In the rush to win Saturday's WESCAR White Spruce Enterprises/CC Industries 100 and maintain his lead from start to finish, Dave Olson found a way to curb his own enthusiasm.
With Bob Williams and Ian Graham hot on his heels with 19 laps left, Olson hit the curb guarding the inside lane heading into the third corner at PGARA Speedway while traveling at about 100 kilometres an hour.
"I was too busy watching my mirror, and I hit the curb and kind of skipped up the track a bit," said Olson. "It kind of knocked the front end out a bit but we had lots of cushion up front and saved the tires."
Olson avoided a brush with the wall, but couldn't shake Graham, the 23-year-old series leader from Harrison Hot Springs. With eight laps remaining, Graham stuck his nose in against Olson as they approached Turn 3 and as Olson ducked down his fender made contact with Graham's wheel, launching the right front side of Graham car high into the air.
That got the fans in the grandstand and the surrounding parking areas out of their seats expecting a big wreck, but both drivers avoided a spin and held it around the corner. Olson, a 27-year-old from Quesnel, hung on for his first win of the season, with Graham a close second.
"It's nice to finally finish in front of him for a change," said Olson. "At the end there I didn't know he was that far into me and unfortunately once I found out I thought we were going around. But we straightened 'er out and finished 'er off and it was close at the end.
"It was hard to pass out there and we got fortunate and started up front and had to pass one guy at the beginning (Wes Mader). The car was really good and we got out front and kind of saved what we had because we knew Ian was coming."
Graham knows how fortunate he was to get back on four inflated tires with only a creased fender after going vertical in his brush with Olson.
"It could have been a lot worse," said Graham, 23. "I know I'd probably do the same thing if I was in his position. To have the pressure that we were putting on him for that length of time shows how much talent he has. He didn't miss a beat the entire race."
Graham had won the last four races, dating back to 2014. Olson was the runner-up to Graham in the first race of the season in Vernon, and was within striking distance of Graham until the late stages of the Williams Lake race. Olson, a former street stock champion, has had good luck over the years at PGARA Speedway, winning WESCAR feature there in 2012 and the season-opener in 2014.
Graham wrecked his car last year in Prince George and had to replace front clip but the four-year WESCAR veteran has been pretty consistent since then. He clocked a 16.601-second lap time in qualifying, the fastest time of the night, but that was only .15 of a second quicker than Olson, the ninth-quickest. Just five-tenths of a second separated top from bottom in the 14-car field.
Graham got into the back end of Ryley Siebert on Lap 19, causing Siebert to spin, and sent to the back of the pack, but it didn't take long for Graham to move back into contention. He jumped two positions up to third by Lap 65 and made a move on Williams to grab second with 23 laps left.
Graham attributes his recent success to his pit crew, headed by his dad Lee, who also looks after the car driven by his 21-year-old son Cam, who finished fifth Saturday.
"My guys have been working so hard to make the car as fast as it is, it's been a hot rod every weekend," said Ian Graham. "I think the adjustments we're making are right on point, the car just comes from the shop fast. My dad does a lot of the wrenching and It's a lot of work keeping two cars going and we don't have the biggest team."
Williams missed the first two race dates due to work commitments but was on his game Saturday, moving up to the top three by Lap 46.
"The car was awesome the first 40 laps and then it got tight," said the 56-year-old Prince George driver. "It was still fast but I just couldn't make any moves against those guys. When (Olson and Graham) got together I was hoping they weren't going to throw a caution because it looked like that would have given us the lead. If I had gotten out front, I was just as fast as they were."
It was a tough night of racing for Logan Jewell of Prince George, who was breaking in a new engine in his Impala. He got black-flagged 45 laps in when his exhaust header broke free of its clamp and was left sticking out on the passenger side. During the cautions late in the race, Jewell was able to make up two of the three laps he lost while his crew was making repairs but he was unable to finish on the lead lap and ended up 13th out of 14 cars.
A-heat winner Sheldon Mayert of Prince George flirted with the lead pack several times, moving up as high as third 43 laps in, but had to settle for sixth.
The WESCAR sportsman series moves on to Agassiz for the next race event, July 4, followed by a race in Quesnel at Gold Pan Speedway, July 18.
In the Prince George Auto Racing Association Canadian Tire street stock main which followed the WESCAR feature, Wayne French had Danny Arronge breathing down his neck most of the way but held on to win the 30-lap race. It was the second main event win in two tries for French, who continues to lead the series. Devin Barks filled in for mini stock points leader Nathan Linfitt and won the 20-lap main event.
