By Tony Veneziano, Mike Campbell Photo
Rossburg, OH-July 17, 2010- There is only one driver in the storied history of the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway that has competed in each and every edition of the famed classic and just one driver that has made the main event in each and every one. This driver has won the Kings Royal more times than anyone, has more Top-Five finishes in the race than anyone else, as well as Top-10’s. That driver is 20-time World of Outlaws champion Steve Kinser, who holds every major record associated with the event. He added to his legacy in the Kings Royal on Saturday night, claiming the $50,000 win over Kerry Madsen.
Kinser has now won the Kings Royal a record seven times in his illustrious career. It was his first victory at Eldora Speedway driving for Tony Stewart, who is also the owner of Eldora and was on-hand at the half-mile all weekend. After nearly taking the lead from Kerry Madsen on a double file restart with three laps to go, Kinser had one final shot at the big payday and used a textbook slide job in turn one to take the top spot and ultimately the win, which was his fifth of 2010. The cameras from SPEED were rolling to capture of the action for broadcast on August 7.
“It feels good to win one for Tony Stewart Racing and Bass Pro Shops,” said Kinser in Victory Lane. “I know that Donny (Schatz) has won a few for them. It was a lot of fun to get out there and win it tonight. Kerry (Madsen) ran a great race and I hated to get into him on the last night, but you have to go for it when you can go for it. I just really enjoy getting to run at Eldora.”
Following a caution on the 22nd lap, the next 15 circuits went green, putting the leaders in heavy lapped traffic as the laps wound down. With 10 to go, Kinser had tracked Madsen back down and tagged the wall a couple of times, nearly taking the lead at a few different points on the track.
“I was reeling him in pretty fast and got into the wall on the front stretch and got right back on him and got into the wall on the back chute or I was going to go by him, explained the winner. “I was catching him pretty quick and messed up both times. I got a third chance, so I guess it ended up all right.”
Kinser lined up on the inside of the track on all but one of the double file restarts on Saturday night. The one time he lined up on the outside, he was in front of the field. He was very strong on the last three double file restarts of the race, keeping right with Madsen and nearly taking the lead a couple of times in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim.
“It was hard to do and the last one I got it timed just about right and got a good run off the bottom to get him,” noted Kinser of restarting on the bottom.
Kerry Madsen led 27 laps en route to his best career finish in the Kings Royal, a second-place effort aboard the Hall Haulage KPC. He took the lead from Kinser on the 12th lap with a slide job in turn four. Kinser nearly retook the top spot as the pair had a drag race down the front straightaway, with Madsen leading by just a touch at the line to officially be scored the leader. Madsen blasted to the high side in turn two on the next lap and quickly began to pull away.
“I’m just disappointed,” Madsen admitted. “The car was unreal, how good it was. Sonny Kratzer just gave me a dream car tonight. We were pretty close to getting a Kings Royal win and we just didn’t get that last restart right and Steve (Kinser) got in front of me. We had a quicker car, but two laps wasn’t enough to get back by him. We’ll have to deal with second here tonight, but I am very proud of this team.”
Danny Lasoski made a charge at the end of the race to finish third in the Casey’s General Store JEI. He started on the front row of the main event after winning the fifth heat race of the night, with the six heat finishers starting first through sixth in the feature, through an inversion. Lasoski fell back to ninth on the 10th lap of the 40-lapper, before working his way back to the front.
“We put a little harder tires on than everyone else and just had no idea they would spin as much as they did during the first 20 (laps),” noted Lasoski. “We had a couple of cautions go our way that bunched the field back up in open track. We were able to run the 3 and the 11 cars back down and we had a really good car. We just couldn’t finish he deal. ”
Madsen was in the lead for four caution and red flag periods, choosing the high side of the track each time for the double file restarts. Over the two nights of racing at Eldora, the leaders chose the high side of the half-mile most of the time for the double file restarts.
