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Eldora Speedway
Eldora Crowns
King Donny XXXIII at Kings Royal
Pittman the “Knight Before” Winner; Gravel takes “Joker’s Wild” night
ROSSBURG, Ohio — July 16, 2016 — It has been nearly a decade, 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.
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.
“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.”
Eldora’s blockbuster summer schedule continues when the NASCAR Camping
World Truck Series makes its annual visit for the Aspen Dental Eldora
Dirt Derby on Tuesday and Wednesday (July 19-20). Tickets and
information are available at Eldora Speedway.com.
Daryn Pittman
Dominates Knight Before the Kings Royal
Donny Schatz and Rico Abreu repeat their previous night’s podium
performance
ROSSBURG, Ohio — July 15, 2016 — Daryn Pittman dominated the Knight
Before the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway on Friday night, as he
cruised to his sixth World of Outlaws Craftsman® Sprint Car Series
victory of the season.
For Pittman, the win was his first at the historic half-mile oval in
Rossburg, Ohio since May 4, 2013. Even with the victory, Saturday
night’s $50,000-to-win Kings Royal, one of the most coveted wins in all
of motorsports, was on Pittman’s mind.
“Hats off to this Great Clips team. We had a really great car,” Pittman
said. “It doesn’t matter how good you are tonight. We can’t do exactly
what we did, tomorrow night. Tomorrow night is a new race track. Try to
go after my second Kings Royal. It was a pretty special win in 2008.”
The win did not come without a little adversity for the No. 9 Great
Clips team though. Pittman, started on the outside front row and
battled to the lead on the opening lap. As he put distance between he
and second-place Joey Saldana, he bounced off the wall in turn four.
“I was out front and I was slow and I didn’t think I was getting
through three and four fast enough and tried to pick up the pace a
little bit,” Pittman said. “I didn’t think I was close to the fence,
and I hit it and hit it hard. I ran about the next three laps thinking
I was going to have a flat or did some damage but luckily the car held
on.”
Donny Schatz was charging in his No. 15 Bad Boy Off Road/Chevrolet
Performance/J&J. After dispensing with Shane Stewart, Schatz caught
the No. 83 of Joey Saldana and looked for a line around. The two were
side-by-side as they worked to complete lap 10 but Saldana held the
spot. A lap later, Schatz got another run on Saldana and took over
second as the two dove into turn three.
As Pittman worked his way through traffic, Schatz closed the gap
briefly but then Pittman began to pull away again.
“The (No. 9) car was awful good,” Schatz said. “I couldn’t even get
through traffic… (We were gaining on Pittman) until the fuel load came
off.”
Rico Abreu, who started ninth in his No. 24 Abreu Vineyards machine,
worked his way through the field and by lap 16 was challenging Saldana
for third. Three laps later, Abreu got around Saldana to take over the
final podium position.
“I searched around and searched around and found the happy medium on my
car,” Abreu said. “I moved the wing back a little sooner than some
other cars and that’s how I gained those spots.”
Through the closing laps, Pittman adeptly worked his way through
traffic and built a sizeable gap on Schatz, Abreu and the field.
When the checkered flag fell, Pittman scored his sixth win of the
season. Schatz and Abreu matched their finishing positions from the
night before at Eldora.
“It’s a dream come true to come drive for this team and I’m just doing
my part to try to stay in it,” Pittman said of Kasey Kahne Racing with
Mike Curb. “It was a great win for us.”
Schatz said his Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing team tried some
things in the Dash that did not quite work out. He said that coupled
with a slick racing surface made for a challenging night.
“You never know what tomorrow night will bring. We’ll look forward to a
good day tomorrow,” Schatz said.
David Gravel, who won the inaugural Jokers Wild on Thursday night
scored his third quick time award of the season on Friday after posting
a qualifying lap of 13.600 seconds. Brad Sweet was the night’s KSE
Racing Hard Charger, advancing eight positions to finish in fifth.
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series takes on the 33rd
Annual Kings Royal on Saturday night. For more information and to learn
how to purchase tickets, visit EldoraSpeedway.com
Follow the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series on Twitter at
Twitter.com/WorldofOutlaws, like it on Facebook at
Facebook.com/WorldofOutlaws, or check out the latest videos on YouTube
at YouTube.com/WorldofOutlaws.
