SHANE STEWART HOLDS OFF SCHATZ TO WIN “KNIGHT BEFORE THE KINGS ROYAL”

Giant Crowd on Hand for Night One of Incredible Weekend of Racing at Legendary Eldora

ROSSBURG, Ohio (July 17, 2015) – Shane Stewart led all 30 laps, but held off a hard charging Donny Schatz to win the “The Knight Before the Kings Royal” Friday at Eldora Speedway.

Schatz had moved from fifth to second when Logan Schuchart’s car stopped on the backstretch on the 24th circuit to cause the event’s final yellow flag setting up a six-lap shootout for the win on the lightning fast track.

On the restart, Stewart started inside, while Schatz, who swept two World of Outlaw races at Eldora in May, started on the outside.

Stewart, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, went low while Schatz went high with all four wheels above the cushion but the 20-time winner in the World of Outlaws competition this year couldn’t rally past Stewart and finished a car length back at the checkered flag.

Stewart has five World of Outlaws to his credit in 2015 and collected $10,000 for the win. He will look to collect $50,000 Saturday in the 32nd Kings Royal.

“I’m just really happy to be on the receiving end of having the 15 (Schatz) behind me instead of me being behind the 15,” Stewart said. “It’s been that way all year and any time he lines up next to you, you have to be on your A-game. It’s great to win the night before the Kings Royal. All these great fans are here. My car was pretty good and hopefully this a good omen for tomorrow.”

Schatz finished second, while Daryn Pittman, Joey Saldana and Sammy Swindell rounded out the top-five. Saldana moved from the 12th starting spot to finish fourth. Sixth and seventh place finishers Brad Sweet and Paul McMahan both advanced nine positions from their original starting position while Jason Sides passed 11 cars to finish ninth.

The event was red flagged on the original start after Sheldon Haudenschild spun wildly into the Turn 1 retaining fence. He was not injured.

In the NRA Sprint Invaders 20-lap A-Feature, Butch Schroeder started fifth and moved from third to first in one lap to score the victory.

Dustin Daggett, from Portland, Michigan, started on the pole and lead early, but Schroeder, from Leipsic, Ohio, passed him near the halfway point.

“I’ve won here before, but coming to Eldora four times a year is what I look forward too,” Schroeder said. “To be able to be up here on stage, I’m blessed by God and my family and friends.”

Tomorrow night is the exciting 32nd Kings Royal and tickets can be purchased at www.eldoraspeedway.com or by phone at (937) 338-3815. There have been seven different winners in the last seven years.

Saturday night’s starting lineup is determined via a formula that is unique to Eldora for the extended 40-lap Kings Royal.

Per usual, Time Trials will be held in order of random draw conducted prior to the driver meeting. The fastest of two laps determines Heat Race seeding.

As is Kings Royal tradition, there will be six Heat Races instead of the four typical experienced at a sprint car race. The results of time trials will be staggered by qualifying time with an invert of five placing the 25th fastest qualifier on the pole of Heat Race one and the 30th fastest qualifier on the pole of Heat Race six. The fastest qualifier will start fifth in the first heat with the sixth qualifier in starting fifth in the sixth heat race.

The top-three finishers will advance from the Heat Races and complete the first 18 positions in the Kings Royal. Cars finishing fourth, fifth and sixth – that are not the two fastest qualifiers who did not finish in the top-three in their heat race – advance to the B-Feature. Cars finishing seventh through 10th advance to the C-Feature.

There will be one C-Feature with cars finishing first through sixth advancing to the B-Feature. Cars finishing first through fourth will advance to the Kings Royal.

The two fastest qualifiers not advancing from the Heat Races will start 19th and 20th in the Kings Royal.

The top-three finishers from the six Heat Races will makeup the first-eighteen starters in the Kings Royal as follows:

ROW ONE: Heat Six – 1st Place,  Heat Five – 1st Place
ROW TWO: Heat Four – 1st Place,  Heat Three – 1st Place
ROW THREE: Heat Two – 1st Place,  Heat One – 1st Place
ROW FOUR: Heat One – 2nd Place,  Heat Two – 2nd Place
ROW FIVE: Heat Three – 2nd Place,  Heat Four – 2nd Place
ROW SIX: Heat Five – 2nd Place,  Heat Six – 2nd Place
ROW SEVEN: Heat One – 3rd Place,  Heat Two – 3rd Place
ROW EIGHT: Heat Three – 3rd Place,  Heat Four – 3rd Place
ROW NINE: Heat Five – 3rd Place,  Heat Six – 3rd Place
ROW 10: Two fastest qualifiers not advancing from heat race.
ROW 11: B-Feature – 1st Place,  B-Feature – 2nd Place
ROW 12: B-Feature – 3rd Place,  B-Feature – 4th Place

The previous winner’s provisional established in 2014 has been eliminated for 2015.