“I was getting such good restarts there,” shared the native of St. Mary’s, NSW, Australia. “I knew the gloves were going to come off on that last restart. You get such a good run coming off (turn) four and it worked every time. We just didn’t get it done on that last restart. It was exciting, but unfortunately we were second. We’ll just go on from here.”
Danny Lasoski had one of the fastest cars on the track over the last 15 circuits working his way into the Top-Five and then battling Kinser and Madsen for the lead. On a couple of restarts the trio nearly got three-wide as they charged into turn one with Lasoski diving in the middle of the track as he sought his first Kings Royal win.
“I had to go where they weren’t,” said the native of Dover, Missouri of the final restart. “I knew pretty much what they were going to do. I was about three foot short of clearing them both with the slide (job).”
Donny Schatz, who won the Kings Royal in 2009, came home fourth in the Armor All /STP J&J. Greg Wilson scored his best-career Kings Royal, coming fifth in the All Star Plumbing Maxim. Sammy Swindell was sixth in the Big Game Treestands Maxim, with Tim Shaffer seventh in the Kistler Engines J&J. Ed Lynch Jr. was eighth in the Howard Concrete J&J. Chad Kemenah came all the way from 23rd to finish ninth to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award. Tim Kaeding rounded out the Top-10 in the DTR Transport KPC.
The World of Outlaws return to action on Tuesday, July 20 at Lernerville Speedway in Pennsylvania for the Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup Twin 30’s, which will be highlighted by two 30-lap A-Feature events, paying $15,000 a piece to win.
27TH ANNUAL KINGS ROYAL NOTES
•FAST QUALIFIER: Paul McMahan paced the 49 cars that took time with an AMB i.t. timed lap around the high-banked half-mile oval at 13.239 seconds at 135.962 mph. For his qualifying effort, McMahan earned five bonus points. The next four fastest qualifiers also earned bonus points, including: Joey Saldana (4), Donny Schatz (3), Cale Conley (2) and Danny Lasoski (1).
•KNIGHT BEFORE THE KINGS ROYAL QUALIFYING WINNERS: Stevie Smith, Daryn Pittman, Kerry Madsen, Sam Hafertepe Jr., Danny Lasoski and Steve Kinser won heat races. Tyler Walker won the Last Chance Showdown. Tyler Walker won the C-Main.
• FEATURE WINNERS: There have been 38 World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series A-Feature events held in 2010. The winners include: Joey Saldana (Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway, I-55 Raceway, Eldora Speedway-twice, Dodge City Raceway Park, River Cities Speedway, LaSalle Speedway and Beaver Dam Raceway), Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Thunderbowl Raceway, Volunteer Speedway, Tri-State (Okla.) Speedway, Virginia Motor Speedway, I-96 Speedway and North Central Speedway), Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park, Jackson Speedway, River Cities Speedway, Lakeside Speedway and Eldora Speedway), Jason Sides (Houston Raceway Park , Tri-City Speedway and Missouri State Fair Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway and Cedar Lake Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Paducah International Raceway and Knoxville Raceway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park and The Dirt Track at Charlotte), Sammy Swindell (Dodge City Raceway and Huset’s Speedway), Brooke Tatnell (Knoxville Raceway and Junction Motor Speedway), Dale Blaney (Limaland Motorsports Park), Chad Layton (Williams Grove Speedway), Paul McMahan (Eldora Speedway) and Fred Rahmer (Williams Grove Speedway).
•HALF-WINNERS: Eldora Speedway is a high-banked half-mile oval. The World of Outlaws have raced 18 times at a track that size in 2010. The winners include: Steve Kinser (Volusia Speedway Park, Jackson Speedway, Lakeside Speedway and Eldora Speedway), Jason Meyers (The Dirt Track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Virginia Motor Speedway and I-96 Speedway), Joey Saldana (Eldora Speedway-twice), Jason Sides (Tri-City Speedway and Missouri State Fair Speedway), Craig Dollansky (Lone Star Speedway), Jac Haudenschild (Knoxville Raceway), Chad Layton (Williams Grove Speedway), Paul McMahan (Eldora Speedway), Fred Rahmer (Williams Grove Speedway), Donny Schatz (Volusia Speedway Park) and Brooke Tatnell (Knoxville Raceway).
