Joe Olenick

Joe Olenick (born January 15, 1991) is an American race car driver from West Haven, Connecticut who has driven in the TM Master Cup Series since 2014. He is known for using the #23 whenever possible, as well as having a blunt, to-the-point personality, particularly when it comes to the media. He will move to Hodges-Walter Racing in 2019, replacing the departing Adrien Devereux.

Early Career
Olenick starting running local short tracks almost immediately after getting his driver's license in 2007. He quickly excelled at Thompson Speedway, winning two races in 2008 in the DARE Stock late model series, running a 2001 Inglesby Flashback. He also began to run well at Lime Rock Park, a track where a number of TM Master Cup drivers from the Northeast had run.

He would win his first track championship at Lime Rock in 2009, and followed it up with another in 2010, along with a championship at Thompson.

2012
Olenick first attempted to qualify for the 2012 Karjala Grand Prix for Matthews Motorsports; however, he was not approved to run the race and the team did not attempt to qualify.

Olenick would attempt the 2012 Round of Indianapolis, but was unable to advance past the qualifying race.

Olenick's third attempt, the 2012 Round of Decatur, went much better, as he made it into the main field and was able to bring his Matthews Aspira home in 23rd place.

2013
Olenick planned to attempt both Indianapolis and Decatur in 2013, however, schedule conflicts left him without a ride opportunity for either race.

2014
During the 2013 season, Team Saar USA announced its return to the TM Master Cup series grid; during the same announcement, Olenick was confirmed as one of the team's drivers.

2013
Olenick will compete for the 2013 TM Lights championship driving a Lenard after securing backing from the TARDIS Group.

2012
Olenick was signed to run the 2012 VSCC season for Team CTR; however, the series folded shortly before the round of Clairmont was run. Olenick and the team, not content to wait for a new league to form entered the ASCC, where he was listed as the primary driver of the #5 Bolden, which was sponsored by Bridgeport Milling Machines.

Olenick's 2012 season included two wins (at Rockingham and Atlanta) and a berth in the championship Chase. Due to his early season win, Olenick was seeded 3rd. He was mathematically able to win the championship in Atlanta, but lost out to Dan Richards of Ocean Motorsports.

2013
Olenick announced early that he would consider a return to the ASCC for 2013 with Team CTR. The team will be moving to Lenard despite running very well with Bolden, and they are looking at expanding to a two-car operation. Olenick also requested a number change from #5 to #26, to honor the victims of the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.

Ultimately, Olenick decided against returning to the ASCC, and stepped aside for driver Mickey Smith

2012
Olenick ran the Mini Indy 500, but was wrecked out early and finished last.

Olenick would later attempt to make the 2012 Rockford 200 but was taken out in an early wreck during his qualifying race.

2013
Olenick will attempt a part-time schedule in ARLA, and he will run the #33 Cavinata Limoncello Lenard Q9 for George Martin Motorsports.

ARLA Tornado Alley Truck Series
Team CTR will field three trucks for The Memorial 2013 at Lime Rock Park for Olenick, Sebastien Dubois and Ryan Matthews. Olenick utilized his experience on the Lime Rock circuit to win the pole with a lap time of 51.871 seconds.

2012
Olenick ran the 2012 Spa GP alongside teammate Jess Zander, but was taken out in an early wreck caused by title contender Patrick Arceneau. Later in the season, he was seen testing an unpainted Lenard R20, signaling a change of manufacturer for Team CTR.

2013
Olenick is scheduled to make limited appearances in Dash Cup for 2013. He made the 2013 EuroSpeedway GP, but was involved in a wreck and failed to finish. He was originally only scheduled to run at Spa and EuroSpeedway, but the death of Tyson Lautenschlager (who he became acquainted with through mutual friend Henrietta LaVerne) at Texas Motor Speedway meant Olenick was moved to the part-time role.

Personal Life
"All of us involved in the racing community need to demand that things start getting better, because they can't get much worse."

- Joe Olenick, reacting to the death of Tiffany Matthews, the seventh death in a major racing series since 2011.[]

Olenick still lives in his hometown of West Haven, Connecticut. He is an avid fan of the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team. Olenick has his master's degree in mechanical engineering, one of few drivers to have an advanced degree.

He is married to former RROL driver Jessica Zander; in February 2019 they had their first child, a boy named Elliott.

Olenick is also known to be fluent in multiple languages: English, Italian, Spanish and American Sign Language.

He is known to be good friends with Ryan Matthews and Frank Azure (despite apparent animosity between the two) and was friends with Tyson Lautenschlager before the latter's death; he had convinced Lautenschlager to run with Team CTR in Dash Cup, a ride that Olenick would fill after the fateful events of the Hanmore World Championships.

Despite this, he values privacy immensely and does not make much else of his personal life known. He is notorious for giving terse and somewhat sarcastic interviews to the press. He is especially prone to snapping at the media if they approach him after a wreck, something that has happened in both of his ARLA attempts in 2012. When asked about his sometimes antagonistic relationship with racing media, he stated that "the problem I have is when they're right in your face after an incident. I'm just climbing out of the car after a wreck, leave me alone for a damn minute. I'm also not fond of them trying to make storylines out of nothing, which happens all the time."

ARLA Elite Series

 * Italics indicate season-in-progress

ASCC

 * Italics indicate season-in-progress

Dash Cup

 * Italics indicate season-in-progress