Oversees
Member Inducted 2012
Carl Olson
History
An enthusiast for all types of motor sport, American Carl Olson
started to visit drag race events as a spectator during the
mid-1950s. He first drove a fuel dragster in 1964, but his greatest
success on the strip came when he joined up with Mike Kuhl and by
1972 he was IHRA Top Fuel World Champion and a regular Top Fuel
Dragster winner at NHRA events. He won the last Top Fuel dragster
eliminator to be held at Lions. By 1976 he had finished his racing
career and took a Vice President's role with the NHRA.
Although he had previously 'touched base' with European drag
racing via meetings with Alan Wigmore in the USA and advising Brian
Taylor on introducing Europe's first contingency sponsorship
scheme, his first in-depth introduction to British drag racing
occurred in 1989. Carl was by then NHRA Vice President for
International Relations. He and fellow NHRA Vice President, Bernie
Partridge were invited to attend an event at Avon Park Raceway on
Long Marston aerodrome (now Shakespeare County Raceway).
His hosts were David Riswick, who had just taken up an operating
lease on the track, and David Wilkinson of Blacktop Promotions, the
company formed to promote meetings there. Wilkinson was also
Chairman of the British Drag Racing Association. Carl and Bernie
were asked to review the facility, spend a bit of time with the
organizers and participants, and make recommendations regarding
potential improvements to the facility and event conduct. Dave
Riswick's end game was for it to become an NHRA sanctioned drag
venue but problems with the lease scuppered this dream
But Carl also had a growing relationship with the Swedish drag
racing fraternity and, at the behest of Per Olav Forsberg, attended
regular meetings of a group that went on to form the European Drag
Racing Association (EDRA). This was a coalition of Scandinavian
drag racing organizers and officials with the common objective of
improving the structure and execution of the sport primarily in
Scandinavia, but with hopes of extending any progress throughout
greater Europe.
When the EDRA members ultimately decided that in their view it
would be in the sport's best interest to approach the FISA/FIA for
official recognition, Carl was selected to make initial contact and
he extended an invitation for newly elected FISA President, Max
Mosley, to attend the NHRA US Nationals in Indianapolis. He was
extremely impressed, with what he saw, proposing the establishment
of a standing FIA Drag Racing Commission that would make proposals
to the FISA World Motor Sport Council for formal ratification. The
World Council ultimately endorsed Mosley's proposals and elected
Carl to serve as Commission President in 1993, a position he held
for the next thirteen years.
During that time, the Commission oversaw the establishment and
development of the FIA European Drag Racing Championship series.
And using the rules, regulations, policies and procedures of the
NHRA as a model, the FIA established a comprehensive section of
their rulebook dealing exclusively with drag racing. Today it is
the standard by which the sport is conducted around the world. Carl
Olson's involvement was instrumental in taking the status of
European drag racing (and with it British drag racing) to the very
highest level and facilitating a focal point that then enabled the
different national organising bodies to build the international
sport that provides such a great show today. It is for this work
that he has been inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of
Fame.
He later became Motorsports Manager for the SFI Foundation that
looks after safety issues; a business with which he still retains a
consultancy relationship when not working on his latest Bonneville
project. He also serves as a Board member on the Quarter Mile
Foundation led by Traci Hrudka that is logging the history of drag
racing for a TV series.
Brian Taylor