Podium finishes put Olson in ASCS Northwest points leadMitch Olson is hoping to have a really good season with the ASCS Northwest Region, which opened up its 2009 this weekend with two nights of action at Southern Oregon Speedway near Medford. Olson’s run of good finishes in his 360 sprint car, going back to the end of March, continued on Friday and Saturday when Olson scored back-to-back third place finishes. The result: Olson is the co-points leader in the ASCS Northwest Region.Driving the Mike Olson No. 98m Shark-powered KPC, sponsored by SC Fuels, Olson Bros. Excavating, Pro-Vac, PRS Group and PMI Truck Bodies & Powder Coating, the Tacoma, Wash. driver had been involved in qualifying in most of the events he had taken part in so far this season. This weekend, however, it was pill draw mania, per the standard ASCS format.Friday’s pill draw put Mitch in the fourth starting position in the second heat race. On a fast track that didn’t see much passing, Olson finished third. That, however, was good enough to put him eighth in heat race passing points, getting him involved in the pill draw for the top eight starting positions in the 30-lap main event. Being last to draw, fortunes smiled on him as all there was left for starting positions was the pole.Unable to snatch the lead on the start, Olson did run in second place until Lap 13, where he was passed again. Mitch would run in third place the rest of the way and finish there.Saturday’s pill draw put Mitch in the second heat race again, this time starting fifth. Olson finished third and again was in the top eight in heat race points, getting in the pill draw for the first four rows of the main event. Olson this time drew the 3 pill, putting him inside the second row.Olson got past Ron Crume on the start to take second place and ran there behind Dan Menne for a time. On Lap 7, Crockett was able to get past Olson and bump him back to third. Californian Andy Gregg challenge Olson for third and got in on Lap 11, only to see Olson take it back on the next lap. With Crockett in the lead, Olson again ran behind Menne for several laps while Steven Tiner pursued.It was Lap 20 when Tiner was able to get around Olson as they raced around the track. Olson was pursued by Jared Ridge and Chadd Noland the rest of the race, but Olson would not be passed again as he held the fourth position at the finish. After the race Crockett was stripped of the victory in post-race inspection, moving everyone up a spot. This resulted in Olson being credited with a third place finish.Olson has now finished in the Top 10 in six of his last seven starts in 360 sprint car competition, including a runner-up finish and a trio of third place efforts.With the pair of podium finishes, Olson is now tied with Tiner at the top of the ASCS Northwest Region point standings with 288 tallies a piece. Sixteen races at seven different tracks in Washington, Oregon and Montana remain on the ASCS Northwest Region schedule.In less than two weeks, Olson will again race with the ASCS Northwest Region, who will be in action at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Wash. on Saturday and Sunday, May 23rd and 24th.Over the last few years, Mitch Olson has established himself as one of the top sprint car racers in the Pacific Northwest, having main event victories at Skagit Speedway and Grays Harbor Raceway and several more Top 5 and Top 10 finishes elsewhere on the west coast to his credit. More information on Mitch Olson and his race team can be found online at http://www.mitcholsonracing.com.- - -Mitch Olson’s sponsorsSC Fuels
Olson Bros. Excavating
Pro-Vac
PRS Group
PMI Truck Bodies & Powder Coating
ConocoPhillips- - -Mitch Olson
http://www.mitcholsonracing.com
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