World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series Statistical Report; Eldora Speedway; Rossburg, OH; July 17, 2010
Qualifying
1) 91-Paul McMahan 13.239
2) 9-Joey Saldana 13.334
3) 15-Donny Schatz 13.379
4) 3C-Cale Conley 13.411
5) 6-Danny Lasoski 13.418
6) 2-Dale Blaney 13.429
7) 1Z-Stevie Smith 13.430
8) 83X-Tim Shaffer 13.430
9) 7S-Jason Sides 13.436
10) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr. 13.440
11) 1-Sammy Swindell 13.457
12) 11-Steve Kinser 13.463
13) R19-Jac Haudenschild 13.468
14) 13-Daryn Pittman 13.469
15) 3-Kerry Madsen 13.476
16) 2L-Ed Lynch Jr. 13.496
17) 4-Kasey Kahne 13.508
18) 17-Tyler Walker 13.521
19) 83-Tim Kaeding 13.532
20) 55-Dave Blaney 13.579
21) 63-Chad Kemenah 13.607
22) 7K-Kyle Sauder 13.610
23) 14-Jason Meyers 13.620
24) 89G-David Gravel 13.623
25) 5W-Lucas Wolfe 13.657
26) 7-Craig Dollansky 13.681
27) 22-Brian Ellenberger 13.702
28) 71M-Paul May 13.718
29) O-Jonathan Allard 13.723
30) W20-Greg Wilson 13.725
31) 24H-Lee Jacobs 13.727
32) 1X-Randy Hannagan 13.746
33) 11K-Kraig Kinser 13.776
34) 97-Dean Jacobs 13.785
35) 45-Rob Chaney 13.795
36) 4X-Toni Lutar 13.828
37) 20-Tony Stewart 13.849
38) 2B-Ben Gregg 13.890
39) 1R-Chad Blonde 13.911
40) 6R-Bill Rose 13.981
41) 56R-Ryan Myers 13.990
42) 96AU-Bruce White 14.038
43) 27-Keith Bloom 14.129
44) 8H-Brian Paulus 14.173
45) 5M-Jamie Miller 14.369
46) 20AU-Domain Ramsay 14.375
47) 70-Steven Lines 14.492
48) 22D-Josh Davis 14.502
49) 78-Todd Kane 15.679
Heat 1 (8 Laps, top 3 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 1Z-Stevie Smith[2]
2) 91-Paul McMahan[3]
3) R19-Jac Haudenschild[1]
4) 83-Tim Kaeding[4]
5) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[5]
6) 20-Tony Stewart[7]
7) 24H-Lee Jacobs[6]
8) 27-Keith Bloom[8]
Heat 2 (8 Laps, top 3 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 13-Daryn Pittman[1]
2) 9-Joey Saldana[3]
3) 83X-Tim Shaffer[2]
4) 7-Craig Dollansky[5]
5) 55-Dave Blaney[4]
6) 1X-Randy Hannagan[6]
7) 8H-Brian Paulus[8]
8) 2B-Ben Gregg[7]
Heat 3 (8 Laps, top 3 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 3-Kerry Madsen[1]
2) 15-Donny Schatz[3]
3) 7S-Jason Sides[2]
4) 63-Chad Kemenah[4]
5) 11K-Kraig Kinser[6]
6) 1R-Chad Blonde[7]
7) 22-Brian Ellenberger[5]
8) 5M-Jamie Miller[8]
Heat 4 (8 Laps, top 3 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[2]
2) 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.[1]
3) 7K-Kyle Sauder[4]
4) 3C-Cale Conley[3]
5) 97-Dean Jacobs[6]
6) 71M-Paul May[5]
7) 6R-Bill Rose[7]
8) 20AU-Domain Ramsay[8]
