The Vault
“YEAH SCHULTZ! BOO SCHULTZ!”
Posted on: Tuesday April 19, 2022
John Schultz at speed at Wisconsin International Raceway in Kaukauna, Wisconsin in the early 1970s. (Pete Vercauteren photo)
(The following is a chapter from the 2015 release “Life In The Past Lane – a history of stock car racing in northeast Wisconsin from 1950-1980” Chapter 13 titled “Yeah Schultz Boo Schultz!”)
Shawano Speedway track announcer Jerry Rhode used to whip the crowd of 3,000 rabid race fans into a frenzy with his “Yeah Schultz, Boo Schultz!” chants over the rustic p.a. system in the late 60s early 70’s.
The raucous crowd made so much noise the driver they were referring to – Underhill’s John Schultz, could hear the loud crowd even while at speed on the fabled, half-mile, clay oval. “When you were out in the lead by yourself you could hear it when you went whizzing by the grandstand – even with the cars running at speed and your helmet on,” said Schultz, a three-time track champion in the 1960’s. “One time I remember Jerry even said “let’s make so much noise so they can hear us all the way over in Cecil.”
Schultz, who turned 75 when this book went to print, cut his teeth turning wrenches as a young man at Quast Auto Salvage in Berry Lake, near Gillett. “I worked for Lee Quast and that’s where it all began,” recalled Schultz. “That was around 1952 and 1953. Shawano’s half mile wasn’t even running then. They had raced on the quarter mile prior to that but they shut it down for a while. They would have IMCA races during the fair on the half mile horse track once a year but that was about it.”
Schultz scoured the junkyard and built his first race car – a ’55 Ford. “I maybe had $300 total invested in that car at the time,” said Schultz. “You could make that money back during the course of the year if you didn’t wreck.”
A little-known fact is that Schultz’s first actual race never took place in his home state of Wisconsin. The year was 1956.
The car was a ‘37 Plymouth Coupe. The car number was 90. “My first ever race was at the U.P. state fair up in Escanaba, Michigan,” said Schultz. “It paid $500 to win, which was a ton of money back then.” Schultz led every lap got taken out on the final circuit and wound up with second place money. “I was the only Wisconsin guy there and the locals didn’t take too kindly to that.”
Later that year, still very much a greenhorn behind the wheel, Schultz began towing his coupe to tracks like De Pere and Apple Creek. He raced under the Fox Valley Racing Association banner at that time. “There was even a ¼ mile dirt track just north of Lena called Knappes Speedway that we raced at,” said Schultz. “I think the track only ran four or five years after I started racing there.”
Shawano was back up and running again in the late 1950’s. “De Pere had been up and running and Shawano was starting to draw guys like Earl Ness from Green Bay and Bucky Wagner from Shawano pretty consistently,” said Schultz. The cars remained crudely constructed. “When I first started racing it wasn’t even mandatory to have a roll bar. I raced in a t shirt. We had no firesuits. Safety wasn’t really a concern. Gas tanks were in behind us. Nothing really was safe but we thought we were at the time.”
Schultz was part of a group of local drivers who formed the Wolf River Racing Association (WRRA). The club helped open up weekly racing at the Outagamie County Fairgrounds in Seymour. Among the officers were Schultz, Greenville’s Bob Bennett, New London’s Roger Paul and Johnny Beyers and Bear Creek’s Cliff “Squeak” Miller.
The decision to form the WRRA was at least, in part, political. “It was forced in reaction to KK opening up half mile dirt on Friday nights,” said Schultz. “We were drawing a lot more people and were paying more money. Those guys at the Fox River Valley club were gonna run Saturdays against us. That’s why we formed the WRRA.”
The move was viewed by the Shawano area drivers and the WRRA as a very hostile move to attempt to run against them. “There were some drivers who would protest and sit at Doc Ebbens bar in Shawano on Saturdays and not race,” said Schultz. “KK built that half mile dirt track at that time to take the cars and the fans away from Shawano. That was their master plan. The money at the times was on the half miles because it drew bigger crowds. Their plan didn’t work.”
When the Fox Valley boys like JJ Smith and Jerry “Medina” Smith began showing up at Shawano, the sparks began to fly. Schultz and the WRRA faithful felt the need to defend what they felt was their “home turf” from these Fox Valley “invaders.” Fans ate it up and could not get enough of the rivalries.
The intense rivalry between the Fox Valley drivers and the WRRA gang came to a head one night late in the season in 1969. “JJ (Smith) had a Hemi and Medina (Smith) had a Ford 427 (c.i. engine),” said Schultz. “I had a ‘57 Ford with a little bitty 312 c.i. engine,” said Schultz. “I got third fast time that night and I won the fourth heat. They couldn’t catch me.”
During the feature, Schultz was leading and he said Medina spun him out. “So I waited on the backstretch for him to come around and I took him out and we both went through the north turn fence,” said Schultz. The drivers nearly ended up on state highway 29.”
Afterwards tempers flared. Fists were clenched. Threats were exchanged. The crowd soaked up every bit of it. “Jerry and I had words and I had some fans come out of the grandstand and were mouthing off a bit and came down there by us,” said Schultz. “I took Jerry out because he took me out. I had the lesser car as far as horsepower and I could get around the corners that much faster. I could have beaten them and back then, it would not have looked good for the Fox Valley guys to get beat by a local up at Shawano.”
