Annual 200 race filled with drama, excitement

The Montana 200 is the cornerstone of the summer racing season at Raceway Park in Kalispell, and Saturday night’s competition left little for the crowd to be disappointed about with hours of excitement and entertainment.

However, the same can not be said for the drivers. As is always the case in competition, there can only be one winner. This year, that honor went to Shane Mitchell, who took home the title in the 21st Annual Coors Light Montana 200 powered by Kalispell Toyota.

Like many drivers, Mitchell has had his share of bad luck at the Montana 200 with incidents that kept him out of the winners circle, including a run-in with Gary Lewis last year during the opening lap that caused a seven-car pile up on the track and left several cars damaged.

One of the cars hit in the wreck was Kalispell’s Bodie Morton. His No. 77 car had to be parked after completing just one lap because of the damage it sustained. Morton went on to become the 2010 Late Model Champion at Raceway Park, an honor acquired by garnering the most points in a season.

This year, Morton won the opening race of the season in Kalispell, and going into Saturday’s race he thought he would be able to bring his win total to two this season, but it was again not his year.

Morton started the race in 19th place and worked his way up to fourth. Then, just after breaking into the second 100 laps of the race, his car and the No. 42 car bumped into each other while racing side-by-side. Due to what officials deemed an infraction on both drivers’ parts, the two were sent to the back of the pack.

“We were racing side by side, and he sort of spun out and we collided. They decided it was my fault, but it wasn’t,” Morton said. “It’s frustrating, but maybe next year.”

The incident demolished Morton’s hope for the top-three finish that he felt his car was capable of achieving this year.

“It’s the same car we’ve had for awhile, but we just hit a set up that was really working. We were hitting some of the best speeds. This is two years in a row where we’ve hit some bad luck. We’re just waiting for the tides to turn. It’s not very often that you have a car that is doing that well and then you have something set you back. It kind of kicks you in the back.”

Morton and his No. 77 car finished the race in 16th place.

Saturday marked the seventh time that Morton, who was born and raised in Kalispell, has competed in the Montana 200.

“It’s a good, long weekend. You get a lot of racing in, even besides the actual 200,” Morton said. “I just like all that competition that comes to town. It’s fun to race against some of those bigger names.”

He said he enjoys the big race and doesn’t find many drawbacks to the larger format, though this year’s weather brought some challenges.

“It can get a little hot. Two hundred laps is a lot, and this year it seemed really hot out there,” Morton said. “I was ready to get out of the car at the end of this one.”

Morton, who has been racing cars since he was 18 years old, has always been fond of the sport.

“I’ve just always liked racing,” Morton said. “When I was a kid I raced BMX bikes. I have always just really liked the sport of racing. I really like the one-on-one competition.”

That passion made it even more meaningful for the 1994 Flathead High School graduate, who spent his summers growing up watching the races in Kalispell, to be named the Late Model Champion last year.

“That was really exciting. I have been wanting one of those for awhile,” Morton said. “It’s hard to get one of those actually.”

Morton, who is a caretaker for the Kalispell City Parks Department, puts a lot of time into the sport.

He competes in nearly every late model race in Kalispell and tries to race out of the area at least a couple of times each summer.

“It’s a lot of fun to get the car out of town and meet some other drivers.,” Morton said.

In fact, after Morton races in the Rumble in the Rockies over the weekend of Aug. 12 and 13 at Raceway Park, he is headed to Spokane for some out-of-area competition.

Results from the 21st Annual Coors Light Montana 200 powered by Kalispell Toyota

 1) Shane Mitchell; 2) Owen Riddle; 3) Gary Lewis; 4) Brandon Riehl; 5) Cameron Hayley; 6) Jason Fraser; 7) Jared Vorse; 8) Ryan Wells; 9) Jeff Jefferson; 10) Chris Eggelston; 11) Kelly Mann; 12) Jason Jefferson; 13) Eric Schmidt;14) Jonathan Gomez; 15) David Garber; 16) Bodie Morton; 17) Trevor Emond; 18) Agni Howell; 19) Alex Lessor; 20) Mark Owens; 21) Mike Longton; 22) Blake Williams; 23) Tim Elliott; 24) Chris Skelton; 25) Brian Levant; 26) Pete Harding.