ENDS LAST RACE WITH WHAT
FORMER INDY TEAM CO-OWNER JIM HALL II CALLS “ONE OF MOST INCREDIBLE FINISHES
I’VE EVER SEEN HERE.”
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For Immediate Release
July 1, 2002
Hollywood, CA – Yesterday was the
fifth and final round of the Jim Hall Spring 2002 Karting Championship, and an
incredible day of racing on the challenging “B-Track” configuration. In the point standings going into Round 5,
Steven McClave had a twenty-one point lead over second place Pete Olson, which
virtually guaranteed him first place in the points at the end of Round 5, no
matter how either finished yesterday.
But Olson was only 2.5 points ahead of third place Bill Lord at the
beginning of the day, which resulted in one of the mostly closely contested
battles ever at JHR for a second place season finish.
Olson again dominated pole
position on the B-track, and thus started 1st on the grid for the
first heat race. Olson lead the entire
race to finish 1st, despite a leak from his fuel tank which resulted
in 110-octane race gas being sprayed all over him during the entire event. In the second race, Bill Lord and Wayne
Martin both spun out in turn four, the result of a failed passing attempt by
Martin on Bill Lord in the entrance of the turn. Olson drove around their wreckage to
finish 3rd in the second “heat” race. In the final, main race, Olson started on pole again as the
result of having the best combined finishes in both heats, but this time was
passed in crucial turn four by McClave on one of the final laps. At the final turn of the final lap we
observed one of the most incredible finishes ever at the JHR track: it began in the entrance to the turn when
Bill Lord closed up on Olson, while Olson was behind McClave, the race
leader. Bill Lord’s front bumper went
over the top of Olson’s rear bumper and hooked on, Olson unable to break
free. With less than fifteen feet to go
to the finish, Olson managed to maintain control of his wildly swerving vehicle
while dragging the 300-plus pounds of Bill Lord and his kart across the finish
line, finally spinning off the track just a few feet after crossing it. In typical brash style Olson said, “There
was nothing else I could do. I was so
close to the end. My only choice was to
drop the hammer and use every last ounce of my strength and vehicle control
that I have learned over the years.
Yesterday kind of felt like being sixteen again, when I used to go out
to a parking lot near my home every time it rained and put my car into wild
slides - it was really fun! I like to
think that all those years of sliding and crashing cars has finally paid
off!” [Laughs]
Jim Hall later told spectators and
competitors “That was one of the most incredible finished I’ve ever seen
here!” We later asked Olson about
whether he felt disappointed about the results of the championship.
“I am happy with the results of the championship because as you
now see, I am consistently one of the fastest.” said Olson from his home in
Hollywood. “Overall, I am really
satisfied that I have improved as much as I did this season. It’s all about climbing that ladder - it’s a
learning curve. And no matter if I held
on to win in that last race, McClave still would have still had the
championship. I really wanted to win
that one, and I still shouldn’t have given him an opportunity to pass on turn
four.”
During the first race, Olson was
black-flagged and put on probation for the rest of the race day as the result
of slamming into McClave’s kart when McClave attempted to make an inside pass
on Olson going into turn four. As a
result, Jim Hall told him that if he was black-flagged for aggressive contact
again, he would have his victory from that first race taken away from him. Despite that, Olson held on to finish 2nd
with the spectacular final race of the JHR Spring 2002 Championship.
Olson received 2nd in
the final points, moving up from last season’s 4th. And congratulations to him on yet another
victory and pole position on the B-track, that makes two B-track poles in a
row! We look forward to seeing his
exploits this fall in the next race series, which starts September 15tth 2002. Due to McClave’s retirement from racing,
which he announced yesterday, observers predict a heated battle between Olson
and Bill Lord in the Fall 2002 JHR Race Series.
For more information on Peter
Olson, visit his website at www.peteolson.com. And to follow the Jim Hall Kart Racing
Series, go 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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