When Rick Schulz’s father decided to quit racing after the 1987 season, he decided it was time to put his son behind the wheel.
“My dad was a racer, and I pitted for him,” Schulz said. “He quit, and decided, ‘we should maybe put you in the car.’ He put me in the car, and that’s where we started from.”
Now 33 years later, Schulz, of Horace, is still behind the wheel, driving the #4 IMCA Stock Car at Norman County Raceway in Ada and Red River Valley Speedway in West Fargo. He’s one of the consistent top competitors in the class locally.
He started his career in the Dakota Modifieds in 1988. He raced in the modifieds for a while and also raced in the super stocks in the mid 1990s.
After taking several years off, the 58-year-old Schulz came back in 2007 in the Wissota Street Stocks. He moved into the IMCA Stock Cars in 2017.
“It’s a fun class with good guys in it,” Schulz said. “It’s a good race car. It’s not super pricy, but it has some race parts. It sounds like a real race car. It looks like a street car and I like that style.”
In 12 starts this year, he’s finished in the top five eight times with three runner-up finishes. He is fourth in points at Norman County Raceway and fifth in the points at RRVS.
“It’d be nice to win a feature,” Schulz said for his season outlook.
Since moving into the IMCA Stock Car class in 2017, Schulz has compiled 16 feature wins, including six a year ago. Between him and his teammate Todd Heinrich of Fargo, nine feature wins were recorded.
“We had a phenomenal year last year. Between the two cars, we had nine different feature wins,” Schulz said. “We work together and bounce ideas off of each other. Both cars are in my shop and we do everything together. Our shop got nine feature wins.”
He won a track title in Glyndon in the Wissota Street Stocks. But he’s been close on several other occasions.
“I’ve been runner-up I don’t know how many times,” Schulz said.
Schulz, who works for the railroad in the signal department, enjoys the challenge of racing.
“It’s the fun and accomplishment, to see if you can make it go a little bit faster than the next guy,” Schulz said.
Driver Profile
Rick Schulz
IMCA Stock Car #4
Residence: Horace, N.D.
Age: 58
Sponsors: Sanders Metal Products, Pro Landscapers, Mathern Cattle, Bernath Recycling, Desserts by Mac, Schulz Engine and Machine, AJ Construction, Thomas Transport, Mike Honcho Tire Service, Fargo Brewing
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