From Eldora Speedway
Rossburg, OH — (July 9) — When the checkered flag fell over the inaugural Kings Royal field in 1984, it was Steve Kinser (Bloomington, IN) taking the win and the first driver to climb the legendary Eldora throne wearing the crown as King of Kings. Incredibly, each of the next 28 years found Steve Kinser in the starting field. That’s 29 Kings Royals and 29 starts, an unmatched record. The closest anyone has come to that mark is Kinser’s chief nemesis over the years, Sammy Swindell (Bartlett, TN) with 23 starts.
At 59 years of age, Steve Kinser shows no signs of letting up and will be in the hunt for yet another starting berth in the fabled event that will be celebrating its 30th annual running Saturday night (July 13).
In those 29 runs, Kinser has amassed an average finish of 7.69, with seven Kings Royal crowns bumping up that number. In addition to the historic 1984 triumph, Kinser prevailed in 1988, 1991, 1997, 2003, 2005 and 2010. He is no stranger to Eldora’s victory lane. His impressive credentials include a total of 35 World of Outlaws Sprint Car wins, six All Star Circuit of Champions checkered flags, a pair of victories in each of the United States Auto Club premier divisions, Sprint Cars and Silver Crown and two unsanctioned $100,000 Historical Big One titles.
MULTIPLE FAMILY COMBINATIONS AMONG KINGS ROYAL ROSTER
ROSSBURG, OH (July 9) – Since its inauguration in 1984, Eldora Speedway’s Kings Royal has seen 150 different drivers make it into the coveted starting field. Among that number are multiple family combinations.
A total of seven brother acts have taken the green flag. Alphabetically that list includes Bobby/Joey Allen, Dale/Dave Blaney, James/PJ Chesson, Charlie/Dave Fisher, Dean/Kenny Jacobs, Randy/Steve Kinser and Jeff/Sammy Swindell. Of that group, only the Blaney brothers have each worn the legendary crown as King of Kings. Dave turned the trick in 1993 and 1995, with Dale on the throne in 2000.
The roster also includes a trio of father-son combinations including Steve/Kraig Kinser, Sammy/Jeff Swindell and Randy/Lucas Wolfe. While, the win list has yet to see a father/son match, Kevin Swindell came the closest to changing that statistic with his fourth place finish in 2006. Going into the 30th annual running of the Kings Royal Saturday Night (July 13), Randy has retired from the driving chores, and Kevin is pursuing a career in NASCAR, leaving the Kinsers as the only active father/son duo. Kraig finished fifth in last year’s run.
CONFIDENCE LEVEL HIGH FOR HANNAGAN IN KINGS ROYAL NRA ACTION
ROSSBURG, OH (July 9) – For the past several years, the National Racing Alliance (NRA) Sprint Invaders have joined the STP World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Cars to create an all open-wheeled doubleheader each night of the historic Kings Royal weekend. Among those thankful is Randy Hannagan (Pittsboro, IN).
Hannagan has compiled five NRA wins at Eldora since 2010, with three of those earned over the past two Kings Royal weekends. That trio of checkered flags includes a sweep last season, and a Kings Royal NRA victory in 2011. David Gravel’s (Watertown, CT) Knight Before the Kings Royal NRA win prevented Hannagan from going four for four.
Hannagan’s five NRA runs are impressive, but leave a wide gap between himself and Tim Allison (Cridersville, OH) on the NRA all-time win list at Eldora. Allison, who remains active in NRA competition, has compiled 14 wins since the group’s first run in 1994. Hannagan is undaunted with the spread. His optimism is based on the fact that Allison’s number took 13 years and he has raked in five in only three years.
Each night of the Kings Royal weekend (July 12 and 13) will include complete racing events for the NRA Sprint Invaders; giving Hannagan a chance to gain ground. More importantly, it gives the balance the field two opportunities to stop Hannagan.
BEVY OF ACTIVITIES SURROUND KINGS ROYAL ON TRACK RACING ACTION
ROSSBURG, OH (July 9) – While Friday and Saturday nights (July 12 and 13) of the 30th annual Kings Royal weekend at Eldora Speedway are consumed with all-Sprint Car doubleheaders on the fabled .500-mile clay oval; the relished ‘Eldora Experience’ expands beyond that.
Kicking that schedule off on Thursday evening will be the Ms. Eldora Speedway pageant inside the climate-controlled Eldora Ballroom at 5 p.m. Over 15 entrants have signed-up for the three-phase contest that will determine three girls to share Eldora’s coveted victory lane over the coming year. At 7:30 p.m. the front stretch of Eldora is coverted to an oval for the charity-driven American Red Cross go-kart racing series. Up to 24 local teams compete in the unique competition that includes 4-driver teams and green-flag driver changes throughout the racing program.
Friday afternoon features the annual corn hole tournament in Eldora’s multi-purpose building at 1 p.m. That same building will be utilized for Saturday’s benefit auction for the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and Museum which begins at 2:30 p.m. and the Driver Autograph Session from 4-5 p.m. A complete schedule of activities for the busy weekend can be downloaded the tracks website www.EldoraSpeedway.com.