sadly, Gus passed away in 2002 from a motorcycle accident. I purchased the MeanMini<\/em> from his wife in 2010. I have spent a lot of time restoring it to its previous greatness. It is well-known as the fastest minivan of its type between 1989 and 1999. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes this vehicle\n\u201csick\u201d? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has this sleeper element of being a drag race vehicle. It flies under the radar when you drive on the street, but once it is on a track, it impresses people who otherwise wouldn\u2019t give it a second look. People are amazed at the performance this gets on a 4-cylinder engine with front-wheel drive. And they are shocked when it has bested a Camaro, Mustang or Corvette. It doesn\u2019t happen all the time, but when it does \u2026 people are speechless. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What excites you about Sick Week?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve never raced in Florida before, so I get to visit all of these awesome tracks down there! It is also cool to be part of this inaugural event, which I hope turns into an annual thing. The feedback and response has been tremendous \u2013 people are coming from all over the country.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is your trip to\nFlorida going to be like?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My little brother will be my copilot for the week. He is\nflying in on Friday afternoon. We\u2019ll be leaving around midnight to get a head\nstart to get down there on Saturday. We might make a few stops on the way home,\nbut we just want to get down there to enjoy the driving and warm weather. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have you participated in\nany other racing events like this?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have two Hot Rod Drag Weeks under my belt from 2018 and\n2019. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes you a good drag\nracer?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m just out to have fun. I don\u2019t do this for a living, it\nis just a hobby for enjoyment. Because of that, there is less stress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who is your drag race inspiration?
<\/strong>My buddy, Gus (Tom Mahon). He was not just a drag racing mentor and teacher, but a close friend. I think about him when I\u2019m racing. I still have this notecard he put on his visor as a little pre-race checklist.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are you passionate\nabout outside of racing? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mountain biking and spending\ntime with my wife traveling. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Channels: <\/strong>Instagram<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sick Stats Hometown: Clayton, North CarolinaVehicle: 1989 Dodge Caravan TurboColor: Twilight Blue Metallic Engine: 2.5LTires: M&H Racemaster 23×8.5×15Chassis: 7.5Personal Best: 11.77 How did you choose the vehicle you are racing with? This is the one that is most prepared, even though I feel like I\u2019m unprepared. This van has sentimental value to me, as it previously belonged to my best friend, Gus. He bought it new in 1989 and started racing it right away. Sadly, Gus passed away in 2002 from a motorcycle accident. I purchased the MeanMini from his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":59431,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[575],"tags":[528,1910],"class_list":["post-59499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-racing","tag-drag-racing","tag-grassroots-racing"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Wayne_feature.jpg","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59499"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59499"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59499\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59630,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59499\/revisions\/59630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}