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Olson knocks off Lemley to take Skagit NSCS feature
Andrew Kunas, NSCS Publicist
ALGER, Wash. – Mitch Olson used a late race pass and a very timely caution to score his first career touring victory in Friday's Northwest Sprint Challenge Series event at Skagit Speedway.
Running second to local favorite Brock Lemley on a restart with only a few laps remaining, Olson dove to the inside of turns one and two of the 3/10-mile, high-banked clay bullring to slide ahead of Lemley. Lemley fought back and took the lead as they went through turns three and four, but Olson got back side-by-side with Lemley as they came down the front stretch to complete lap 23. Olson led Lemley by a mere nose at the line.
Bellingham, Wash.'s Lemley then got the worst of breaks after he, at first, took the lead back from Puyallup, Wash.'s Olson as they went through turn one. Local racers Jayme Barnes and Rod Perkins both spun out together in turn two to bring out the yellow flag, which negated Lemley's pass. Going back to the last completed lap, Olson was scored as the race leader. Lemley protested for a short time, but yielded the top spot to Olson for the restart.
Olson, in just his third visit to Skagit Speedway, led the final two laps to score the $1,200 victory aboard the Mike Olson-owned No. 98m Rocket with a Shark motor.
"I didn't know if I could get him, so I tried the Hail Mary slide job," Olson said in victory lane. "A little inexperience in lapped traffic got me earlier, but it worked out."
Relatively unfamiliar with the northern Washington clay oval, Olson credited his crew for their help in figuring out Skagit Speedway and for giving him the "best car I've ever had." Olson had also received driving tips from many time track champion Marc Huson.
Olson led the first 13 laps before Lemley passed him on the high side exiting turn two as they were racing through heavy traffic on lap 14. Olson, however, kept him in his sights throughout and did not have any lapped cars between himself and Lemley on the lap 23 restart.
Lemley, driving the Kentch Bros. No. 40 Triple X with a Kentch Bros. motor, was forced to settle for second, followed by Burlington, Wash.'s Jason Bloodgood, who won the weekly 360 sprint car main event at Skagit the past two weeks. Bloodgood drove John Beard's No. 38 Rocket with a Fauver engine to another impressive finish.
Seattle's Tayler Malsam drove his Malsam Motorsports / Rudeen Racing No. 26 Maxim with a Shark Engine by Medford's Roger Crockett for fourth late in the race. Crockett, who had problems in his heat race and had to go through in the B-Main, finished fifth in Roger Henderson's No. 7N Eagle with a Bailey Bros. engine.
B-Main winner Evan Funk of LaConner, Wash. finished sixth, followed by Snohomish, Wash. driver Jared Ridge, former Northern Sprint Tour champion Billy Nutter of Central Point, Ore.; Greg Sandquist of Langley, Brit. Col. and defending track champion Steve Kilcup of Sedro-Woolley, Wash.
Pole-sitter Travis Rutz of Langley, the winner of the six-lap dash race, went for a wild tumble down near turn one after coming into contact with the front stretch wall. Rutz's car was still rolling, so the Rutz Racing team rolled the No. 8r Triple X into the pit area and borrowed a wing from Cottage Grove, Ore.'s Brendan Boyce. Rutz came back out and ran as high as 11th before finishing 13th.
Sedro-Woolley's Danielle Huson, daughter of Marc Huson, finished 12th. Snohomish, Wash.'s Seth Bergman, last year's NST Rookie of the Year, finished 14th. Rookie Jon Farrell finished 16th and Henry Van Dam, the fifth place points driver, finished 20th after hitting the back stretch wall when he tried to avoid another car.
Bloodgood paced the 48-car field in qualifying with a time of 12.096 seconds. Five of the top ten qualifiers, including second-quick Funk, failed to transfer to the A-Main out of their heat races. Picking up victories in the ten-lap heat races were Glenn Borden Jr., Derek Ingalls, Jayme Barnes, and Van Dam.
Idaho's Randy Pierce won the ten-lap C-Main event and took J.J. Hickle and six-time Cottage Grove Speedway champion Dale Smith with him to the 15-lap B-Main. Funk's victory in the B-Main came over Crockett, Greg Sandquist, and Cory Chamberlain, all of whom also transferred to the A-Main. Finishing behind Rutz in the dash were Olson, Bloodgood, Lemley, Malsam, and Farrell.
The NSCS races at Skagit again on Saturday, with a 40-lap main event scheduled. Saturday's winning team will take home $2,500.
