Eldora Speedway | 13929
St Route 118 | New Weston | OH | 45348
For immediate news release e-mail: mail@eldoraspeedway.com
SCHATZ DOMINATES
KINGS ROYAL BY CROWN ROYAL
ROSSBURG,
OH (July 13 & 14) -- Eldora Speedway’s traditional
Kings Royal by Crown Royal weekend sort of played out like an
old cliché - ‘something old and something new,
while some things never changed’. The old was Steve Kinser
winning yet another World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint feature at
Eldora Speedway on Friday night in the traditional Knight Before
the Kings Royal, while the new was Donny Schatz breaking a Kings
Royal jinx to finally walk the steps to the fabled throne on
Saturday night. Completing the plot was Dale Blaney’s
back to back wins in the companion NRA (National Racing Alliance)
Sprint Invaders action.
Schatz
stole the spotlight Saturday night as he dominated the 52-car
field to wear the legendary crown and wear the robe significant
of a $50,000 Kings Royal by Crown Royal triumph at Eldora.
After
winning the Dash race which determined the first 6 positions
in the 40-lap Kings Royal finale, Schatz was unable to capitalize
on his pole starting position. Craig Dollansky shot into the
early lead as he powered around the high side of the steeply
banked one-half mile clay oval, while Schatz was looking for
a groove on the bottom side.
It took
four laps before Schatz found the key ingredient on the bottom,
and reeled in Dollansky to take the lead on lap 5, that he was
to hold to the finish. Once in front, Schatz was able to power
his Parker Stores sponsored winged Sprint Car wherever he wanted
to go - high and low.
Lapped
traffic came into play early on in a fast paced event that was
slowed by a single caution flag - that coming on lap 22 for
a stopped Kerry Madsen. It took Schatz less than 15 minutes
to earn $50,000.
The lapped
traffic failed to hinder Schatz, as his crew had the car working
to near perfection.
Jason
Meyers started seventh in the Kings Royal by Crown Royal and
wound up second. His march to the front began at th dropping
of the green flag, as he shot around defending champion Joey
Saldana, Brandon Wimmer and Chad Kemenah on the opening lap.
The progress was stalled for a bit, as he took until lap 22
to gain another spot, and that was as he got by Madsen for fourth.
His next victim was Jason Solwold and finally disposed of Craig
Dollansky, leaving only Schatz ahead of him. He was unable to
get that job done and had to settle for second.
Moving
from 11th to third at the finish was Terry McCarl in another
strong Eldora run, while Solwold turned in an impressive run
to finish fourth and Saldana came home fifth.
“This
is the Kings Royal,” shouted Schatz in victory lane. “You
only get to come around here once a year, and this was one that
we had never won. We’re just stoked about it, I think
it will be a thing where it will beign to sink in a little tomorrow.
As a race car driver, your job is to go out and win everything
regardless of what it is. It sure feels good, especially for
my team.”
As impressive
as Kinser was on Friday, it all went down the drain on Saturday,
as an ineffective qualifying run put him behind the eight-ball
right from the start. His Friday triumph was followed up with
a disappointing 14-place run on Saturday.
On Friday,
he rocketed past pole-sitter Kenny Jacobs and into the lead
at the dropping of the green flag to never look back. The only
tense moment came on lap five when a fast-moving Terry McCarl
actually dove under Kinser to take a brief lead that was negated
with a caution flag. On the restart, McCarl again showed his
nose around Kinser, but the 20-time WoO champion would have
nothing to do with that. In fact, if anything, it raised his
competition level one notch.
That meant
disaster for the balance of the field.
McCarl
continued to improve upon his Eldora showings with a solid runner-up
finish, while Schatz tinkered with some new chassis set-ups
to come home third. Jason Solwold and Jason Meyers completed
the top five.
Blaney
bested Phil Gressman each night in the NRA action, while early
race leader Kent Wolters finished third on Saturday night and
Jeff Williams was third on Friday.
