We just completed the fifth stop on the WSA Worldwide Championship series tour
and are at the halfway point in that series. Canterbury Park in Shakopee, MN
was the fifth stop and conditions were almost perfect. The temperatures were in
the 30’s, the track had plenty of snow and there was a good crowd on hand both
Saturday and Sunday.
In Semi-Pro Open Mike Schultz once again had three great rounds of qualifying.
He looked very fast all day on his mod. In round one he got off the line with a
charge and was up front immediately. Mike opened up a big lead to take a
commanding win in his first round. In round two Schultz was 3rd off
the line and by half a lap had shot by the two sleds in front of him to take a
huge lead. Mike went on to win round two. In round three Schultz and Malinoski
came off the line side by side battling for the lead. Malinoski squeaked out in
front with Schultz giving chase. At the end of six laps Schultz finished 2nd.
He went into the final as the #4 qualifier.
Bobby LePage did not fair very well in Semi-Pro Open. In his first round his
brakes caught fire putting him out of contention. In round two things did not
get better as he crashed on the first lap. He did finish in 7th
place after recovering from the crash. In round three he vowed redemption.
LePage shot off the line and slotted into 2nd and then settled into 3rd.
On lap three Olson comes off his sled giving LePage 2nd position.
LePage is on a charge after Scott Vig. On the last lap they battle side by side
each retaking the lead from the other. Finally LePage gets by Vig and makes it
stick and goes on to take the win in round three. However, 16 points will not
get one into the LCQ in this class.
The Semi-Pro Open final was on the line waiting for starters orders. The flag
is up and they are off. Schultz is up in the top five on the start and slots
into 5th. On the backstretch Schultz got into another sled breaking
Mike’s spindle causing the ski to turn all the way around backwards.
Unfortunately, his effort was over before it really started. Mike finished in
15th place. Schultz is currently in 3rd place in overall
points at the halfway mark for the season.
In Pro Stock, Mike was 7th in round one, 4th in round two
and 5th in round three. He was the first alternate for the LCQ. As
luck would have it one driver could not make it for the last chance qualifier so
Mike was slotted in. Unfortunately Mike had some bad luck in the LCQ so he did
not transfer to the Pro Stock final.
In Semi-Pro Stock round one Bobby LePage came off the line up front but went off
his sled on the backstretch putting him second to last. He fought hard to work
his way back up to the pack and started working on passing some sleds for
position. After five laps he finished in 4th place. In round two,
LePage was up front again off the line and immediately made a charge for the
lead and got it on lap one. He hung on for all five laps holding off Ross
Martin to take the win in round two. In round three LePage is midpack after the
launch off the starting line. He quickly moves up to 2nd chasing
Jeff Snow. LePage catches Snow finds a nice line around him taking over the
lead. At the checkers LePage takes another win. With six points Bobby makes
the final as the #9 qualifier. With the final on the line LePage waits for the
green. The green flag is waved and Bobby gets a decent start and slots in about
midpack. He starts working his way up through traffic but fell off again.
LePage finished 12th in the Semi-Pro Stock final.
While it was not the best weekend as far as results are concerned, Mike and
Bobby had some very good rounds. Our next stop is the Eagle River World
Championship Snowmobile Derby this coming weekend at the famous Eagle River
Derby Track. After that we head west for the X-Games as Mike Schultz received a
provisional spot to participate at the Winter X-Games in Aspen, CO. We thank
you and appreciate your support of North Country Racing.
