Since starting in the sport over 60 years ago, Carl Olson has been at the top in many capacities: Top Fuel racer, Diamond P presenter, NHRA Vice President, first President of the FIA Drag Racing Commission for 13 years and Motorsports Manager for the SFI Foundation. Carl has been a familiar sight in Europe over the last 30 years and is an Overseas Member and Ambassador for the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

You can now read Carl’s story, told by him, in the book ‘Racing Through Life: The Autobiography of Carl V. Olson’, published on Tuesday and available from Amazon; by clicking HERE (available in Kindle and paperback formats). Carl’s detailed and highly readable account is accompanied by black and white photos.

This autobiography provides rare insights into this fascinating and perilous journey. Along the way, he encounters and befriends a bevy of colourful characters, typical of those similarly drawn to the attraction of high-speed motorsport competition. He is also all too often forced to deal with the reality of extreme danger, and the heartbreak that inevitably accompanies all forms of motorsport.

He eventually forges a career in motorsport management that takes him to every corner of the U.S.A. and around the world including Santa Pod and Avon Park raceways. As this career focuses on the issue of motorsport safety, he dedicates himself to preventing unnecessary injuries, and saving lives. His story also touches on his passion for deep sea sport fishing, where he finds a strong connection to nature in a maritime environment. His love of the sea stands in stark contrast to his need for speed and provides him with a healthy balance between the extremes of high speed motorsport and the ever changing, but predictable moods of the ocean.

Carl was inducted into the BDRHoF in 2012.

Our thanks to Geoff Stilwell for the information, Eurodragster.com for the story and photos from Jerry Cookson Collection.