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Busy Kings Royal at Eldora.
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.
THE 24TH ANNUAL KINGS ROYAL BY CROWN ROYAL
WoO Sprints - 52 cars
Fast Time: Kenny Jacobs 13.687
Heat 1: Craig Dollansky, Jason Meyers, Jac Haudenschild, Steve Kinser, Kenny Jacobs, Brandon Martin, Chad Blonde, Lee Jacobs, Rob Chaney
Heat 2: Chad Kemenah, Lucas Wolfe, Brian Paulus, Chad Hiller, Ed Lynch, Jr. Justin Henderson, Kevin Huntley, Bill Rose, Bruce White
Heat 3: Brand Wimmer, Joey Saldana, Dean Jacobs, Paul May, Tony Bruce, Jr., Jason Sides, Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Barry Ruble, Brock Mayes
Heat 4: Kerry Madsen, Danny Smith, Dale Blaney, Tim Shaffer, Dustin Daggett, Shane Stewart, Randy hannagan, Brooke Tatnell
Heat 5: Jason Solwold, Terry McCarl, Paul McMahan, Jason Martin, Ryan Myers, Jimmy Stinson, Lee Stark, Stevie Smith
Heat 6: Dony Schatz, Jeremy Campbell, Daryn Pittman, Greg Wilson, Danny Lasoski, Brian
Ellenberger, Dion Hindi, Brian Carlson
C-Main: Randy Hannagan, Kevin Huntley, Chad Blonde, Lee Jacobs, Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Dion Hindi, Bill Rose, Rob Chaney, Brian Carlson, Brock Mayes, Barry Ruble, Bruce White, Lee Stark
Dash: Donny Schatz, Jason Solwold, Kerry Madsen, Chad Kemenah, Brandon Wimmer, Craig Dollansky
B-Main: Steve Kinser, Danny Lasoski, Chad Hillier, Greg Wilson, Jason Martin, Shane Stewart, Paul May, Dave Bruce, Jr., Jimmy Stinson, Chad Blonde, Dustin Daggett, Kevin Huntley, Jason Sides, Brian Ellenberger, Ryan Myers, Brandon Martin, Randy Hannagan, Lee Jacobs, Justin Henderson, Bill Rose, Kenny Jacobs, Ed Lynch, Jr.
A-Main: 1) Donny Schatz 2) Jason Meyers 3) Terry McCarl 4) Jason Solwold 5) Joey Saldana 6) Paul McMahan 7) Craig Dollansky 8) Jac Haudenschild 9) Chad Kemenah 10) Brian Paulus 11) Danny Lasoski 12) Dale Blaney 13) Danny Smith 14) Steve Kinser 15) Daryn Pittman 16) Greg Wilson 17) Jeremy Campbell 18) Brandon Wimmer 19) Chad Hiller 20) Lucas Wolfe
21) Dean Jacobs 22) Ed Lynch Jr. 23) Kerry Madsen 24) Kenny Jacobs
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NRA Sprint Invaders - 37 cars
Consy 1: Darren Long, Ron Blair, Mike Miller, Scott Carter, J.R. Stewart, Andy Conley, Cory Seeling, Mark Grabill, Tim Perry, Aaron Shaffer
Consy 2: Dwain Leiber, Kevin Huntley, Ben Rutan, Tim Allison, Luke Hall, Greg Dallman, Adam Vonk, Chris Sloan, Randy Fusi, Bob Carman, Adam West, Jeremy Shambaugh, Lucas Wolfe
20-lap A-Main:
1)Dale Blaney 2)Phil Gressman 3)Kent Wolters 4)Jared Hortsman 5)Mike Brecht 6)Mike Dussell 7)Dwain Leiber 8)Kevin Huntley 9)Jeff Williams 10)Darren Long 11)Ron Blair 12)Ben Rutan 13)Scott Carter 14)J. R. Stewart 15)Nick Mulheim 16)Cory Seeling 17)Randy Fusi 18)Tim Allison 19)Luke Hall 20)Mike Miller 21)Bob Carman
KNIGHT BEFORE THE KINGS ROYAL
July 13, 2007
World of Outlaw Sprints - 49 cars
Fast Time: Kenny Jacobs 14.007
