Donny Schatz celebrates after winning Saturday night’s 33rd annual Kings Royal for the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series. It marks his third win in the prestigious Sprint Car event. Photo: Eldora Speedway
It has been nearly a decade since he last stood in victory lane at the Kings Royal, but Donny Schatz looked like a natural as he was crowned King Donny XXXIII – his third Kings Royal title since 2007 – on Saturday night at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.
Schatz who drew number 15 in the qualifying pill draw and was looking to get his 15th World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series victory of the season had the luck on his side, he just needed the hard work to push him through – and that’s exactly what he and his team did.
“This is unbelievable,” Schatz said. “It’s been a challenge here all weekend and it’s one of them places, we felt like we’ve been good at the Royal and we’ve maybe just done the wrong things. But not tonight. We were awesome all night. These guys got the car qualified well, got through the Heat, the car was awesome in the Heat races. It’s such a blast.”
The $50,000 win comes as Schatz and his No. 15 Bad Boy Off Road/Chevrolet Performance team finds its stride and rolls through the critical ‘Month of Money.’ Since June 1, Schatz has racked up eight series wins and built up a 186 point lead in the championship standings over second place Brad Sweet.
Schatz, who finished both the Jokers Wild and Knight Before the Kings Royal at Eldora in second, credited his Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing team for helping put him in position.
“I know I get to stand here but this race team is what wins these races,” Schatz said. “These guys are incredible in what they do. You can’t say enough about them. They are the ones that need to be wearing this uniform. They are the ones responsible for making that racecar.”
Kerry Madsen kicked off the night with the qualifying quick time but under the special Kings Royal format, it was the Heat races that were critical for the night. With a five car inversion, Schatz, who qualified fourth, was in the middle of the pack of his Heat race but battled forward to take the win.
On the initial start of the 40-lap feature, it was second-place starter Brian Brown who jumped out to the early lead. Brown though had his hands full immediately with three-time Kings Royal champion Sammy Swindell. Swindell battled Brown with intense pressure through the first eight laps and then found a line around on lap nine.
Swindell’s lead was short-lived though as a hard-charging Brad Sweet battled past Brown for third and then set his sights on Swindell. As the two drivers worked to complete lap 12, Sweet cleared the No. 1 Big Game Treestands car off of turn four.
But like the leader before, Sweet shortly had company with Schatz and Christopher Bell.
“We were a little too good, too early,” Sweet said. “I was smiling in the first 20 laps when we drove to the lead there. But I know how long this race is and I didn’t get through lapped cars there in the beginning. Slipped my tires a few times and Donny and (Christopher Bell) got by me. Once they had the position on me, I thought they were a little bit better at the end.”
With Schatz around on lap 20, Bell tried to make a move but, while driving second, got into the turn four wall, briefly climbed it and caught the fence before settling on track. A red flag later, Bell’s night was done.
On the restart, it was Rico Abreu on the move in his No. 24 Abreu Vineyards car. He threw the slider on Schatz into turns one and two but Schatz held him off. Through the closing laps, Abreu shortened the distance to Schatz and with just two laps remaining, he made a last ditch effort to get around the No. 15, pulling even with Schatz off of turn four, but Schatz pulled away, scoring his 15th victory of the season.
“I figured (Rico) had to be close,” Schatz said. “(Kerry Madsen) was on the top and someone else was on the bottom and I tried to float through the middle there of one and two but I just couldn’t keep the tires underneath me like I knew I could, so I knew someone was coming. Rico is a hell of a racer, he’s going to give it his all, all of the time. I knew I was going to have to do what I could. I knew I missed the corner and that probably gave him a real good shot to get close but standing here, we’re going to enjoy the hell of out of this.”
Abreu, who finished behind Schatz in third the two previous nights at Eldora, said he has to get smarter at the end of the races to make sure he is in contention.
“We’ve been right there putting ourselves in position, it’s just baby steps that separate the men from the boys in winning these races,” Abreu said. “Paul Silva, Trevor, Matt, Bubba, they all do a great job preparing this race car and it builds a lot of confidence in the last few weeks, how competitive we’ve been.
“Donny’s right there, he’s the guy to beat every night. It makes you race a lot harder, it makes you think a lot smarter. Getting around him, watching him race. That’s why he’s on the podium.”
For Sweet, his finish was a good step forward after he and his No. 49 Ollie’s Bargain Outlet team struggled in the opening nights at Eldora. He said, ultimately, he was too good, too early in the night’s feature event.
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“I was smiling in the first 20 laps when we drove to the lead there,” Sweet said. “But I know how long this race is and I didn’t get through lapped cars there in the beginning. Slipped my tires a few times and Donny and Bell got by me. Once they had the position on me, I thought they were a little bit better at the end. The way the weekend went, it’s nice to be up here on the podium and actually contending for the Kings Royal.”
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series returns to action Tuesday at Lernerville Speedway for the $25,000-to-win Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup.
For more info on the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series, visit WoOSprint.com.
World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series
Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio
Kings Royal – July 16, 2016
1. 15-Donny Schatz
2. 24-Rico Abreu
3. 49-Brad Sweet
4. W20-Greg Wilson
5. 21-Brian Brown
6. 2-Shane Stewart
7. 9-Daryn Pittman
8. 41-Jason Johnson
9. 83-Joey Saldana
10. 18-Ian Madsen
11. 5-David Gravel
12. 1-Sammy Swindell
13. 49X-Tim Shaffer
14. 7-Paul McMahan
15. 29-Kerry Madsen
16. 19M-Brent Marks
17. 11N-Randy Hannagan
18. 7S-Jason Sides
19. 10H-Chad Kemenah
20. 71-Jamie Veal
21. 14-Christopher Bell
22. 33-Danny Lasoski
23. 1B-Dale Blaney
24. 17W-Bryan Clauson
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