Susie Barga, sister of Eldora founder Earl Baltes, has been chosen as the Royal Sovereign for the 32nd Kings Royal. Barga, 87, from Versailles, Ohio, is often at Eldora races and worked with the Baltes family for many years.

The winning car pulls into victory lane and the ceremony begins with one queen placing the cape on the winner, while the other hands the driver a scepter. The Royal Sovereign is summoned to the stage carrying the crown while the driver kneels down.

Barga then will state: “With the power bestowed upon me, I hereby crown thee King (driver’s last name) the 32nd,” and places the 14-inch high crown on the winner’s head. The driver then sits down on the 287 pound throne which has been used since 1984.

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RESULTS: Knight Before the Kings Royal
Friday, July 17, 2015

World of Outlaws Sprint Cars

Qualifying
1.71M-Joey Saldana, 13.041; 2.1-Sammy Swindell, 13.093; 3.2-Shane Stewart, 13.095; 4.1B-Dale Blaney, 13.102; 5.29-Kerry Madsen, 13.102; 6.1A-Jacob Allen, 13.104; 7.51-Paul McMahan, 13.118; 8.59-Danny Holtgraver, 13.148; 9.9-Daryn Pittman, 13.154; 10.15-Donny Schatz, 13.187; 11.19M-Brent Marks, 13.216; 12.45-Tim Shaffer, 13.221; 13.81-Lee Jacobs, 13.223; 14.7S-Jason Sides, 13.223; 15.W20-Greg Wilson, 13.224; 16.7H-Jojo Helberg, 13.225; 17.17W-Bryan Clauson, 13.263; 18.40-Caleb Helms, 13.294; 19.10H-Chad Kemenah, 13.308; 20.5T-Travis Philo, 13.320; 21.11-Steve Kinser, 13.331; 22.49X-Cole Duncan, 13.339; 23.94-Ryan Smith, 13.341; 24.35AU-Jamie Veal, 13.356; 25.7-David Gravel, 13.370; 26.49-Brad Sweet, 13.400; 27.57X-Andrew Palker, 13.401; 28.67-Christopher Bell, 13.407; 29.41-Jason Johnson, 13.409; 30.93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.430; 31.26-Tayler Malsam, 13.440; 32.19P-Paige Polyak, 13.456; 33.2M-Dustin Daggett, 13.479; 34.1ST-Gary Taylor, 13.492; 35.11N-Randy Hannagan, 13.497; 36.70-Derek Hagar, 13.506; 37.21-DJ Foos, 13.514; 38.11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.539; 39.13-Kevin Swindell, 13.553; 40.45L-Brian Lay, 13.578; 41.33M-Caleb Griffith, 13.604; 42.16X-Ryan Ruhl, 13.611; 43.Q83-David Murcott, 13.613; 44.60-Kory Crabtree, 13.677; 45.3G-James McFadden, 13.727; 46.91-Cale Thomas, 13.730; 47.16-Stuart Brubaker, 13.782; 48.27-Beau Stewart, 13.787; 49.1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.980; 50.35-Wes McGlumphy, 14.091; 51.38-Jared Horstman, 14.258; 52.96AU-Bruce White, 14.456; 53.89-Cody Darrah, 99.991;

Heat 1, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 11-Steve Kinser[1] ; 2. 81-Lee Jacobs[2] ; 3. 49-Brad Sweet[4] ; 4. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[5] ; 5. 1A-Jacob Allen[3] ; 6. 2M-Dustin Daggett[6] ; 7. Q83-David Murcott[7] ; 8. 27-Beau Stewart[8] ; 9. 38-Jared Horstman[9]

Heat 2, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 94-Ryan Smith[1] ; 2. 67-Christopher Bell[4] ; 3. 19M-Brent Marks[3] ; 4. 1ST-Gary Taylor[6] ; 5. 26-Tayler Malsam[5] ; 6. 89-Cody Darrah[9] ; 7. 17W-Bryan Clauson[2] ; 8. 60-Kory Crabtree[7] ; 9. 1S-Logan Schuchart[8]

Heat 3, Group A – (8 Laps)
1. 35AU-Jamie Veal[1] ; 2. 45-Tim Shaffer[3] ; 3. 41-Jason Johnson[4] ; 4. 40-Caleb Helms[2] ; 5. 19P-Paige Polyak[5] ; 6. 70-Derek Hagar[6] ; 7. 16-Stuart Brubaker[7] ; 8. 35-Wes McGlumphy[8]

