Garner man races for father, fallen Marine

Lance Martin Herald Senior Staff Writer

HALIFAX - Johnny Wynne carries his dad in his heart and the name of a fallen soldier on his truck.

It is his way of remembering two special people. It was his father, Gene, who got him started in the sport of competitive truck and tractor pulling.

His father has been in the sport for 24 years, the same amount of years as his 35-year-old son. Before that his father was a drag racer.

Saturday night, Gene, 65, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, sat in a scooter wrapped in blankets waiting for his son to make his second run of the season in a year that has been beset with mechanical problems.

In the three years he has been in the National Truck and Tractor Pull Association, Johnny has yet to win. “I really want to win one for him,” he said, referring to his father, before competing Saturday in a national event that served as a fundraiser for the Roanoke Rapids Police Club.

Johnny, who is from Garner, didn't get his chance Saturday. The gear ratios of his truck weren't what he needed them to be but he was upbeat and believes he still has a chance to score a victory in the Sgt. Adams truck at Wilson next week or at the N.C. State Fair.

Sgt. Adams is a name he carries with pride on the truck. Sgt. Mark Adams was a U.S. Marine who was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb last year, Johnny's wife, Denise, explained.

“I knew him my whole life,” Denise said, while her husband was checking the truck named in the sergeant's honor. “We've been friends since we were 8 years old.”

Denise said prior to Sgt. Adams' death the truck had different names, but none with any special meaning.

Johnny knew Sgt. Adams for six years. When he heard Sgt. Adams was killed, Johnny said, “I felt sad. I felt like they should come out of there. I feel we shouldn't be there any more but that's not for me to decide.”

Johnny immediately decided to name the truck after Sgt. Adams. “We were really close friends.” He feels honored to carry the sergeant's name on the truck and wishes he could do more. “I wish I could put all the names of them on my truck but there's not enough room. Just honoring one means a lot.”