The Monday following the melee Schultz telephoned Medina Smith. “We both each explained our situation and why we did it,” said Schultz. “It was an apology I guess. We had a little bit better understanding after that phone call I guess.” Schultz paid the price. He was barred for racing at Shawano for one calendar year. The flagman back then was “Mac” MacDonald. “The fairboard didn’t say much but they did bar me for a year,” said Schultz. “It was towards the end of the season of 1969 because after that I went and ran USAC a couple of years later.”
The plaque John Schultz was awarded by USAC for his most improved driver award in 1973.
Schultz had been the big dog at Shawano through the 1960’s. He was the track champion from 1964 through 1966 and was a top three points man the three following years. “Guys like Ted Peters and that all jumped on the late model bandwagon then because they were tired of chasing John Schultz around because they couldn’t beat me,” boasted Schultz.
Off the track Schultz had a family to take care of and they had built a ’65 Ford they were going to build at the Milwaukee Mile.
John’s brother Jerry Schultz had raced and John spent the off season building a motor for Jerry’s late model ride. “I was sitting in the Airport Bar in Shawano and Ron Anderson and I struck up a friendship of sorts,” said Schultz. “He asked me if I wanted to get back into racing because I was just gonna quit,” said Schultz. “We bought an old Nova from Marlin Walbeck from the Wausau area. We towed it back to Shawano, put a Chevelle body on it and ran that at Shawano some nights another year after the suspension.”
After that John and Ron Anderson talked with Bert Anderson who had Bert Anderson Chevrolet at the time. “In 1971 we built a Monte Carlo and went USAC racing full time,” said Schultz. “Back then USAC, I think was bigger than NASCAR. NASCAR didn’t market their drivers like they do now. What we were doing was a pretty big deal back then in my opinion.”
USAC hosted races on dirt and asphalt ovals of all sizes. “Overall I did best on the dirt tracks, especially the bigger mile tracks,” said Schultz. “I mean we were racing against AJ Foyt, the Unser brothers, guys like Butch Hartman, Bay Darnell, Don White, Jack Bowsher. They treated me pretty well overall. We all looked out for one another. If a guy needed a part or had a problem at the track they were always looking out for one another.”
The USAC arrangement between Schultz and Anderson was Anderson owned the cars, which were built by Schultz. Schultz also built the powerplants for his racers. While he was racing Schultz held down a full-time job working for Schneider National Bulk.
They would race at tracks like the Milwaukee Mile, Knoxville, Iowa, Pocono, Pennsylvania, Indianapolis, Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. “I was more like an independent and way underfunded compared to those other guys because they got a lot of factory support which we didn’t get,” said Schultz. “My best finish was a second down at the mile dirt track in Indianapolis.”
Schultz said he was a victim of USAC politics “a couple of times” when it came to things like finishing orders, lineups after yellows, etc. “There were a few times we got boned and then my wife started keeping track of stuff,” said Schultz. Schultz ran the USAC circuit from 1971 to 1977, earning 10th in points and the most improved driver award in 1973.
Schultz had different numbers over his career. “I started with 32 when we were in USAC but the following year after we started Bert or Ron didn’t request that number in time,” said Schultz. “In USAC you had to reserve your number. I think Harold Fair got it. So, we took number 30.”
After his 10th place points finish in ‘73 he earned the number 10 for the 1974 season. “Back then you could run whatever number you earned in points that following year – that’s why we switched to the 10,” said Schultz.
On the road the travels could at times be costly. “We couldn’t afford to pay the crew guys, but we’d take care of the pit passes for them,” said Schultz. “At the big tracks like Milwaukee Firestone would sponsor sets of tires for free after the first set. But towards the end it started to fall apart. I ran against guys like Rusty Wallace and Joe Ruttman in USAC as I was getting out of it that last year in 1977.”
John Schultz poses with author Joe Verdegan in 2015.
The final Monte Carlo Schultz ran in USAC they wound up selling to Bob “Crooks” Schultz out of the Fox Valley. “Overall, I really enjoyed my USAC experience,” said Schultz. “Got to meet some great guys like Ray Bolander, Russ Peterson and others out of the Milwaukee area. It was neat stuff.”
USAC ruled many parts of their program with an iron fist. “You actually had to get permission to run non-sanctioned races, even on off nights when you were a USAC member,” said Schultz. “So that’s when sometimes these guys would bring their USAC cars up and run at Shawano and De Pere on occasion.”
After his stint in USAC Schultz served for a few seasons as a tech inspector at Shawano. He also ran a Boyce late model chassis sparingly for a while. “It was a car Bert bought for Gene Wheeler and we ran it once in a while at Seymour, Shawano and De Pere,” said Schultz. “Bert built the car and I basically maintained it.”
Years later Schultz ran some old timer’s races at Shawano. “They had three of ’em, and I won every one of them,” said Schultz. “I remember driving MJ car for the first one.”
Schultz now spends his retirement golfing with his brother Jerry and working out in his shop. “It was a ton of fun, and I don’t have any regrets.”
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