Winnipeg, Manitoba was the site of last weekend’s race, the third stop on our
2003-2004 race schedule. This was the second race of the ten race series at the
WSA Worldwide Championship. The snow was plentiful on the track but not much on
the ground. Saturday morning brought sunshine and a stiff wind out of the south
making it feel a lot colder than it looked.
Both Mike Schultz and Bobby LePage were in the X-Games qualifiers again this
weekend. Both Mike and Bobby were in the same heat in round one. After four
laps it was Schultz in 4th and LePage in 5th. In round
two Schultz did not have the best start and was in 6th on lap one and
5th by the start of lap two. After four laps Schultz finished in 3rd
place. LePage also did not get the best start and came out into 5th.
He remained in 5th throughout the race and finished round two in 5th
place. Schultz again did not get the greatest start and was in the mid to back
of the pack. On lap one he had moved up to 5th. On lap two he
continued his surge to the front and passed into 4th. By the end of
four laps Mike finished in 3rd place. LePage got a decent start and
slotted into 3rd on the start. He was pressured by #311 Ross Erdman
for his position but managed to hold off Ross to finish in 3rd
place. So with Mike’s 10 points and LePage’s 13 points both went on to the Last
Chance Qualifier.
With the LCQ on the line, the green was up and they were off. There was a huge
pile up in turn one on the start. Mike unfortunately was caught up in that pile
up. LePage managed to squeak by and slot into 5th. With a very
strong ride, LePage pushed by the 4th place sled and took over 3rd
on lap three. At the checkered it was #11 Thacker, #192 Jeff Snow, #244 Bobby
LePage, #6 Shane St. John and #837 Ross Martin going on to the back row of the
final.
The qualifying order for the lineup in the X-Games Qualifying final was #9
Kurtis Crapo, #47c Carl Kuster, #40 Kent Ipsen, #100 Earl Reimer, #781 Robbie
Malinoski, #280 Johnny Mold, #13 Jeff Gruhlke, #10 Aaron Christensen, #90 Brad
Pitlik, #85 Trevor John, #11 Paul Thacker, #192 Jeff Snow, #244 Bobby LePage, #6
Shane St. John, #837 Ross Martin. The racers are on the line waiting for the
green flag to fly. Only three go on to the final. Once green, it is John,
Kuster and Malinoski up front with Gruhlke and Reimer not far behind. LePage
got bottled up on the start and was in the back. After eight laps Trevor John,
Carl Kuster and Earl Reimer were the three to go on to Aspen, CO to participate
at the X-Games.
In Semi-Pro Open both Mike and Bobby had three great rounds. Schultz took 3rd
in his first round after starting second to last. He rode like a mad man and
finished in 3rd. LePage started in 4th place on lap one
of round one and after six laps took the checkered in 2nd place.
In round two of Semi-Pro Open Mike had a great launch off the line and came out
the first turn in 2nd place. He held 2nd and was running
down Aaron Christensen at the end of six laps but ran out of time. LePage had
an awesome start and slotted out in front immediately. He was pressured early
by #11 Paul Thacker but then opened up a decent lead and took 1st
place in his round two.
In round three of Semi-Pro Open LePage finished in 3rd place while
Mike took the checkered in 1st place after he got a nice start. Both
had 6 points going into the final.
Both Mike and Bobby made the Semi-Pro Open final directly with Schultz
qualifying 7th and LePage 9th. The Semi-Pro Open final
was on the line. On the launch it was fifteen sleds into turn one. Both were
mid pack on the start with Bobby falling to the back on lap one. Schultz was 10th
on lap one. Again he methodically picked off one at a time and worked his way
up to 7th by lap five the halfway point. Bobby in the meantime was
stuck in the back with no where to go. On the last lap Schultz worked his way
by Gruhlke to finish in 6th place. However, a disqualification in
tech moves Schultz up to 5th. LePage unfortunately finished in 13th
place.
Pro Stock round one was held on Saturday and Mike was up in heat five. Mike had
a pretty competitive heat with Blair Morgan, Kurtis Crapo, Matt Judnick, Noel
Kohanski to name a few. On the start Mike was 5th behind Morgan,
Crapo, Kohanski and Judnick. On lap five Mike managed to work his way by
Judnick to take over 4th and finished round one with a 4th
place finish. Round two Schultz finished in 3rd place behind
Kohanski and Mold. In round three Mike had the likes of Shaun Crapo, Carl
Schubitzke, Trevor John and Earl Reimer in his heat. However, on the start Mike
was 2nd on the start behind Schubitzke. Mike held off Crapo for five
laps when Crapo finally got by Schultz on lap six. At the checkered it was
Schubitzke, Crapo and Schultz in 3rd. Mike made the LCQ along with
Tate, John, Island, K. Crapo, Judnick, Gulla, Martin, Christensen and Hayden.
On the start Schultz was last out of the hole. He was chasing down Christensen
when Island and Crapo had an incident on the first turn and he inherited 7th.
However, at the checkered the top five going on to the back row were Gulla,
John, Martin, Tate, and Judnick.
In Semi-Pro Stock, Bobby had a great start and finished in 2nd in
round one. In round two LePage was 2nd on the start chasing Hentges
and being pursued by Erdman. Erdman finally went huge to get by LePage and #170
went by as well. At the finish LePage was in 4th place. In round
three LePage was 5th on the start. He did move up to 4th
and was trying to find a way by Ekre. At the checkered Bobby finished in 4th
place. He had accumulated 10 points. Bobby made the LCQ but ran into problems
and did not transfer to the final.
Things are starting to come around for us. Next weekend we are back at Park X
in Hill City, MN and look forward to a great weekend there. Thank you for
supporting and sponsoring North Country Racing.