More information on the Northwest Sprint Challenge Series and its drivers can be found online at www.racenscs.com and information on Skagit Speedway can be seen at its website at www.skagitspeedway.com
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Northwest Sprint Challenge Series
Skagit Speedway
Alger, WA
May 11, 2007
UNOFFICIAL RESULTS
48 cars
Fast qualifier: 38 Jason Bloodgood, 12.096 seconds
Heat 1 (10 laps): 1. 72 Glenn Borden Jr., 2. 38 Jason Bloodgood, 3. 73 Danielle Huson, 4. 51 Jon Farrell, 5. 5k Brian Kirkpatrick, 6. 3p Dan Pierson, 7. 68 Rob Held, 8. 39c Joe Ramaker, 9. 75 Dale Smith, 10. 7o Roger Oudman, 11. 66 Jason Cocking, 12. 21p Chris Pattenaude. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 2 (10 laps: 1. 91 Derek Ingalls, 2. 23a Seth Bergman, 3. 40 Brock Lemley, 4. 12 Jared Ridge, 5. 0J Jay Cole, 6. 10c Cory Chamberlain, 7. 8e Evan Funk, 8. 4z Dallas Zuniga, 9. 12p Randy Ridge, 10. 65 Brendan Boyce, 11. 72x Marc Schutte, 12. 26f Shane Forte'. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 3 (10 laps): 1. 9 Jayme Barnes, 2. 8r Travis Rutz, 3. 69p Rod Perkins, 4. 18 Steve Kilcup, 5. 4r Robbie Vaughn, 6. 19 Greg Sandquist, 7. 44h Michael Harris, 8. 23n Andy Jacobson, 9. 32s Shawn Smith, 10. KR14 Tyler Spath, 11. 7 J.J. Hickle, 12. 5x Chuck Ashe. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
Heat 4 (10 laps): 1. 33v Henry Van Dam, 2. 98m Mitch Olson, 3. 3N Bill Nutter, 4. 26 Tayler Malsam, 5. 4x Chris Adams, 6. 4x Chris Adams, 7. 7N Roger Crockett, 8. 7D Josh DeWitt, 9. 44x Steve Parker, 10. 22 Blake Cook, 11. 13c Colton Heath, DNS – 9j J.J. Dishneau. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
C-Main (10 laps): 1. 12p Randy Pierce, 2. 7 J.J. Hickle, 3. 75 Dale Smith, 4. 0J Jay Cole, 5. KR14 Tyler Spath, 6. 32s Shawn Smith, 7. 26f Shane Forte', 8. 7o Roger Oudman, 9. 66 Jason Cocking, 10. 22 Blake Cook, 11. 5x Chuck Ashe, 12. 72x Marc Schutte, 13. 7D Josh DeWitt, 14. 21p Chris Pattenaude, 15. 9a Steve Dyer. Top two finishers transfer to B-Main. 75 Dale Smith also transfers as result of scratch.
Dash (6 laps): 1. 8r Travis Rutz, 2. 98m Mitch Olson, 3. 38 Jason Bloodgood, 4. 40 Brock Lemley, 5. 26 Taylor Malsam, 6. 51 Jon Farrell. Finish determined first six starting positions for A-Main.
B-Main (15 laps): 1. 8e Evan Funk, 2. 7N Roger Crockett, 3. 19 Greg Sandquist, 4. 10c Cory Chamberlain, 5. 4r Robbie Vaughn, 6. 39c Joe Ramaker, 7. 4x Chris Adams, 8. 75 Dale Smith, 9. 7 J.J. Hickle, 10. 44h Michael Harris, 11. 68 Rob Held, 12. 12p Randy Pierce, 13. 3p Dan Pierson, 14. 4z Dallas Zuniga, 15. 65 Brendan Boyce, 16. 23n Andy Jacobson, 17. 44x Steve Parker, 18. 5k Brian Kirkpatrick. Top four finishers transfer to A-Main.
A-Main (25 laps): 1. 98m Mitch Olson, 2. 40 Brock Lemley, 3. 38 Jason Bloodgood, 4. 26 Taylor Malsam, 5. 7N Roger Crockett, 6. 8e Evan Funk, 7. 12 Jared Ridge, 8. 3N Billy Nutter, 9. 19 Greg Sandquist, 10. 18 Steve Kilcup, 11. 10c Cory Chamberlain, 12. 73 Danielle Huson, 13. 8r Travis Rutz, 14. 23a Seth Bergman, 15. 91 Derek Ingalls, 16. 51 Jon Farrell, 17. 69p Rod Perkins, 18. 9 Jayme Barnes, 19. 72 Glenn Borden Jr., 20. 33v Henry Van Dam.
Lap leaders: 1-13: Mitch Olson, 14-22: Brock Lemley, 23-25: Mitch Olson.
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NSCS: The Northwest Sprint Challenge Series
www.racenscs.com
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