Streaking Olson stomps USAC Western Midget field at Stockton – By Bobby Gerould – Stockton, CA. 08/27/05 - … Brian Olson is on a roll. The Puyallup, WA driver, fresh off two feature wins in a row in WMRA action, traveled south to Stockton 99 Speedway Saturday night and promptly drove away with a 50-lap USAC Western States Midget Series A-Main victory. Olson started fifth on the grid at a track he was competing at for the first time in his career.

"We are on roll right now", said the winner. "This makes three straight for our team. Tonight was just supposed to be a tune-up for us for the September 11^th race here."

Warm and sticky conditions made for a considerable workout for the all teams. With an A-Main temperature of 84 degrees – after a 100 degree day, pole-sitter Brian Gard led the 15-car field to the green flag. Gard led the opening seven laps before Olson pounced in turn one with a low move. By lap 20, Robby Flock and Ryan Kaplan were dicing for second place, with Kaplan emerging as the best candidate to unseat Olson in front.

Kaplan, a two-time USAC Western Midget feature winner this season, pulled onto the rear nerf-bar of Olson on lap 26. While watching an entertaining fight for the lead, many fans peeled their eyes toward Bradley Galedrige. The 2004 Ford Focus California North Champion was moving forward on the high-side of the paved ¼-mile oval. On lap 35, Galedrige pulled a slick crossover maneuver on Flock to steal third place. Galedrige repeatedly sped into turn three higher and harder than anyone else on the track. He then darted down the high banks with a low exit off turn four.

Kaplan’s run at Olson was short-lived. The Washington driver opened up a half straightaway lead by lap 43. Galedrige tried everything to get by Kaplan for the runner-up spot but Kaplan held his ground and that is how they finished. Flock, and Ben Petter were next in line. Quick qualifier Tony Hunt rebounded from an early spin to climb back to a sixth place result. The top-ten was filled out by Pete Davis, Garratt Boyden, Scott Pierovich, and Jerome Rodela.

The USAC Western Midgets return to Stockton 99 Speedway in Northern California for their next event, scheduled for Sunday September 11, 2005. The race is the annual Fred Gerhardt Open Wheel Classic which features twin 100-lap events with the Western Sprint Cars.

USAC WESTERN MIDGET CAR SERIES RACE RESULTS: August 27, 2005 – Stockton, California – Stockton 99 Speedway 

QUALIFICATIONS: 1. Tony Hunt, 4, Rosen-13.529; 2. Brian Olson, 71, Olson-13.600; 3. Brad Galedrige, 29, Galedrige-13.654; 4. Ryan Kaplan, 21, Kaplan-13.726; 5. Ben Petter, 11D, Petter-13.789; 6. Brian Gard, 57, Borghesian-13.828; 7. Robby Flock, 79, Sala-13.853; 8. Jerome Rodela, 5, VanDyne-13.931; 9. Garratt Boyden, 42, Boyden-13.949; 10. Shannon McQueen, 7, McQueen-14.008; 11. Scott Pierovich, 35, Pierovich-14.053; 12. Pete bDavis, 00, Davis-14.127; 13. Tyler Brown, 34, Brown-14.229; 14. Scott Walker, 34s, Walker-14.344; 15. Stephen Graves, 86, Graves-14.993.

FEATURE: (50 laps) 1. Brian Olson, 2. Ryan Kaplan, 3. Brad Galedrige, 4. Robby Flock, 5. Ben Petter, 6. Tony Hunt, 7. Pete Davis, 8. Garratt Boyden, 9. Scott Pierovich, 10. Jerome Rodela, 11. Stephen Graves, 12. Shannon McQueen, 13. Brian Gard, 14. Scott Walker, 15. Tyler Brown. NT

FEATURE LAP LEADERS: Laps 1-7 Gard, Laps 8-50 Olson.

NEW WESTERN MIDGET CAR STANDINGS: 1-Flock-608; 2-Rodela-515; 3-Brown-441; 4-Kaplan-429; 5-Graves-408; 6-Garrett Hansen-404; 7-Galedrige-323; 8-Chris Rahe-304; 9-Pierovich-303; 10-Dallen McKenney-292. 

NEXT WESTERN MIDGET CAR RACE: September 11 – Stockton (CA) 99 Speedway – "Fred Gerhardt Open Wheel Classic"