David Gravel Is
Nobody’s Fool in Jokers Wild Win at Eldora Speedway
Captures his fourth World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series
victory of the season
ROSSBURG, Ohio — July 14, 2016 — David Gravel had his hands full
through much of Thursday night’s inaugural Jokers Wild at Eldora
Speedway, but the 24-year-old driver held tough and scored his fourth
World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series victory of the season.
“It’s awesome. It’s pretty friggin’ surreal,” Gravel said in victory
lane.
The 24-year-old driver kicked off his dominant run by powering past
Donny Schatz in the Dash to take the feature pole position.
Through the opening laps of the 30-lap main event, Gravel pulled out to
a steady lead over second place Brian Brown. Through early cautions the
field tightened back up.
NASCAR Truck Series stand out and two-time World of Outlaws winner
Christopher Bell, who started fourth, powered forward, slipped back and
then again made the charge to the front. He had taken over the second
spot with the leader in his sights when the caution flew and Bell was
forced to the pits with a mechanical issue.
On the restart, Gravel had his hands full with Schatz who looked for a
way around the No. 5 Big Game Treestands car. Schatz slid through turns
one and two but Gravel held him off. Through three and four, Schatz
again slid through the corner and the two crossed each other down the
front. Gravel still held the lead.
Through the middle of the feature, the fight for third and fourth
heated up as Kerry Madsen worked to hold on to the final podium
position and Logan Schuchart and Rico Abreu fought to take it away.
Schuchart looked to have a chance but Abreu powered forward on a late
restart and with a slider, took over third.
As the laps ticked away, the leaders, Gravel, Schatz and Abreu spread
out. That did not last long though as Gravel worked his way through
traffic in the final 10 laps, Schatz closed the distance and began
looking for a line around.
“Lapped traffic really slowed me down,” Gravel said. “I just tried to
keep my pace up. I slid (Randy) Hannagan and I know I lost all my speed
there.”
Schatz continued the assault through the remaining six laps, getting
his No. 15 Bad Boy Off Road/Chevrolet Performance car side-by-side with
Gravel but Gravel held on.
On lap 28, as the white flag flew signaling the final lap, Schatz gave
it one last chance. Staying close off of turn two, Schatz slid Gravel
through three and four and nearly got around him, but Gravel powered
his CJB Motorsports car across the line. Just .03 seconds separated
first and second.
“Donny made me get my elbows up there,” Gravel said. “I had to run the
top of three and four there and keep my speed up. We got a power
steering leak – the power steering was going away and I was getting
tired there at the end with my power steering going away.
“I can’t thank my team enough – Derek, Barry and Austin. Chad and Jenn
Clemens put me in this car. It’s been a great season – we’ve had three
bad nights all year. We were good here last time, we tried something a
little different and won here tonight. Hopefully we can carry that on
all weekend.”
Schatz said he thought he had his opportunity at the end of the
feature.
“That last corner there I thought we would be able to clear (Gravel)
but I didn’t use him up – I tried to do the right thing coming to the
checkered.”
“These guys did an awesome job – it’s consistent, it’s balanced, so the
next couple of nights we’ll have a chance.”
For Abreu, Eldora has been a place of consistent improvement for him
and his No. 24 Abreu Vineyards team. Abreu said the momentum and the
seat time would help as they went through the Kings Royal weekend and
the upcoming NASCAR truck series race.
“It’s good, you’ve got to keep plugging away. We’re right there. It’s
just one position, one restart away from winning. Really good restarts,
really good racecars,” Abreu said. “We’ve got a lot of racing with two
more and then the truck race and this track is already badass.”
Greg Wilson was the night’s KSE Racing Hard Charger, advancing 14
positions to finish in 10th. Kerry Madsen picked up his first quick
time award of the season after turning a lap of 13.488 seconds.
The World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series returns to Eldora
Speedway Friday night for the Knight Before the Kings Royal. For more
information and to learn how to purchase tickets, visit
EldoraSpeedway.com
Follow the World of Outlaws Craftsman Sprint Car Series on Twitter at
Twitter.com/WorldofOutlaws, like it on Facebook at
Facebook.com/WorldofOutlaws, or check out the latest videos on YouTube
at YouTube.com/WorldofOutlaws.
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