Heat 4, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 29-Kerry Madsen[2] ; 2. 59-Danny Holtgraver[1] ; 3. 7S-Jason Sides[4] ; 4. 71M-Joey Saldana[3] ; 5. 7-David Gravel[6] ; 6. 10H-Chad Kemenah[5] ; 7. 3G-James McFadden[9] ; 8. 21-DJ Foos[7] ; 9. 45L-Brian Lay[8]

Heat 5, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 9-Daryn Pittman[1] ; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell[3] ; 3. 1B-Dale Blaney[2] ; 4. 5T-Travis Philo[5] ; 5. W20-Greg Wilson[4] ; 6. 33M-Caleb Griffith[8] ; 7. 57X-Andrew Palker[6] ; 8. 11K-Kraig Kinser[7] ; 9. 91-Cale Thomas[9]

Heat 6, Group B – (8 Laps)
1. 15-Donny Schatz[1] ; 2. 51-Paul McMahan[2] ; 3. 2-Shane Stewart[3] ; 4. 49X-Cole Duncan[5] ; 5. 13-Kevin Swindell[7] ; 6. 7H-Jojo Helberg[4] ; 7. 11N-Randy Hannagan[6] ; 8. 16X-Ryan Ruhl[8] ; 9. 96AU-Bruce White[9]

Dash – (6 Laps)
1. 2-Shane Stewart[1] ; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell[3] ; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen[6] ; 4. 9-Daryn Pittman[8] ; 5. 15-Donny Schatz[10] ; 6. 19M-Brent Marks[4] ; 7. 11-Steve Kinser[5] ; 8. 94-Ryan Smith[7] ; 9. 35AU-Jamie Veal[9] ; 10. 45-Tim Shaffer[2]

C-Main – (10 Laps)
1. 3G-James McFadden[6] ; 2. 33M-Caleb Griffith[2] ; 3. 16X-Ryan Ruhl[4] ; 4. 38-Jared Horstman[5] ; 5. 89-Cody Darrah[7] ; 6. 96AU-Bruce White[9] ; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart[1] ; 8. 35-Wes McGlumphy[3] ; 9. 91-Cale Thomas[8]

B-Main 1 – (12 Laps)
1. 17W-Bryan Clauson[2] ; 2. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[4] ; 3. 1A-Jacob Allen[1] ; 4. 70-Derek Hagar[9] ; 5. 1ST-Gary Taylor[8] ; 6. 40-Caleb Helms[3] ; 7. Q83-David Murcott[10] ; 8. 26-Tayler Malsam[5] ; 9. 27-Beau Stewart[13] ; 10. 19P-Paige Polyak[6] ; 11. 16-Stuart Brubaker[12] ; 12. 3G-James McFadden[14] ; 13. 2M-Dustin Daggett[7] ; 14. 60-Kory Crabtree[11]

B-Main 2 – (12 Laps)
1. 71M-Joey Saldana[1] ; 2. W20-Greg Wilson[2] ; 3. 10H-Chad Kemenah[4] ; 4. 49X-Cole Duncan[6] ; 5. 7H-Jojo Helberg[3] ; 6. 13-Kevin Swindell[12] ; 7. 7-David Gravel[7] ; 8. 11N-Randy Hannagan[9] ; 9. 33M-Caleb Griffith[14] ; 10. 5T-Travis Philo[5] ; 11. 11K-Kraig Kinser[11] ; 12. 45L-Brian Lay[13] ; 13. 57X-Andrew Palker[8]

A-Main – (30 Laps)
1. 2-Shane Stewart[1] ; 2. 15-Donny Schatz[5] ; 3. 9-Daryn Pittman[4] ; 4. 71M-Joey Saldana[12] ; 5. 1-Sammy Swindell[2] ; 6. 49-Brad Sweet[15] ; 7. 51-Paul McMahan[16] ; 8. 29-Kerry Madsen[3] ; 9. 7S-Jason Sides[20] ; 10. 19M-Brent Marks[6] ; 11. 35AU-Jamie Veal[9] ; 12. 67-Christopher Bell[17] ; 13. 11-Steve Kinser[7] ; 14. 41-Jason Johnson[19] ; 15. 17W-Bryan Clauson[13] ; 16. 59-Danny Holtgraver[18] ; 17. 94-Ryan Smith[8] ; 18. 10H-Chad Kemenah[24] ; 19. 7-David Gravel[25] ; 20. 1S-Logan Schuchart[26] ; 21. 81-Lee Jacobs[11] ; 22. 1B-Dale Blaney[14] ; 23. 45-Tim Shaffer[10] ; 24. 1A-Jacob Allen[23] ; 25. W20-Greg Wilson[22] ; 26. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild[21]

