Redwood Acres Raceway

Peterson’s Late Pass Earns Late Model Victory
Gomes Dominates, Earns $15,000 SRL Prize
DelBiaggio Withstands Last Lap Charge To Win
Peterson’s Late Pass Earns Late Model Victory

Peterson’s Late Pass Earns Late Model Victory

9/22/2024 -
The 2024 season at Redwood Acres Raceway concluded this past Saturday with the Steve Taylor Memorial Fall Spectacular. Leon’s Car Care Center and Shaf
Gomes Dominates, Earns $15,000 SRL Prize

Gomes Dominates, Earns $15,000 SRL Prize

9/1/2024 -
Redwood Acres Raceway had a packed house this past Saturday night with the highly anticipated return of the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series taking pl
DelBiaggio Withstands Last Lap Charge To Win

DelBiaggio Withstands Last Lap Charge To Win

8/11/2024 -
It was a wild and crazy night of racing at Redwood Acres Raceway this past Saturday night. O’Reilly Auto Parts presented a full slate of action on the

Latest News

Peterson’s Late Pass Earns Late Model Victory

Peterson’s Late Pass Earns Late Model Victory

9/22/2024
The 2024 season at Redwood Acres Raceway concluded this past Saturday with the Steve Taylor Memorial Fall Spectacular. Leon’s Car Care Center and Shafer’s Ace Hardware presented a full night of action featuring late models, the Upstate Modified Series, the Upstate Bomber...more
Racing Season To Finish Saturday At Redwood Acres Raceway

Racing Season To Finish Saturday At Redwood Acres Raceway

9/17/2024
Only one race remains for Redwood Acres Raceway this year and that date is this Saturday September 21. The Steve Taylor Memorial Fall Spectacular will capstone the 2024 season at the Acres. It will be a full night of racing with the Upstate Modified Series and Upstate...more
Gomes Dominates, Earns $15,000 SRL Prize

Gomes Dominates, Earns $15,000 SRL Prize

9/1/2024
Redwood Acres Raceway had a packed house this past Saturday night with the highly anticipated return of the Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series taking place. The Spears Modified Series made their debut at the Acres while the Nor Cal Legends Series made their second visit to...more
SRL Late Models Headline Big Weekend At The Acres

SRL Late Models Headline Big Weekend At The Acres

8/28/2024
Only two races remain on the schedule for Redwood Acres Raceway’s 2024 season. One of the two is this Saturday with many of the top racers in the region descending on the 3/8-mile paved oval. The Spears SRL Southwest Tour Series will return to RAR for the first time since...more
Rich Olson
1664
10/9/2021

10/9/2021

Redwood Acres Raceway


Rich Olson 1939-2021

Former Redwood Acres Raceway promoter Rich Olson passed away Friday October 1 at age 81. Rich was the owner of the local company RAO Construction.

Olson facilitated the paving of Redwood Acres Raceway through the winter of 1987-1988 and began his long tenure of promoting the 3/8-mile track with his wife, Linda. The Olsons promoted RAR for an astounding 26 seasons with their final season coming in 2014. Through their hard work and dedication, RAR was able to continue hosting races uninterrupted while many race tracks along the west coast and throughout the United States closed or failed due to mismanagement or other business reasons.

Prior to promoting RAR, Olson’s connection to racing started as a car owner in the early 80s when his son Randy began racing at age 17. For most of the decade, Randy raced his blue number 17 RAO Construction sponsored car at various tracks up and down the west coast. Rich also owned a car that Randy raced in the then NASCAR Winston West Series for several years. When Rich took over promoting duties at RAR in 1988, his youngest son Rusty also began racing in the track’s street stock division.

Redwood Acres Raceway hosted numerous big races through Olson’s time promoting the track. Two NASCAR Winston West Series events were held in 1988 and 1989 while eight NASCAR Southwest Tour Series races took place from 1988-1993 and 1995. From the early through mid-90s, Olson co-promoted the hugely successful Tri-Western 300 series, a three-track late September/early October championship that featured the very best west coast open competition late model competitors.

The rise of the Tri-Western series coincided with the beginning of Redwood Acres Raceway’s Fall Spectacular which has continued to be the annual closing event for the track. As the 90s moved into the 00s, the Fall Spectacular became a huge attraction for IMCA and Grand American modified drivers as the annual race also became a hugely popular end of the season stop. The speed of the track as well as RAR being neutral ground for modified drivers made for some thrilling and memorable races during the period.

When the Nor-Cal Best In The West Late Model Tour closed at the end of 1998, Rich and Linda took over promoting duties for the series and created the Tri-State Late Model Series. The series was hugely important at the time as it was the only late model touring series that raced throughout the region. The Olsons promoted the series in 1999 and 2000.

One of the highlights for Rich as his time promoting reached its end was watching his grandson Al race in RAR’s Thunder Roadster division. When Rich and Linda decided to step away from promoting at the end of 2014, racing at Redwood Acres Raceway was able to continue with almost no interruption thanks in part to their care in maintaining and preserving the track throughout the years.

Rich Olson was a kind, dedicated and hard-working man who contributed so much not only to racers at Redwood Acres Raceway but throughout the local community. Rich preferred to stay out of the limelight and often preferred to not be publicly thanked or recognized for his contributions. Though he is now gone, his legacy will always remain.


Submitted By: Matthew Sullivan

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