Dave Schultz, long regarded as one of drag racing's most intense competitors, didn't get to be drag racing's most successful Pro Stock Bike racer by accident. In his 23-year career, which ended with his untimely death from colon cancer on February 11, 2001, he was one of an increasingly rare breed of individuals in motorsports who could build, tune, maintain, and race with equal amounts of success. Throughout his career, those skills, coupled with a tenacious dedication and an unwavering will to win, helped Schultz amass 45 NHRA national event wins and six Winston championships,

Though he got his start racing on four wheels, in a Super Stock Mustang in the mid-1960s, it didn't take long for Schultz to adapt to motorcycle racing. He was quick to jump on the bandwagon when Pro Stock Bike became a full-fledged NHRA eliminator in 1985 and won his first national event at the Winston Finals that sear. In 1987, Schultz posted four wins and claimed his first national championship. Three more wins and another points title followed in 1988. He was also a force on the AMA/ProStar and IDBA circuits, where he won nine more season championships.

Throughout his career, Schultz had many memorable encounters with the late John Myers. Though bitter rivals, Schultz and Myers - who between them won every Pro Stock Bike championship from 1990 to 1996 - maintained a mutual respect. Together, they became the torchbearers for the class when Pro Stock Bike legend Terry Vance retired in 1988.

After finishing second to Myers in 1992, Schultz focused on regaining his crown in 1993, but his season nearly ended before it began. At the season opener at Houston Raceway Park, he was thrown from his bike at speed and slid more than 800 feet through the shutdown area. The accident left him with a broken right wrist. Bruised and battered, but undeterred, Schultz went on to win seven events and take his fourth NHRA title. He capped the year with a six-race win streak and a barrier-breaking 7.59, 181.85-mph run at the Keystone Nationals. It marked the first time that anyone ran in the 7.5s or over 180- mph in the Pro Stock Bike class.

Schultz once said of the 1993 season, "The compulsion to compete, coupled with the never-ending search for perfection, has been a driving force in my life. The 1993 season could not have been scripted to deliver higher highs or lower lows. Seldom, if ever, has a race team been more focused, worked harder, or overcome more adversity."

Never satisfied, Schultz outlined some definitive goals as he prepared for the 1994 campaign.

"To duplicate 1993 would be merely acceptable; doing less would be inconceivable," Schultz noted.

To that end, Schultz and then-engine builder Greg Cope ran roughshod over the class in 1994, winning nine of 11 races and compiling an astounding 40-2 record in eliminations (the two losses were on red-light starts). During the season he passed Vance to become NHRA's all-time winningest two-wheel racer.

For Schultz, second-best was never good enough. No component was overlooked and no stone is left unturned in his never-ending quest for performance. Schultz's bikes were the first to feature an onboard computer, full fairing, lowered steering head, dual eight-inch brakes, vacuum pump, and air in the frame. His greatest technological achievement might have come in 1999 when he led a team of designers and engineers to produce a highly detailed and realistic replica of the popular Suzuki Hayabusa bodywork. With the new body, Schultz recorded a 192-mph pass, the second-fastest run in the history of the class, at the 2000 Englishtown event.

Schultz took on his toughest foe in August of 2000 when he was diagnosed with colon cancer. Just days after completing a series of draining chemotherapy treatments, he mounted his Sunoco Suzuki at Houston Raceway Park and won the 45th - and no doubt most rewarding - national event title of his career. A man of tremendous faith, Schultz refused to let his illness interfere with his goals.

"When I first found out about the cancer, my doctors told me that I had better go out and ride because it could be the last time I ever raced," said Schultz. "While going through chemotherapy, I had John [Smith] on my bike, and he was doing a great job, but thinking that I might never get back on the bike was something that I couldn't stand. My only goal was to get back on the bike, somehow, some way."

Indeed, when it came to winning, Schultz proved that where there is a will, there is a way. -- Kevin McKenna

Comments from the panel:

"Disciplined in his everyday life and deeply religious, Dave Schultz became the icon of the Pro Stock Bike class with his string of championships and his longstanding rivalry with John Myers." -- Rick Voegelin

"One of the best in terms of dominance in the years the class has existed. Multi-time World Champion/event winner/record holder." -- Geoff Stunkard