The wondering if and when it will ever happen mind game is finally over for Trevor Emond.

The veteran 42-year-old driver from Edmonton, Alberta, won the 3rd annual G.E.T. Rich at the Montana Gold 212 auto race late Saturday night at Montana Raceway Park.

“A 19-year monkey (on my back) is finally gone,” he said afterwards in the pits.

“That’s the first win (at Montana Raceway Park) in a super late model.”

Emond said before the race “we have a pretty good car, so we should be up front.”

In the end, that held true.

He started the 212-lap main event, however, in the 18th spot after the qualifying.

After the first 106 laps, he was sitting seventh.

He moved up to second behind Jeremy Doss of Upper Lake, Calif., with 80-plus laps remaining. He slipped underneath Doss heading into turn three with 24 laps to go and stayed ahead of the field for the remainder of the race.

“I came a long ways from the back,” he said.

“Hit the wall twice.”

Doss finished second and Kalispell’s Bodie Morton came in third.

Blake Williams of Yakima, Wash., was fourth and Braeden Havens of Spokane, Wash., finished fifth.

Last year’s Montana 200 winner — Jonathan Gomez of Twin Falls, Idaho, — was sixth.

Morton started in the 10th position while Doss was 15th in the 22-car field.

Only nine cars ran all 212 laps. The race ended with 11 cars on the track.

“The boys said they were closing in, but I wasn’t letting off,” Emond said of those final laps.

He said he felt the race was finally his “when the checkered (flag) moved.

“It worked great,” he said of his car.

But as he left the track, he said there could be “a bunch of bent valves” when it jumped out of gear.

Emond earned $5,000 for the victory along with a one-ounce gold bar.

Gold bars also went to the second- and third-place finishers.

There were only two re-starts for the final 106 laps. The first half of the race had seven.

Morton was involved in one of them, 63 laps into the race.

“Lost the ride side of the car,” he said.

“Me and Garrett Evans, we wheel-hopped. I climbed up on his car a little bit.”

Morton gradually worked his way back and briefly challenged Emond for the lead.

“These races ... that’s what the are,” he said of the door-handle to door-handle action.

“We got sent to the back twice.”

While this was the first race of the season for Emond, it was the second for Morton. He won at Stateline Speedway in Post Falls, Idaho, earlier.

“I knew the car was fast,” he said.

Morton finished fifth last year at the G.E.T. Rich race and wrecked the year before that.

Pole sitter Alex Lessor of Kalispell headed to the pits after completing the first 11 laps.

Gary Lewis of Snohomish, Wash., who was the front runner for almost 60 laps, also didn’t finish. The four-time Montana 200 winner did not make it back to the track for the re-start of the final 106 laps.

“Broke a rocker arm in the motor 10 laps before the break,” he said.

“Didn’t want to risk hurting the motor any more.”

It was also another frustrating outcome for Lewis.

“We’re trying to get some wins,” he said.

“Been having some bad luck.”

Steering troubles at Evergreen forced Lewis to park it after he was running up front.

He was involved in a crash a few weeks ago when a car behind him did not see the caution flag “drove up and hit the car.” He was contending in that race.

Most of the drivers at the G.E.T. Rich will be back next month for the 24th annual Montana 200 on July 19.

The super late models shared the track with the hornets and bombers.

Alex Mehall won the heat race and main event in the hornets.

Wes Miljies did the same in the bombers.

Racing continues Saturday night with the hobby stock 50. Super stocks and hornets will also be racing.

3rd Annual G.E.T. Rich

at the Montana Gold 212

Saturday

At Montana Raceway Park

Super Late Models

Main Event (212 laps)

1. Trevor Emond (212); 2. Jeremy Doss (212); 3. Bodie Morton (212); 4. Blake Williams (212); 5. Braeden Havens (212); 6. Jonathon Gomez (212); 7. Austin Reed (212); 8. Kelly Admiraal (212); 9. Giles Thornton (212); 10. Clint Habart (211).

11. Nicole Behar (211); 12. Agni Howell (186); 13. Dave Garber (176); 14. Gracin Raz (131); 15. Gary Lewis (106); 16. Cory Wolfe (106); 17. Garrett Evans (106); 18. Mitch Kleyn (105); 19. Brandon Sickler (94); 20. Tim Johnson (50); 21. Shelby Thompson (30); 22. Alex Lessor (11).

Qualifying

1. Alex Lessor, 13.055; 2. Kelly Admiraal, 13.112; 3. Gracin Raz, 13.151; 4. Nicole Behar, 13.172; 5. Giles Thornton, 13.183; 6. Gary Lewis, 13.184; 7. Jonathon Gomez, 13.195; 8. Shelby Thompson, 13.205; 9. Braeden Havens, 13.206; 10. Bodie Morton, 13.207.

11. Agni Howell, 13.216; 12. Blake Williams, 13.230; 13. Austin Reed, 13.241; 14. Dave Garber, 13.251; 15. Jeremy Doss, 13.259; 16. Cory Wolfe, 13.277; 17. Garrett Evans, 13.340; 18. Trevor Emond, 13.354; 19. Mitch Kleyn, 13.370; 20. Brandon Sickler, 13.474; 21. Tim Johnson, 13.507; 22. Clint Habart, 13.693.

Hornets

Heat Race (15 laps)

1. Alex Mehall; 2. Chris Semler; 3. Kaden Stinger; 4. Paul Basler; 5. Brian Gailey; 6. Terrie Siefke; 7. Slater Ream; 8. Dennis Galloway; 9. Katrina Knutson.

Main Event (25 laps)

1. Alex Mehall; 2. Kaden Stinger; 3. Paul Basler; 4. Terrie Siefke; 5. Brian Gailey; 6. Bruce Semler; 7. Slater ream; 8. Dennis Galloway; 9. Katrina Knutson.

Bombers

Heat Race (10 laps)

1. Wes Miljies; 2. Troy Pilgeram; 3. Jon Davisson; 4. Eli Buckmiller.

Main Event (15 laps)

1. Wes Miljies; 2. Troy Pilgeram; 3. Jon Davisson; 4. Eli Buckmiller.