Heat 5 (8 Laps, top 3 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 6-Danny Lasoski[3]
2) 1-Sammy Swindell[2]
3) 14-Jason Meyers[4]
4) 4-Kasey Kahne[1]
5) O-Jonathan Allard[5]
6) 70-Steven Lines[8]
7) 56R-Ryan Myers[7]
8) 45-Rob Chaney[6]
Heat 6(8 Laps, top 3 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 11-Steve Kinser[2]
2) 2-Dale Blaney[3]
3) W20-Greg Wilson[5]
4) 89G-David Gravel[4]
5) 96AU-Bruce White[7]
6) 22D-Josh Davis[8]
7) 17-Tyler Walker[1]
8) 4X-Toni Lutar[6]
C-main (10 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to B-main) – Starting Position [#]
1) 17-Tyler Walker[1]
2) 24H-Lee Jacobs[3]
3) 22-Brian Ellenberger[2]
4) 8H-Brian Paulus[8]
5) 4X-Toni Lutar[5] [$200]
6) 2B-Ben Gregg[6] [$190]
7) 20AU-Domain Ramsay[10] [$180]
8) 27-Keith Bloom[7] [$170]
9) 5M-Jamie Miller[9] [$160]
10) 45-Rob Chaney[4] [$150]
11) 78-Todd Kane[11] [$150]
B-main (12 laps, top 4 finishers transferred to A-feature) – Starting Position [#]
1) 17-Tyler Walker[1]
2) 83-Tim Kaeding[2]
3) 63-Chad Kemenah[4]
4) 55-Dave Blaney[3]
5) 11K-Kraig Kinser[13] [$500]
6) 7-Craig Dollansky[7] [$450]
7) 1X-Randy Hannagan[12] [$400]
8) 97-Dean Jacobs[14] [$350]
9) 8H-Brian Paulus[20] [$300]
10) O-Jonathan Allard[10] [$250]
11) 22-Brian Ellenberger[8] [$200]
12) 89G-David Gravel[5] [$200]
13) 71M-Paul May[9] [$200]
14) 6R-Bill Rose[17] [$200]
15) 1R-Chad Blonde[16] [$200]
16) 70-Steven Lines[21] [$200]
17) 56R-Ryan Myers[18] [$200]
18) 22D-Josh Davis[22] [$200]
19) 96AU-Bruce White[19] [$200]
20) 5W-Lucas Wolfe[6] [$200]
21) 24H-Lee Jacobs[11] [$200]
22) 20-Tony Stewart[15] [$200]
A-main (40 laps) – Starting Position [#]
1) 11-Steve Kinser[1] [$50,000]
2) 3-Kerry Madsen[4] [$12,500]
3) 6-Danny Lasoski[2] [$7,500]
4) 15-Donny Schatz[9] [$5,500]
5) W20-Greg Wilson[18] [$4,500]
6) 1-Sammy Swindell[11] [$3,800]
7) 83X-Tim Shaffer[14] [$3,300]
8) 2L-Ed Lynch Jr.[10] [$2,800]
9) 63-Chad Kemenah[23] [$2,650]
10) 83-Tim Kaeding[22] [$2,550]
11) 91-Paul McMahan[7] [$2,250]
12) 3C-Cale Conley[19] [$2,100]
13) 17-Tyler Walker[21] [$2,050]
14) 7K-Kyle Sauder[16] [$2,000]
15) 4-Kasey Kahne[20] [$1,950]
16) 7S-Jason Sides[15] [$1,900]
17) 14-Jason Meyers[17] [$1,850]
18) 13-Daryn Pittman[5] [$1,800]
19) 15H-Sam Hafertepe Jr.[3] [$1,750]
20) 1Z-Stevie Smith[6] [$1,700]
21) R19-Jac Haudenschild[13] [$1,650]
22) 2-Dale Blaney[12] [$1,625]
23) 9-Joey Saldana[8] [$1,600]
24) 55-Dave Blaney[24] [$1,550]
Lap Leaders: Steve Kinser 1-11, 39-41; Kerry Madsen 12-38
KSE Hard Charger Award: Chad Kemenah
Chizmark-Larson Hard Luck Award: Sam Hafertepe Jr.