OLSON WINS AGAIN -
ALMOST LAPS ENTIRE FIELD
DURING SECOND HEAT RACE OF JHR FALL 2002 CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 2
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For Immediate Release
October 6, 2002
Hollywood, CA – In the second of the five rounds of the JHR Fall 2002 Championship, and the first round run on the challenging “B-track” configuration, race driver Pete Olson took 1st, 2nd, and 5th to hold on to the lead in the crucial points battle between himself and the twenty-plus other drivers contesting the prestigious West Coast race series. But despite an incredible finish in the second heat race where Olson astounded even himself by almost lapping the entire field, Olson admits that he is still on the never-ending learning curve of professional racing.
Olson’s hopes of taking every pole position of the season were crushed today when he scrubbed off significant speed in the tight inside turns of the “B-track” during each lap of the qualifying session, quite uncharacteristic for the driver who has dominated pole in each of the last three race days.
“I was way below one hundred percent this morning.” said Olson from his home in Hollywood. “To be honest, I have not been dedicated enough to my physical training lately, and I have been enjoying then Sunset Strip just a little too much with my good friend from Portugal!” [Laughs] “But seriously, racing isn’t just about strength or endurance, or even reaction times, it’s also about being completely ready to give everything you have, at a few minutes notice. It’s not like where you can say “OK, I’m kind of tired, I’ll workout later today.” This is about the Sunday that you’ve been training a month for, and when they call you to the grid, you’ve got to be ready to win. You have to be ready to give it all you have, not just physically, but mentally as well. Its mornings like this that motivate you to rededicate yourself.”
Olson drove the first “heat” race in a kart that the officials later took him out of, as the result of a poorly running engine. Olson started the race in the back as the result of his poor qualifying times earlier in the day, and remained in the back of the field for the entire race without the engine power to make a good run on the racers in front of him.
But behind the wheel of his new Yamaha KT-100 in the next race, Olson proved that he still has what it takes to win, despite distractions.
Olson put the rest of the field behind by only the fourth turn of the second “heat” race, and in doing so, set the fastest lap time of the day. Olson almost lapped the entire field by the end of the event and celebrated with a joyous “Schumacher” Formula One style victory, impressing fans with a demonstration of extreme kart control by violently swerving his vehicle back and forth for at least fifty yards after crossing the finish line.
We asked Olson where his sudden display of speed came from during the second “heat” race. In typical brash style, Olson said, “Before the race, I went into the JHR classroom to get ready. I knew I had half-assed it through the entire first race, despite being stuck with a poorly performing kart. So I went in the classroom in the main building when they gave us the five-minute warning [to prepare for the second race], and I sat down in that room and looked at the wall, at the list of those famous JHR graduates: Indy, CART, NASCAR, even now, Formula One…and I reminded myself of why I was there, why I am doing this. And by the time I walked back to pit lane, I was ready to take on anyone.”
In the final race, Olson finished second due to almost being forced off the track at the start.
“I was up against Rick Graves, a shifter kart racer at JHR for several years, who started on pole. At the start, we were side-by-side, but he took me off guard by swerving wildly into my kart at the entrance to Turn One [Olson was on the outside of Graves, off-pole] and my immediate reaction, without thinking, was to avoid him. So I swerved to the outside even more, and as a result he got by me on a fast driving line, and I barely managed to keep my kart on the track. I almost managed to take him on the next corner, but I hit the rear of his kart with the speed I had and backed off so he wouldn’t crash off the track, as another racer did to me last time in the same corner. During the rest of the race I was right behind him, letting off the gas at times so I wouldn’t hit the rear of his kart. But he was fast enough on the inside section of the track that it was very difficult for me to get a run on him.”
Olson finished a disappointing second in a race that he felt he should have won.
“As I have said before, racing is a learning curve, and today I learned another lesson: never to back off in a start for anyone again, despite the dangers of open-wheel contact. If anything, I should have turned into him. Like Eric Shultte, an instructor at JHR and one of the top-ranked karters in America told me, he is still learning after more than ten years of this. That is one of the most fascinating things about racing – you can never learn enough. There are so many sides to it, from the technical aspects to the physical and mental part of it.”
Despite the mixed results of his latest race day, Olson clearly still has the passion to reach the top.
For more information on Pete
Olson, visit his website at: www.peteolson.com. And to follow the Jim Hall Kart Racing
Series, log on to: www.jhrkartracing.com.
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Charles Schepens
Schepens Promotions
29000 West Nine Mile Road
Farmington Hills, MI 48336
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