Heat 1: Joey Saldana, Kenny Jacobs, Jason Solwold, Jac Haudenschild, Brandon Martin, Shane Stewart, Kerry Madson, Rob Chaney, Tony Bruce, Jr., Barry Ruble, Paul May, Brian Paulus, Lee Stark
Heat 2: Tim Shaffer, Dale Blaney, Danny Lasoski, Jason Meyers, Randy Hannagan, Jason Martin, Danny Smith, Daryn Pittman, Lucas Wolfe, Brian Ellenberger, Bruce White, Brian Carlson
Heat 3: Terry McCarl, Donny Schatz, Greg Wilson, Chad Hillier, Dean Jacobs, Jimmy Stinson, Craig Dollansky, Chad Kemenah, Justin Henderson, Sam Hapertepe, Jr., Jason Sides, Lee Jacobs
Heat 4: Brock Mayes, Steve Kinser, Brooke Tatnell, Paul McMahan, Stevie Smith, Chad Blonde, Dusti Daggett, Jeremy Campbell, Brandon Wimmer, Ryan Myers, Bill Rose, Dion Hindi
C-Main: Lucas Wolfe, Daryn Pittman, Craig Dollansky, Tony Bruce, Jr., Chad Kemenah, Brian Paulus, Bill Rose, Lee Jacobs, Bruce White, Paul May
Dash: Kenny Jacobs, Steve Kinser, Donny Schatz, Terry McCarl, Tim Shaffer, Dale Blaney, Joey Saldana, Jason Meyers, Brock Mayes, Jason Solwold
B-Main: Shane Stewart, Kerry Madsen, Dion Hindi, Jimmy Stinson, Lucas Wolfe, Danny Smith, Dustin Daggett, Jeremy Campbell, Rob Chaney, Barry Ruble, Justin Henderson, Jason Sides, Brian Carlson, Sam Hafertepe, Jr., Ryan Myers, Jason Martin, Brian Ellenberger, Daryn Pittman
30-lap A-Main
1)Steve Kinser 2)Terry McCarl, 3)Donny Schatz 4)Jason Solwold 5)Jason Meyers 6)Joey Saldana 7)Danny Lasoski 8)Dale Blaney 9)Kerry Madsen 10)Daryn Pittman 11)Kenny Jacobs 12)Greg Wilson 13)Brock Mayes 14)Paul McMahan 15)Randy Hannagan 16)Shane Stewart 17)Jimmy Stinson 18)Craig Dollansky 19)Stevie Smith 20)Chad Hillier 21)Dion Hindi 22)Brooke Tatnell 23)Dean Jacobs 24)Tim Shaffer 25)Jac Haudenschild 26)Brandon Martin
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NRA Sprint Invaders - 34 cars
Fast Time: Darren Long 14.879
Heat 1: Jeff Williams, Dale Blaney, Darren Long, Jared Horstman, Mike Dussell, Jeremy Shambaugh, Bob Carman
Heat 2: Phil Gressman, Lucas Wolfe, Nick Mulheim, Mike Dunlap, Cory Seeling, Adam West, Brent Vonk, Andy Conley, Tim Perry
Heat 3: Dwain Leiber, Caleb Griffith, Tim Allison, Keith Dempster, Mike Miller, Randy Fusi, Mark Grabill, Daryl Turford
Heat 4: Mike Brecht, Luke Hall, Ron Blair, Kent Wolters, Greg Dallman, J. R. Stewart, Dave Miller, Glenn Styres
B-Main: Mike Miller, Mike Dussell, Greg Dallman, Cory Seeling, Andy Conley, J. R. Stewart, Adam West, Randy Fusi, Scott Carter, Brent Vonk, Bob Carman, Dave Miller, Tim Perry, Mark Grabill, Glenn Styres, Jeremy Shambaugh, Daryl Turford
20-lap A-Main:
1)Dale Blaney 2)Phil Gressman 3)Jeff Williams 4)Jared Horstman 5)Mike Brecht 6)Mike Dussell 7)Kent Wolters 8)Nick Mulheim 9)Tim Allison 10)Luke Hall 11)Greg Dallman 12)Mike Dunlap 13)Cory Seeling 14)Lucas Wolfe 15)Andy Conley 16)Caleb Griffith 17)Keith Dempster 18)Dwain Leiber 19)Mike Miller 20)Ron Blair
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