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American Speed Association PR
DAYTONA BEACH, FL (Monday, January 18, 2009) - Tim Olson has worn many hats in his racing career from driver to track operator and to now the President of the American Speed Association Midwest Tour. At the end of this month, he will put on his racing hat, or helmet to be exact, and get behind the wheel to compete in the ASA Transcontinental Series Free State 500 at the Phakisa Freeway Circuit in Welkom, Free State, South Africa on January 31st.
"I cannot wait to compete in an ASA-sanctioned race again. My first ASA race was about 27 years ago at the Minnesota State Fair track." Olson said. "I got real excited when Dennis Huth, ASA President, told me about the Free State 500 race I thought it was a really cool idea. But I was surprised when he asked me to compete in it."
Olson, along with Steve Einhaus, created the ASA Midwest Tour in 2007 and has quickly become one of the more successful regional super late model tours in the country where they have averaged over 35 cars per event. They will start their fourth season in May and recently announced the ASA Midwest Sportsman Tour featuring the popular sportsman cars that run at the local tracks and is the first of a kind regional tour for these styles of cars. Prior to creating the ASA Midwest Tour, Olson created the ASA-sanctioned Minnesota Challenge Series.
The Hamel, MN veteran gets behind the wheel any time his schedule allows. He started his racing career in 1972 racing quarter midgets in Elko, MN. He started racing late models in 1979, where he came up with his popular car # 79. He made first start in the popular ARTGO Challenge Series at Elko Speedway in 1982. A year later he made his first start in the American Speed Association at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. He continued racing throughout the Midwest until 1990 when he decided to spend time with his family. He started racing again in 1996 racing in some of the major racing series in the Midwest and racing locally at I-94 Raceway in Sauk Centre, MN and Fergus Falls Speedway in Fergus Falls, MN where he accumulated over 50 feature wins at the two tracks and won the track championship at I-94 in 2005.
The attitude he is bringing to Phakisa is the same that he has shown for quite some time, "I really enjoy being around the track and do anything that has to do with racing," a smiling Olson said. "This sport is meant to be a lot of fun and that is my approach. Dennis Huth has put a lot of time and effort into this event, and I am grateful to be a part of it. He has had some great successes in the past and I know he will be successful with this event. I am glad to be a part of it."
"Tim has been a pleasure to work with and he has done a great job leading the ASA Midwest Tour to the success it is having and is a great friend," Dennis Huth, ASA President said. "I know that he still loves to drive and when I was putting a list of drivers together for Phakisa I made sure he was on the list. He will be a great representative at this event."
Tickets for the four days of action can be obtained from Computicket outlets countrywide or go to www.computicket.com. Prices range from R20.00 on Thursday to R 330.00 on Sunday. Spectacular discounts for Saturday/Sunday tickets are available. All tickets include a 90 minute Pit Walkabout on all days.
For more information about the Free State 500, please visit www.phakisa.com or www.freestate500.com.
To learn more of the Daytona Beach, Fla.-based American Speed Association call (386) 258-2221 or send an e-mail to info@asa-racing.com. For news and information from all the racetracks and regional tours involved in the ASA, visit www.ASA-Racing.com.
ASA®, ASA Racing®, and American Speed Association® are registered trademarks of Racing Speed Associates, LLC. ASA International, LLC and Racing Speed Associates, LLC are not related to or affiliated with ASA Late Model Series, LLC.
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