December 1, 2003

 Well it’s that time again!  We remember thinking back in April that we had seven months to wait to start doing this all over again.  It seemed it was going to be such a long summer.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  What happened to the summer and fall?  Race season is now upon us and the WSA Duluth National was our first stop on the schedule. 

 As most of you know by now, Mike Schultz #465 has returned to the team again this year and we have added Bobby LePage #244 to the team.  Mike Schultz races in Semi-Pro Open and Pro Stock due to a rule change this year.  Bobby LePage races in both Semi-Pro Stock and Semi-Pro Open at all the WSA National events.

 Friday, at Duluth is X-Games Qualifying time.  Bobby had to pre-qualify to get to the qualifiers on Friday afternoon.  In Bobby’s first round he had a mechanical problem that caused a loss of braking so he ended up 6^th in round one. In round two he was still struggling with the mechanical problem and finished again in 6^th place.  In round three things went much better.  Bobby was second on the start and remained in 2^nd behind Willie Elam #130 and finished in 2^nd place.  With a 6^th, 6^th and a 2^nd he didn’t have a chance of making it to the Last Chance Qualifier so he was done for the day.

 Mike Schultz didn’t have to go through pre-qualifying.  He went straight to two rounds of qualifying for the X-Games.  In round one Mike didn’t get a good start and was back in the pack right from the beginning.  After six laps he finished in 7^th place.  In round two he again finished in 7^th place after an incident on the first turn after the start.  This put him out of any chance for the LCQ.  We will have to try again next weekend for qualifying at the X-Games.

 On Saturday Bobby and Mike both ran in the Semi-Pro Open class.  In round one Mike was pushed wide on the start and slotted into 5^th.  He began his charge to the front and was immediately into 4^th.  He continued his surge to the front and was going huge over the monster downhill jump.  By lap three he was into 2^nd place chasing down Tyler Olson #20.  At the checkered he took a 2^nd place finish in round one.  Bobby in round one also got a bad start and slotted into 5^th.  He was riding very hard trying to move up and did move up to 4^th on lap two.  On lap three he went off and ended up finishing in 7^th place. 

 In round two Schultz took a position on the starting line 2^nd from the inside.  Again he got a terrible start putting him back to 7^th on lap one.  He made an aggressive attempt to move through the pack and finished round two in 5^th place.  Bobby was third on his start in round two.  He was trying to chase down Matt Kern #309 but at the checkered finished in 3^rd place.

 Round three was better for Mike Schultz but again he got a terrible start.  In no time he moves up to 3^rd then 2^nd and is in hot pursuit of #621 Dale Brooks on the Ski-Doo.  Schultz on the attack makes the pass by Brooks to take over the lead on lap four.  He opens up a nice lead and goes on to take the win in round three.  LePage is on the line for his round three.  He is 4^th on the start chasing down Tyler Olson #20.  He is still 4^th until lap six when something happens to Tyler Olson and LePage inherits 3^rd and takes the checkered flag in 3^rd place.

 The three rounds are done and Mike makes the LCQ.  Bobby is not so fortunate and he is done for the day.  The LCQ is on the line and the green flag is up.  After the first turn at the top of the hill Schultz and Olson get into one another and that puts Mike at the back.  In an LCQ there is very little chance of making up that much real estate to make it to the cut-off for the final.  Unfortunately Mike finished in 10^th place.

 The first round of Pro Stock runs Saturday at 5:00 PM and Mike is in heat 1.  Again Mike gets pushed way wide on the start putting him in the back of the pack.  He races as hard as he can and at the checkered he finished in 7^th place.   Sunday is another day. 

 On Sunday, Mike runs his second and third round of Pro Stock and Bobby is running Semi-Pro Stock.  In round two of Pro Stock, Schultz is 6^th on the start.  Johnny Mold #280 is in hot pursuit behind Mike and works by him putting Mike back to 7^th.  Schultz continues his chase to catch Mold but finished round two in 7^th place.  Round three did not prove to be much better.  After another bad start Mike managed to work his way by Malinoski to move up to 6^th and finished round three in 6^th place.

 Bobby went to round one in Semi-Pro Stock.  Bobby gets a decent start and slots into 3^rd in round one.  He is back to 4^th on lap two and then 5^th on lap three.  However, he gets by Tinus #112 to move up to 4^th and takes the checkered flag in 4^th place. In round two of Semi-Pro Stock Bobby is 4^th off the start and quickly moves up to 3^rd on lap one.  On lap two he makes pass by Strandlund #346 and takes over 2^nd.  He is chasing down Ekre #525 but ran out of time to get by him and took 2^nd place at the finish.  In round three Bobby slots into 2^nd from the start and on lap one.  On lap two Ross Martin #837 gets by him putting LePage back to 3^rd.  LePage stays in 3^rd as he passed the checkered flag.  Bobby was the first alternate for the LCQ but everyone made it to the line so he didn’t get to run the LCQ.

 This was a tough weekend for us.  We had some issues that we are addressing.  Hopefully all of our bad luck is behind us now.  We look forward to our next race next weekend at Park X in Hill City, MN.  Thank you for supporting and sponsoring North Country Racing.

Kevin & Kathy Mayoros