WMRA Midgets

May 1, 2004

 

Olson Takes Season Opener

 

South Sound Speedway, Tenino, Wa.                                                     by John Hunter

 

Brian Olson drove the Ed Shefchik owned, J&L Fabricating Ellis/Ford to a convincing victory in Saturday nights 35 lap WMRA feature on the third mile South Sound oval.  Olson took the lead on lap six from Rick Kraft and was never seriously challenged.  Rick Moss finished five car lengths back in the Zakula-Beale Auctions Beast/Ford with Ken Ferris in his MAC Towing Beast/Gaerte another three car lengths back.

 

The front row of Nick Seidelman and Kraft paced the field to the green with Kraft taking the advantage exiting turn two.  The running order after the first lap was Kraft, N. Seidelman, Olson, Matt Stone and Moss.  On lap two, Moss was able to get under Stone for fourth as Kraft was extending his lead over N. Seidelman.  On lap three, Olson got under N. Seidelman entering turn three for second, but was already ten car lengths behind Kraft.  Moss used the low line to move into third on lap five with Ferris getting by N. Seidelman the following lap.  On lap six, Kraft slowed dramatically exiting turn four when he lost oil pressure, ending his night.  The order after six was, Olson, Moss, Ferris, N. Seidelman and Stone. The running order at the front stayed the same with Olson holding a constant four car length lead over Moss with Ferris another ten car lengths back.  The real action was in the middle of the field with Stone, Scott Walker, Ben Petter and Kenny Wood dicing for fifth.  On lap sixteen, the first yellow of the night waved when Petter spun entering turn three.  The restart order was Olson, Moss, Ferris, N. Seidelman and Stone.  The yellow reappeared as the field exited turn two.  Several drivers failed to notice the yellow light causing a traffic jam entering turn three with Petter and Kevin Wood spinning.  Petter’s night was over due to the two spin rule.  Under the caution, Stone pitted but was able to make repairs and restart at the rear of the field.  This gave fifth to Walker.  When the green waved, Olson jumped to a two car length lead over Moss as the duo distanced themselves from the rest of the field.  Olson seemed to be on cruise control as Moss was never able to mount a serious challenge.  On lap twenty-one, Bob Eldridge developed mechanical problems and was forced to retire for the night.  Again, the real racing was in the middle of the pack with Rob Lindsey, Stone, Kenny Wood and Tony Seidelman waging their battle for sixth.  Walker took fourth from N. Seidelman in turn two on lap twenty-five as the leaders were entering lapped traffic.  The slower cars of Kevin Wood and Alan Norton gave plenty of racing room to the leaders who were turning their fastest laps of the night.  Skeeter Flake was next in line to be lapped on lap twenty-eight with T. Seidelman being lapped on lap thirty.  Olson held a six car length advantage when the final yellow of the night waved on lap thirty-two when N. Seidelman spun entering turn three.  For the restart, Olson paced the field with Moss, Ferris, Walker, Lindsey, Stone, Kenny Wood and N. Seidelman still on the lead lap.  Olson got a good restart and pulled away from Moss to capture his first ever WMRA feature. 

 

T. Seidelman led wire to wire in winning the first heat over Kenny Wood and N. Seidelman.  The fast heat was also led wire to wire with Olson taking the checkered ahead of Kraft and Moss.  The dashes were won by N. Seidelman and Olson.  Quick time was posted by Brad Curtis in the family Beast/Mopar but was a scratch for the remainder of the night due to brake problems.

 

The hard charger for the night had to be Lindsey who replaced a rear end during qualifying and then had fuel pump drive issues forcing him to start at the rear of the feature and still finished fifth.  Eric Young made contact with the back straight wall during practice and damaged the rear suspension, ending his night.  The top rookie for the night was Walker in his Shy’s Pizza Stealth.

 

The WMRA takes a week off before heading for the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Roseburg, Or. for the Pacific Northwest Midget Championship on Saturday night, May 15.  This will be a co-sanctioned event with BCRA and IMRA.

 

Results:

 

Qualifying:  Brad Curtis (12) 13.602, Ken Ferris (28) 13.750, Rick Moss (50) 13.836, Matt Stone (58) 13.874, Brian Olson (77) 13.906, Rick Kraft (3) 13.932, Ben Petter (85) 14.029, Scott Walker (63) 14.096, Nick Seidelman (4) 14.148, Skeeter Flake (16) 14.161, Bob Eldridge (48) 14.313, Kenny Wood (93) 14.460, Kevin Wood (95) 14.759, Alan Norton (69) 15.471, Tony Seidelman (44) 14.478, Rob Lindsey (23) NT, Eric Young (45) NT.

 

B. Dash:  N. Seidelman, Flake, Kenny Wood, Eldridge.

 

A Dash:  Olson, Moss, Ferris, Stone.

 

Heat 1:  T. Seidelman, Kenny Wood, N. Seidelman, Kevin Wood, Eldridge, Flake, Norton.

 

Heat 2:  Olson, Kraft, Moss, Ferris, Stone, Walker, Petter.

 

Main:  Olson, Moss, Ferris, Walker, Lindsey, Stone, Kenny Wood, N. Seidelman, T. Seidelman, Flake, Kevin Wood, Norton, Eldridge, Petter, Kraft, Young DNS.