Donny Schatz celebrates after winning Saturday night’s King’s Royal at Eldora Speedway. Photo: Trent Gower
Donny Schatz put together at perfect drive in the 40th edition of the coveted Kings Royal for the World of Outlaws NOS Sprint Car Series at Eldora Speedway in Roosburg, Ohio.
Schatz led every single circuit of the 40-lap feature on his way to the sixth win in the event.
The 46-year-old is now only a single Crown away from matching Steve Kinser’s record count of seven Kings Royal triumphs. The victory also brought him a $175,000 payday – equaling the largest payday he’s earned behind the wheel. Another noteworthy number is 13, which is now how many six-digit paychecks the Fargo, North Dakota has collected in his career.
For Schatz and his Tony Stewart/Curb Agajanian Racing team who’ve combatted struggles as of late, the win was especially rewarding and made the emotion swell for Schatz.
“I think it’s the adversity lately” said a choked up Schatz when discussing what felt different about this Crown. “We’re not performing the way we want, and tonight we did. These guys brought a car down from upstairs with a two-year-old motor there. Obviously, it runs pretty damn good.
“We tried a lot of different stuff this week. We came here in May, and we were really good, but the racetrack is different. It just takes everything you can get. These guys just kept digging. There isn’t anybody in this pit area that wants to run seventh, eighth, 12th, 16th, but we’ve done that. Tonight, I don’t know what you say. I guess the stars lined up.”
A 24th-place qualifying effort positioned Schatz third in the lineup for the sixth Heat Race. At the start of the Heat, he immediately moved into second. But Schatz knew he needed more as winning the 10-lap bout would put him on the pole of the feature, and running second would’ve slotted him 12th. Schatz secured the pole by muscling around Aaron Reutzel for the top spot on lap one.
The feature went about as smooth as possible for the 10-time World of Outlaws champion. Schatz grabbed the lead when the green flag flew and hardly even faced a challenge. The only potential obstacle to confront was the way the day’s weather impacted the track with morning and afternoon rain providing plenty of moisture and a lightning-fast surface.
“I don’t remember a race even being that pace,” Schatz said. “That was wide open for 40 laps. I just told Scuba (crew chief, Steve Swenson) I don’t know if there’s much left there. I used every bit of it. Normally that’s not the case here, but we got that rain, and it’s been a little bit choppy in spots all week. I don’t think it was as bad as it is, but when you get behind someone in dirty air, and you hit that stuff, I mean I did it last night. That’s why I wasn’t going to try to tear the car up. You don’t want to try to do that. We want to race for championships. Tonight doesn’t really count for that, but it sure does count for a $175,000 payday and this pretty damn cool crown.”
Brent Marks finished in second, with David Gravel in third, Sheldon Haudenschild in fourth, and NASCAR Cup Series regular Kyle Larson in fifth.
Rico Abreu, James McFadden, Carson Macedo, former NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne, and Michael Kofoid rounded out the top 10.
The World of Outlaws NOS Sprint Cars next travel to BAPS Motor Speedway in York Haven, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, July 19. For more information, visit WorldofOutlaws.com.
World of Outlaws NOS Sprint Car Series
Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, OH
King’s Royal – July 15, 2023
1. 15-Donny Schatz
2. 19-Brent Marks
3. 2-David Gravel
4. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild
5. 57-Kyle Larson
6. 24-Rico Abreu
7. 83-James McFadden
8. 41-Carson Macedo
9. 9-Kasey Kahne
10. 83JR-Michael Kofoid
11. 15H-Sam Hafertepe, Jr.
12. 7S-Robbie Price
13. 42-Sye Lynch
14. 11-Cory Eliason
15. 9P-Parker Price Miller-DNF
16. 71-Shane Stewart-DNF
17. 55-Kerry Madsen-DNF
18. 39M-Lance Dewease-DNF
19. 18-Giovanni Scelzi-DNF
20. 21H-Brady Bacon-DNF
21. 8-Aaron Reutzel-DNF
22. 1M-Landon Myers-DNF
23. 13-Justin Peck-DNF
24. 39-Hunter Schuerenberg-DNF
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