 Olson survives Speedweek, moves up ASCS standingsThere were good nights, and some that weren’t so good, but Mitch Olson and team made it through the annually rigorous Northwest Speedweek and moved up a spot in the ASCS Northwest Region point standings. Olson now sits fourth in the season point standings and came in eighth in the Speedweek standings. Driving the No. 98m Shark-powered KPC sponsored by SC Fuels, Olson Bros. Excavating, Pro-Vac, PRS Group and PMI Truck Bodies & Powder Coating, Olson raced five times in six nights at four different tracks in Oregon and Washington.Mitch started his week on Monday at Southern Oregon Speedway. Even though the ASCS National Tour wouldn’t join the Northwest Region until the weekend in Washington, a few of their drivers took part in the Northwest Region events in Oregon, including Monday’s show at Southern Oregon, making things a little more challenging for everyone. After his fifth place finish in the evening’s third heat race, Olson was the last car locked into the 30-lap feature based on heat race points. He would finish 13th in his first event at Southern Oregon Speedway in about two years.Tuesday saw the tour move about two and half hours north to Cottage Grove Speedway, where on April 25th Olson drove to a strong third place finish in the Grove Classic event. Olson took second place in the evening’s first heat race and found himself in the Top 8 in heat race points. In the pill draw for the first four rows, Olson drew the fourth position for the A-Main. During the race he ran as high as second place before settling for a strong seventh place finish.Wednesday’s show at Willamette Speedway in Lebanon, where Olson also was running for the first time in two years, saw him run well again in his heat race, finishing second to again find himself in the Top 8 in points. This time, Olson drew the outside front row. In the 30-lap event, Olson wasn’t able to hold onto to the second spot on the start and fell back a little bit on a track that is historically tough for winged sprint cars to pass on. Olson, however, stayed in the Top 10 throughout and posted a sixth place finish, and thanks to that finish he passed his competitor and friend Henry Van Dam for fourth place in the ASCS Northwest Region point standings.After an off day Thursday, things picked back up with the 3rd Annual Fred Brownfield Memorial Sprint Challenge at Grays Harbor Raceway in Elma, Washington. For these Speedweek-closing races, the ASCS National Tour was involved, and car counts were much bigger. Of the Oregon races, Cottage Grove had the most with 31 cars. Friday night saw 52 sprint cars pack the pit area at Grays Harbor Raceway. Not intimidated, Olson motored away from the rest of the field, including running a lap with an average speed of 105 mph, and easily won his heat race to secure a spot in the A-Main event.Despite starting ninth, bad luck ruined Mitch’s evening as his motor picked a bad time to go bad. His car drifted back through the field before he pulled off. Saturday’s heat race pill draw wasn’t as nice his Friday draw, and with that draw he didn’t have a great starting position and only finished fifth. Of the three B-mains that night, Olson was in probably the toughest as ASCS Northwest Region co-points leader Steven Tiner, several time track champion Jay Cole, National star Gary Taylor, two-time Dirt Cup winner and reigning Northwest Region champion Jayme Barnes as well as Van Dam were all in there with him, and only two transfer out of it. Cole and Van Dam would go. Tiner and Olson, the 1 and 4 guys in the season points, wouldn’t.Despite the disappointment of missing the Fred Brownfield Memorial main event, Olson still finished eighth in the Northwest Speedweek standings and still left the track fourth in the ASCS Northwest Region point standings. In fact, Olson and Tiner weren’t the only big names to not make Saturday’s feature. With all the National Tour drivers around, only four of the Top 10 Northwest Region drivers actually made the 35-lap Brownfield finale.On the schedule next for Mitch, a return to Cottage Grove Speedway this Friday and Saturday for Round 2 between the ASCS Northwest Region and the ASCS National Tour, which like in Washington this past weekend will be making its first ever visit to Oregon. Even with all the National Tour heavy hitters that will be on hand again this weekend, Mitch has done very well for the most part at Cottage Grove this season and hopes to continue that this Friday and Saturday night. Saturday’s feature race will pay $6,000 to win.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.Top 5 - ASCS Northwest Region point standings
11 races down, 7 to go1. Jared Ridge, 1544
2. Steven Tiner, 1536
3. Roger Crockett, 1530
4. MITCH OLSON, 14585. Henry Van Dam, 1449- - -Mitch Olson’s 2009 sponsorsSC Fuels
Olson Bros. Excavating
Pro-Vac
PRS Group
PMI Truck Bodies & Powder Coating
Conoco Phillips- - -Mitch Olson Racing
http://www.mitcholsonracing.comBenjamin "Racer4u" Gust photo below |
