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Rick's grandfather gave him his first go-kart when he was four years old. Since then, Rick has enjoyed an assortment of go-karts, 3 wheel ATVs, 4-wheel ATVs, motorcycles, & snowmobiles. He rides for pleasure every chance he gets.

Rick raced go-karts in 1988 at Springfield, IL. He won the championship for the Rookie class in 1988. During that season, he also broke the track record three times.

Rick entered stock car racing in 2000, running a full season in the Sportsman class at the S.A.R.A. sanctioned track in Highland, IL. He finished 7th in points in his class and was awarded the Sportsman Rookie of the Year for 2000.

Rick ran a full season at Highland Speedway in 2001. By posting two feature wins, sixteen top five finishes, and four top ten finishes, he earned 2nd in season points in the Sportsman Division.

2002 was a great season for Salty Dog Racing. Rick and his team would pick up 30 wins. Also, by popular vote, Rick would be awarded the coveted stlracing.com "Sportsman Driver of the Year".

In 2003, Rick Salter (The Salty Dog) joined the United Midwest Promoters (UMP) dirt late model division
Competing Friday nights at Godfrey Speedway
Finished the season 8th in points at Godfrey
Awarded "2003 Late Model Rookie of the Year" at Godfrey Speedway
Competed Saturday nights at Highland Speedway
Finished the season 4th in points at Highland
Awarded "2003 Late Model Rookie of the Year" at Highland Speedway
Finished 35th overall out of 1100 registered drivers in eleven states in the UMP National Series
Finished a remarkable 4th in the UMP National Rookie Points Standing

2004 was a year of transition for Salty Dog Racing.

Problems have been resolved and the team is now cemented into a cohesive unit.

Rick finished the season 4th in points at Belleclair Speedway.

He also finished the season 5th in points at Highland Speedway.

Rick was awarded 13th place nationally and 6th place in Illinois by United Midwest Promoters at the UMP banquet in Springfield, IL.

The 2005 season was definitely a series of highs and lows for the Salty Dog Racing team.

Rick raced 52 nights in 2005, mostly at Belle-Clair Speedway and Mt Vernon Speedway, with occasional trips to Highland Speedway, Tri-City Speedway, and Macon Speedway.

Out of the 52 nights, the team picked up two wins, 25 top-5 finishes, and 13 top-10 finishes. Most of the rest were our low points: blown motors, broken rear-ends, broken shocks, etc.

Rick finished the season 4th in points at Belleclair Speedway and an amazing 3rd at Mt Vernon Speedway.

The team also competed in four special events. We ran two Challenge of Champions races and two Summer National races, making the "A" feature in all events.

In the 2006 season, we debuted a new chasis design from Forward Racing Chasis in Mt. Vernon IL. Race McMahon of Forward Racing and Rick worked tirelessly on design modifications and set-ups to minimize the learning curve. Their efforts produced a chasis that performed beyond everyone's expectations.

Unfortuntely, mechanical problems plagued the team throughout the season, changing it from what we hoped as our best season to one of our worst.

Also, our engine builder, Dan Boeser, who has been with us since we started racing, decided to quit building engines for personal reasons.

At the end of the 2006 season, we teamed up with Jamey Swanson of Majerus Garage in Bellechester, MN. for our engines. We were extremely pleased with the engine he produced for the last few races of the season.

2007 Final Point Standings for Salty Dog Racing:

U.M.P. Late Model National Points - 47th

Tri - City Speedway - 5th

Highland Speedway - 1st

In 2007, Rick raced a total of

44 races and had 20 Top five finishes, 16 Top Tens, and 6 DNF's/Did not make the shows.

He did not win a feature event throughout the whole season and was able to win the Highland Speedway Late Model Championship.

It came down to the last night with seven points between Rick and the second place position. After a scare in the heats with the car, Rick was able to run the feature and finish in third place and clinch the title.

This is the First Late Model Championship Win for Salty Dog Racing.

At Tri - City Speedway Rick finished the season in a strong 5th place in points.

At the banquet for Tri - City Rick was also awarded the Fan Favorite Driver of the year.

Overall, it was a great season for Salty Dog Racing and Rick accomplished many of his goals this season. Hopefully, 2008 will be just as exciting and have just as many great accomplishments.