Kevin Olson

To those who raced against him, worked with him or were entertained along the way by his tomfoolery, Kevin Olson was known simply as KO.By now you know the world lost this fabulous race car driver and longtime SprintCar & Midget columnist to a highway accident on Feb. 11 at the age of 70.

To those who raced against him, worked with him or were entertained along the way by his tomfoolery, Kevin Olson was known simply as KO.

By now you know the world lost this fabulous race car driver and longtime SprintCar & Midget columnist to a highway accident on Feb. 11 at the age of 70.

KO was as well known for his outgoing — some may say outlandish — personality as he was for his prowess behind the wheel of a midget.

He could — and often did — find humor in just about anything. From his lightbulb repair business to his zany T-shirts and numerous practical jokes, he never took himself seriously.

Except on the race track.

KO won 23 USAC midget features and a pair of USAC national championships. He also won 47 Badger Midget Series features and five driver titles.

He has been inducted into the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame and the USAC Hall of Fame.

KO topped the Pepsi Nationals at Angell Park Speedway five times, topped the Turkey Night Grand Prix in 1983 and won the Hut Hundred at the Terre Haute (Ind.) Action Track in 1996.

Elsewhere in this magazine you will read several heartfelt remembrances of KO. In this space, we remember him through his more than five decades at the race track.
Rest in piece, KO.