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NRA Sprint Invaders 

Qualifying
1.83-Kyle Sauder, 14.087; 2.22H-Randy Hannagan, 14.305; 3.17-Jared Horstman, 14.334; 4.20B-Butch Schroeder, 14.342; 5.35-Ron Blair, 14.383; 6.28H-Phil Gressman, 14.421; 7.16-Ryan Ruhl, 14.421; 8.18-Todd Heuerman, 14.459; 9.11N-Ed Neumeister, 14.468; 10.2M-Dustin Daggett, 14.488; 11.12R-Nick Roberts, 14.533; 12.10X-Dustin Stroup, 14.540; 13.79-Jordan Thomas, 14.573; 14.49-Shawn Dancer, 14.574; 15.6M-Max Stambaugh, 14.578; 16.22R-Kevin Roberts Jr., 14.604; 17.11S-Troy Smith, 14.631; 18.98-Joe Trenca, 14.641; 19.15-Brandon Ferguson, 14.655; 20.45-Tim Shaffer, 14.683; 21.23-Devon Dobie, 14.693; 22.31N-Rod Henning, 14.822; 23.6S-JR Stewart, 14.832; 24.67-Chris Durand, 14.918; 25.10K-Rob Dietrick, 14.928; 26.12J-Tyler Moore, 14.980; 27.8J-Jess Stiger, 15.004; 28.23P-Nick Patterson, 15.043; 29.11-Tim Allison, 15.062; 30.22B-Troy Betts, 15.072;

Heat 1 – (8 Laps)
1. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr.[1] ; 2. 2M-Dustin Daggett[3] ; 3. 16-Ryan Ruhl[4] ; 4. 79-Jordan Thomas[2] ; 5. 20B-Butch Schroeder[5] ; 6. 31N-Rod Henning[8] ; 7. 15-Brandon Ferguson[7] ; 8. 10K-Rob Dietrick[9] ; 9. 23P-Nick Patterson[10]

Heat 2 – (8 Laps)
1. 11S-Troy Smith[1] ; 2. 49-Shawn Dancer[2] ; 3. 45-Tim Shaffer[7] ; 4. 18-Todd Heuerman[4] ; 5. 11-Tim Allison[10] ; 6. 12R-Nick Roberts[3] ; 7. 22H-Randy Hannagan[6] ; 8. 35-Ron Blair[5] ; 9. 6S-JR Stewart[8] ; 10. 12J-Tyler Moore[9]

Heat 3 – (8 Laps)
1. 6M-Max Stambaugh[2] ; 2. 17-Jared Horstman[6] ; 3. 98-Joe Trenca[1] ; 4. 23-Devon Dobie[7] ; 5. 28H-Phil Gressman[5] ; 6. 11N-Ed Neumeister[4] ; 7. 8J-Jess Stiger[9] ; 8. 22B-Troy Betts[10] ; 9. 67-Chris Durand[8] ; 10. 10X-Dustin Stroup[3]

B-Main – (12 Laps)
1. 22H-Randy Hannagan[2] ; 2. 35-Ron Blair[3] ; 3. 12R-Nick Roberts[5] ; 4. 15-Brandon Ferguson[7] ; 5. 8J-Jess Stiger[13] ; 6. 6S-JR Stewart[9] ; 7. 22B-Troy Betts[15] ; 8. 12J-Tyler Moore[12] ; 9. 11N-Ed Neumeister[4] ; 10. 10K-Rob Dietrick[11] ; 11. 23P-Nick Patterson[14] ; 12. 31N-Rod Henning[8]

A-Main – (20 Laps)
1. 20B-Butch Schroeder[5] ; 2. 2M-Dustin Daggett[1] ; 3. 16-Ryan Ruhl[3] ; 4. 45-Tim Shaffer[13] ; 5. 17-Jared Horstman[6] ; 6. 18-Todd Heuerman[2] ; 7. 28H-Phil Gressman[4] ; 8. 49-Shawn Dancer[8] ; 9. 79-Jordan Thomas[7] ; 10. 23-Devon Dobie[14] ; 11. 22H-Randy Hannagan[16] ; 12. 6M-Max Stambaugh[9] ; 13. 8J-Jess Stiger[20] ; 14. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr.[10] ; 15. 98-Joe Trenca[12] ; 16. 35-Ron Blair[17] ; 17. 12R-Nick Roberts[18] ; 18. 11S-Troy Smith[11] ; 19. 15-Brandon Ferguson[19] ; 20. 11-Tim Allison[15]