WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS -

OLSON DOMINATES FINAL ROUND OF JHR FALL 2002 CHAMPIONSHIP TO TAKE WINNER’S TROPHY

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For Immediate Release

January 5, 2003

 

Hollywood, CA – Today, spectators at the Jim Hall Racing track in sunny Ventura Beach, California watched the gripping conclusion of the JHR Fall 2002 Championship.  Going into the final race day, the top four drivers were all within just a few points of each other.  Of course, the talk of the day was who would take 1st place overall, not only for the prestige of the winner’s trophy, but also for the important prize that comes with it: a fully sponsored three-day professional Formula Mazda racing school at the Jim Russell Racing School at Sears Point Raceway, just north of San Francisco.  Racers Pete Olson and Richard Wood started the day with 150 points and 146.5 points total, respectively, at the conclusion of Round Four [Which had been a complete disaster for Olson].  One year ago today, Olson was a no-show for the final round after a family tragedy, which cost him valuable points in last year’s series.  After the conclusion of the Fall 2001 JHR Championship, Olson was quoted as saying, “I should tell you that my brother Matt was a big fan of open wheel racing.  I know what he would want me to do: not to give up, but to go on, to succeed in my passion.  To give it everything, absolutely everything I have, deep inside - that is the difference between winning and losing.”

 

Today, Olson validated that statement by driving his kart faster than ever before.

 

Olson took the coveted pole position to start in 1st place for the first of the three sprint kart races of the day.  Olson took his fellow competitors off-guard by slowing to a crawl while coming onto the straight for the rolling start [note: during a rolling start, the pole leader has the right to set the pace], only to catch them off guard by suddenly accelerating to over 10,000 rpm to leave the other racers far behind.  Olson led the entire race to finish 1st, yet Richard Wood finished right behind Olson in 2nd place.  Wood was still in a position to unseat Olson for the winner’s trophy by the end of the first “heat”.

 

During the second “heat” and the infamous “inverted grid”, Olson drove what could only be called an inspired race, going on to pass each driver in front of him each time they made the slightest mistake.  Olson moved up to finish 3rd in the race, which put him on pole for the final, “main” race [which counts for double the points of each of the two “heat” races].  Richard Wood had fallen behind during battles with other racers, after Olson passed him and others during the first half of the race.  Wood finished 5th, which meant that, due to Olson’s bonus points for qualifying on pole, as well as the points for the two heat races, Olson had already won the Championship.  However, instead of walking through the final, “main” race, Olson capped off his final “sprint” season with one of his finest races to date.

 

Olson started the race on pole and consistently pulled away from the field to finish over fifty feet ahead of the second place driver to go onto another joyous victory.  Olson threw his fists up after crossing the finish line and gave the spectators a final wild display of extreme kart control by swerving his vehicle back and forth on the “cool down” lap.  Olson sat in the pits afterwards and simply stared at the ground, seemingly unaware of his newly found “Champion” status.

 

When asked about the final result of what is his ultimate race day to date, Olson simply said, “I just want to thank God, and my brother Matt.  I really felt something special out there, and I actually don’t really want to talk about it, it is very private.  Also, my father was there in the morning, but had to catch a flight back East.  I wish he could have shared that moment with me.  But, I will tell you that this whole thing didn’t hit me until I was on the way back to Hollywood, just a few miles from home on the 101.  I heard that Queen song come on the radio, the song We are the Champions, and everything just came out, just blew out, in one moment.  I started thinking about everything I did to get to Number One, all of the things I went through, and it just all came out…I couldn’t control myself.  It was only then that I finally realized what I had just done.”

 

Quite a statement from Olson, who is moving on to the shifter karts for the Spring 2003 JHR Championship, as well as starting his professional racing career in the renowned Skip Barber Formula Dodge RT/2000 Race Series in October.  And of course, Olson will once again be enjoying himself at 130 mph while attending the Jim Russell Formula Mazda Racing School in the spring, thanks to the Jim Hall Racing ladder system.  Congratulations to Pete Olson, the new Champion. 

 

We wish him the best of luck in what looks to be a promising career for this dedicated racer. 

 

For more information on Pete Olson, visit his website at: www.peteolson.com. 

 

 

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Charles Schepens

Schepens Promotions

29000 West Nine Mile Road

Farmington Hills, MI 48336

promotions@peteolson.com

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