Schultz wire-to-wire winner

Rick Schultz can add another couple of milestone to his long racing career.

The 47-year-old Spokane body shop owner became the first driver in five years to lead from the green to checkered flag en-route to a victory in the fifth annual Idaho 200 late model stock car race Sunday at Stateline Speedway.

Schultz, driving the Community Home Lending/River City Body Monte Carlo, has raced since 1975.He¹s won a lot of races along the way, but called Sunday’s victory before some 2,500 sun-baked fans, “one of our biggest.”

The car Schultz drove was badly damaged in an earlier race this season and “we’ve struggled with it.”

That was hardly evident this weekend. He easily won his 100-lap NAPA Series qualifying race on Saturday afternoon.

Schultz finished ahead of John Gamble of Otis Orchards, Wenatchee’s Brent Harris and Spokane¹s Kevin Richards. For Gamble it was his second straight runner-up finish after having won the race in 2001 and 2002.

For Schultz Sunday’s victory was one of his biggest wins in years.

“We won the Fall Classic 10 or 15 years ago,” he recalled.

Divided into two 100-lap segments, this year’s Idaho 200 had the feel of two entirely different races, but with Schultz in command of both.

The first 100 laps offered more of a challenge for Schultz from the field of 24 starters. Not only was Gamble fighting for the lead, but also vying for the top spot were 2003 winner Darren Rupinski, Jimmy Johnson of Sumner, Wash. and Wenatchee’s Shane Mitchell. But one by one, with the exception of Gamble, the competition was sidelined.

Hayden, Idaho’s Rupinski was knocked out of the race trying to avoid Mike Hoover’s spinout on lap 38. He finished 22nd.

Johnson exited the race with overheating problems at the 100-lap mark and wound up 21st. Mitchell, who started 13th, moved as high as third place before he exited the race with a broken suspension part. He placed 17th.

The second half was pretty much a two-car affair with Schulz trying to fend off Gamble. If there was an advantage for Gamble, it was going into the corners he said. But Schultz was able to pull away in the straightaways.

“We were good in the same places (as Schultz),” Gamble said. “We were able to play with him but not pass him.”

The last 20 laps proved to be interesting for Schultz, who slowly felt his car’s handling going away.

Harris, who had finished second in a late-model race on his home track in Wenatchee on Saturday, drove to Stateline hoping to get into the main via the “last chance” race Sunday.

He charged from a 16th place start to third at the end of the first 100 laps. Harris opened eyes and made himself a contender when he clocked one of the best time trial laps of the day, a 13.12 trip around the quarter-mile oval.

“The car was awesome in the first 100 laps,” Harris said. Then the rear-end got hot and he had to get a bit conservative.

For surprise fourth-place finisher, Kevin Richards, his calling this weekend “emotional” was a huge understatement. His dad Roger passed away on Tuesday, but Richards knew his father would have wanted him to race.

It was both a mental and physical struggle for Richards who had his best finish ever in the Idaho 200.

“Saturday we crashed and Sunday we got a provisional and started 24th.

“Our crew worked until 1 a.m. fixing it (the car),” Richards said. “Usually we don¹t get to the end,” alluding to past strong starts, but mechanical problems that took Richards out of the race early.

Richards also took pride in the fact that Gamble drove his former car.

Other local top 10 finishers included Dan Garber(6th), Andy Brown (7th) and Brian Saling (10th).