Mike Schultz of Ft. Ripley, Minn., signed with North Country Racing and Polaris this past April to race Sno-Cross as a full-time Semi-Pro in the World Snowmobile Association (WSA) Worldwide Championship series. North Country Racing is based out of McHenry, Ill. with their race shop located in St. Germain, Wis. Mike is teamed up with Billy Marble from Eland, Wis. Billy races in the Sport classes in the WSA circuit. The equipment is maintained by Crew Chief Terry Egland from St. Germain, Wis. along with two excellent mechanics, Jeremi Smith and Joe Schiller. Mike will race at all 10 races on the WSA National schedule. He will also be racing at two other events, the esteemed World Championship Derby in Eagle River, Wis. and the prestigious ESPN Winter X-Games in Aspen. Mike qualified for the X-Games on Dec. 7 at Park X (Quadna Mountain) in Hill City Minn. During his heats Mike took a first in the first heat, second in the second heat and another first in the third heat making him the number one qualifier going into the final. Mike had a great start and after the turn at the top of the hill took the outside line that worked so well for him in qualifying and passed two top pros to take the lead. He led for three laps before Carl Kuster and Yugi Nakazawa got by him and Mike finished third. The top three finishers in that final qualified to go on to the X-Games in Aspen, Colo. which take place on Jan. 30, 2003. The 2003 Winter X-Games will be aired on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC. Mike has completed two rounds of the ten round series of the WSA Worldwide Championships. Thanksgiving weekend was the first round at Spirit Mountain in Duluth, Minn. Mike took first, second and first in qualifying in Semi-Pro Open and finished third in the final. In Semi-Pro Stock he qualified first, second and first in qualifying and took 11th in the final when he experienced a mechanical problem on the last lap while in second place. At round two at Assiniboia Downs in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Mike took first place in each of his three qualifying heats in Semi-Pro Open and was the number one qualifier going into the final. Mike was leading the final when he had a spectacular crash on the back section putting him out of the race and finishing in 11th place. In Semi-Pro Stock Mike again placed first in each of his three qualifying heats and again was the number one qualifier for the Semi-Pro Stock final. He again had a great start and slotted into second place. At the checkers he finished in second place in the final. Mike currently sits in third place overall in Semi-Pro Stock and fourth place overall in Semi-Pro Open in the WSA Worldwide Championship series. Mike’s teammate, Billy Marble has looked impressive in both WSA national races. In Duluth he went first, first and second in qualifying in Sport Stock. Billy had a crash in the final while in the lead putting him back to 10th. In Sport Open he was 8th after crashing, second and second in qualifying but didn’t get to the final. In Winnipeg, in Sport Stock Billy took second, second and first in qualifying, and crashed in the final. In Sport Open he took first, second and second in qualifying and placed second in the Sport Open final. North Country Racing is sponsored by Polaris Racing, Dodge Trucks, Woody’s Traction and Control, USI Skis, Sticker Dude Designs, Progrip Goggles, Recreational Stuff, the makers of Rec-Lift, HMK Boots, Sportech, Tek-Vest, R.A. Adams Enter-prises of McHenry, Ill., Rainbow Art of Chicago, Ill., Northwind Iron of St. Germain, Wis., Snow Shack of Merrill, Wis., Country Flaire Restaurant of St. Germain, Wis., Gohmann’s Super-Valu of Kimball, CNR Contractors of Ft. Ripley, Minn., Ritchie Propane of Minocqua Wis., R. L. Ryerson and Extreme Motorsports of Mt. Horeb, Wis. Stay up-to-date on the team’s results by logging onto the team Web site at www.northcountry racing.com.
