Eldora Speedway track owner Tony Stewart stands in Victory Lane with Donny Schatz after Schatz won the $175,000-to-win 40th Annual Kings Royal on July 15. Stewart also owns Schatz’s No. 15 machine.
Submitted photo
A thread throughout Donny Schatz’ career is rising to the occasion. When the lights are brightest, Schatz never shies away from the stage. Instead, he summons the greatest of his talents.
That fearlessness of the moment continued on July 15 at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. The 10-time World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car champion put together at perfect drive in the 40th edition of the coveted Kings Royal. Schatz led every single circuit of the 40-lap feature on his way to a comfortable win.
Royal Sovereign Bobby Allen presided over the coronation as Schatz was crowned for the sixth time in his illustrious career. The 46-year-old is now only a single Crown away from matching “The King” himself — Steve Kinser’s — record count of seven Kings Royal triumphs. The victory also brought him $175,000 worth of spoils — 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, native 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 2-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, twelfth, sixteenth, but we’ve done that. Tonight, I don’t know what you say. I guess the stars lined up.”
The stars most certainly did align throughout the entire evening at “The Big E.” A 24th-place qualifying effort positioned him 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 1.
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 darn cool crown.”
Even with the tricky conditions, Schatz wasn’t impacted as he survived a bevy of restarts and sliced through traffic throughout the entire race. Early runner-up – David Gravel – showed him a nose on a couple restarts but ultimately couldn’t make a move to truly challenge the Carquest #15. Schatz took the checkered flag with a nearly four-second advantage.
“When you get in a race car and you go out and hot lap when you put your foot down, you kind of know if you’re going to be in the game or you’re not going to be in the game,” Schatz said. “The last three days, I don’t feel like I’ve been in the game. When we hot lapped tonight and qualified tonight, I could tell there was a little something there that we hadn’t had in the car that made the car roll around there different. This is my 28th Kings Royal, so I’ve got a little bit of experience. You kind of feel like you know what you’re doing.”
Finishing a spot behind Schatz with a valiant charge to the runner-up position was Brent Marks. In his quest for back-to-back Kings Royal titles, the pilot of the Murray-Marks #19 started 11th and wheeled his way forward to second. Oddly enough, the only driver to ever earn consecutive Kings Royal Crowns — Schatz — was the one who prevented Marks from becoming the second. Winning is always preferred, but after battling some struggles of his own throughout the week, Marks came away with his head held high.
Rounding out the top three to equal his career-best Kings Royal finish was David Gravel. The Big Game Motorsports driver stayed in contention all race but couldn’t find the speed necessary to get by Schatz and then slipped to third when Marks moved around him. The Watertown, CT native narrowly missed out on the final leg of Sprint Car racing’s Triple Crown that he needs.
Sheldon Haudenschild and Kyle Larson completed the top five.
This week in racing history
From 60 years ago in 1963 at Bloomington, Calvin Gilstrap won the super modified feature over Kenny Inman, Richard Jackson, Jim Luebbert and Bob Rose. Sheldon Kinser won the classic car feature over Maurice Kinser, Beddie Vaughn, Bearcat Chaplin and Don Caudill.
Also in 1963, the Columbus Kart Club winners were Jim Mobley, Glen Blythe, John Boeschen, Jim Devening and John Arrington.
From 50 years ago in 1973, the Columbus Kart Club winners were Brad Tobian, Teresa James, Dan Londeree, Denny O’Neal, Mike Tobias and Frank Hoban.
Also in 1973, the Town of Hope hosted the Hope Grand Prix for go-karts. The division winners were Wyatt Cowden, Mark Green, Bob McClure, Mike Kurtz, Harry Alkire, John Beeker, and Jerry Robinette.
From 40 years ago in 1983 at Brownstown, Ernie Barrow won the limited late model feature over Lee Fleetwood, Steve Trabue, John Mull and Tim Engelau. Rick Hines won the street stock feature over Ron Hoover, Mike Jewell, Rodney Gaines and Don Barnett.
In 1983 at Twin Cities, Steve Boley won the limited late model feature over Scott McKeand, Bob Gullion, John Warner and Chuck Gilpin. Terry Eaglin won the street stock feature over Howard Montgomery, Dennis Barber, Larry Gingery and Billy Filburn.
Also in 1983 at I-65 Speedway in Scottsburg, John Gill won the late model feature over Steve Boley, Gerald Dixon, Dennis Boknecht and Joe Madsen. Rick Hines won the street stock feature over Mike Jewell, Don Barnett, Larry Gingery and Danny Blackwell.
From 40 years ago this weekend at Paragon, Larry Martin won the sprint car feature over Rodney Ritter Jr., Frank Hollingsworth, Tracy Potter and Tom Goad. Dave Weddle won the limited late model feature over Jim Purtlebaugh, Dennis Morgan, Mike Gibbs and Bill Pollitt. Pollitt won the street stock feature over Dale Hobbs, Mark Oliver, Mel Paul and Randall Buster.
From 30 years ago in 1993 at Greene County Speedway in Bloomfield, Don O’Neal won the late model feature over Scott Graham, Terry Eaglin, Gary Barrow and Dion Deason. Denny Campbell won the street stock feature over Greg Kendall, Doug Hall, Rick McCormick and John Hackler. Dale Dubois won the modified feature over Gary Bland, Brian Short, Sam Barrow and Dusty Chapman. Mike Bowersox won the bomber feature over Jerry Adams, Ray Hughes, Scott Sanders and Todd Wininger.
Also in 1993 at Haubstadt, Gary Hayhurst Jr. won the sprint car feature over Randy Kinser and Joey Nash. Mike Gibbs won the late model feature over Kevin Claycomb and Steve Karnes.
From 30 years ago at Paragon Danny Smith won the sprint car feature over Bob Kinser, Gary Trammell, Kent Christian and Todd Shields. Scott Patman won the street stock feature over Cale Kern, Greg Kendall, Kevin Lowe and Charles Phillips.
In 1993 at Eldora, Dave Blaney won the King’s Royal for sprint cars over Jac Haudenschild, Charlie Fisher, Frankie Kerr and Jeff Swindell.
Local upcoming racing schedule
Today: Paragon Speedway – crate late models, sprints, super stocks and hornets. For more information, visit paragonspeedway.com
Today: Kokomo Speedway – USAC National Sprint Cars – Indiana Sprint Week.
Sunday: Lawrenceburg Speedway – USAC National Sprint Cars – Indiana Sprintweek, plus modifieds. For more information, visit lawrenceburgspeedway.com
Monday: Circle City Raceway– Indianapolis – USAC National Sprint Cars – Indiana Sprint Week. For more information, visit circlecityraceway.com
Wednesday: Terre Haute Action Track – USAC National Sprint Cars – Indiana Sprint Week.
Thursday: Lincoln Park Speedway – Putnamville – USAC National Sprint Cars – Indiana Sprint Week.
Thursday: Brownstown Speedway – Jackson County Fair Race for crate late modifieds, modifieds, super stocks and modifieds. For more information, visit brownstownspeedway.com
Friday: Bloomington Speedway – USAC National Sprint Cars – Indiana Sprintweek, plus modifieds. For more information, visit racebloomingtonspeedway.com
July 29: Tri- State Speedway – Haubstadt – USAC National Sprints Car – Indiana Sprint Week.
July 29: Brownstown Speedway – Jackson County Fair Race – Paul Crockett Memorial for super late models, modifieds, super stocks, pure stocks and hornets.
James Essex writes a motorsports notebook for The Republic. Send comments to [email protected]
