By T.J. Buffenbarger
Rossburg, OH – (July 12, 2014) – Kerry Madsen had come close to winning the Kings Royal on several different occasions. Saturday night the Australian born driver finally won the race that made him fall in love with American racing motoring away after a last lap caution and fuel stop to drive away for the victory. Madsen was very emotional in victory lane after being crowned King.
David Gravel jumped into the lead at the start and led the first eight circuits before Schatz got a run off turn four and look the lead on lap nine. Behind him Shane Stewart was locked in a torrid battle with Randy Hannagan and Kevin Swindell for the third spot.
The caution appeared on lap 10 when Logan Schuchart spun on the front stretch. Schuchart went to the work area to change a flat tire and returned to start at the tail of the field.
Gravel got the lead during the restart while Madsen shot up into the second position around Schatz. Madsen quickly closed on Gravel and took the lead with a slide job on lap 13. From there Madsen began to pull away as Randy Hannagan, Kevin Swindell, and Shane Stewart raged a torrid battle for fourth place.
Even with encountering slower traffic by lap 18 Madsen maintained his two second advantage over Gravel and Schatz. By lap 25 Kevin Swindell and Greg Wilson, who moved into fifth, started to gain on Gravel and Schatz. Lap 31 started to see Gravel chip away at Madsen’s lead while Kevin Swindell and Greg Wilson traded fourth position.
The caution appeared for defending Kings Royal champion Brad Sweet with seven laps to go. Randy Hannagan also went pit side with a fire that the Eldora Speedway safety crew quickly extinguished and Hannagan emerged uninjured. Sweet’s crew could not fix the problem before the restart.
Madsen had checked out from the field during the ensuing restart, but when Shane Stewart slowed in turn two to bring out the caution flag immediately followed by a red flag for a fuel stop, visions of 2010 when Madsen was leading and lost the Kings Royal during a late race restart. History did not repeat itself though as Madsen motored away during the green, white checkered finish for the victory. Schatz moved into the runner up spot with Gravel, Swindell, McMahan, and Wilson rounding out the top five.
31st Annual Kings Royal
Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, OH
World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series
Saturday July 12th, 2014
Qualifications: 1. 29 – Kerry Madsen, 13.234; 2. 63 – Chad Kemenah, 13.289; 3. 1 – Sammy Swindell, 13.291; 4. 9 – Daryn Pittman, 13.297; 5. 14K – Dale Blaney, 13.303; 6. 83 – David Gravel, 13.304; 7. 4 – Cody Darrah, 13.312; 8. 11k – Kraig Kinser, 13.318; 9. 2L – Ed Lynch, Jr. , 13.363; 10. 71M – Joey Saldana, 13.367; 11. 15 – Donny Schatz, 13.400; 12. 51 – Paul McMahan, 13.433; 13. 1s – Logan Schuchart, 13.433; 14. 71 – Kevin Swindell, 13.438; 15. 49 – Brad Sweet, 13.451; 16. 19M – Brent Marks, 13.454; 17. 2 – Shane Stewart, 13.454; 18. 7s – Jason Sides, 13.493; 19. 11 – Steve Kinser, 13.494; 20. w20 – Greg Wilson, 13.517; 21. 11N – Randy Hannagan, 13.534; 22. 83x – Jason Meyers, 13.565; 23. 40 – Caleb Helms, 13.571; 24. 53 – Christopher Bell, 13.571; 25. 44w – Austin Wheatley, 13.580; 26. 21 – Brian Brown, 13.580; 27. 10H – Danny Holtgraver, 13.600; 28. 81 – Lee Jacobs, 13.613; 29. 59 – Tim Kaeding, 13.622; 30. 49 – Cole Duncan, 13.634; 31. 24 – Rico Abreu, 13.644; 32. 82 – Roger Crockett, 13.649; 33. 5T – Travis Philo, 13.708; 34. 45 – Tim Shaffer, 13.729; 35. 48 – Danny Dietrich, 13.734; 36. 19 – Paige Polyak, 13.758; 37. 3G – James McFadden, 13.766; 38. 1a – Jacob Allen, 13.803; 39. 60 – Kory Crabtree, 13.805; 40. 9w – Jac Haudenschild, 13.809; 41. 21H – Dallas Hewitt, 13.838; 42. 2x – Nathan Skaggs, 13.874; 43. 28 – Brian Paulus, 13.945; 44. 93 – Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.989; 45. 2M – Dustin Daggett, 14.083; 46. 18 – Danny Mumaw, 14.148; 47. 59 – Chris Jones, 14.319;
Heat Race #1 (10 Laps): 1. Steve Kinser, 2. Kerry Madsen, 3. Rico Abreu, 4. Cody Darrah, 5. Logan Schuchart, 6. James McFadden, 7. Austin Wheatley, 8. Brian Paulus. (Top three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #2 (10 Laps): 1. Greg Wilson, 2. Kevin Swindell, 3. Brian Brown, 4. Chad Kemenah, 5. Kraig Kinser, 6. Roger Crockett, 7. Jacob Allen, 8. Sheldon Haudenschild. (Top three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #3 (10 Laps): 1. Randy Hannagan, 2. Sammy Swindell, 3. Brad Sweet, 4. Ed Lynch, Jr., 5. Dustin Daggett, 6. Danny Holtgraver, 7. Travis Philo, 8. Kory Crabtree. (Top three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #4 (10 Laps): 1. Shane Stewart, 2. Daryn Pittman, 3. Jason Meyers, 4. Joey Saldana, 5. Lee Jacobs, 6. Tim Shaffer, 7. Jac Haudenschild, 8. Danny Mumaw. (Top three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #5 (10 Laps): 1. Donny Schatz, 2. Brent Marks, 3. Dale Blaney, 4. Tim Kaeding, 5. Caleb Helms, 6. Danny Dietrich, 7. Dallas Hewitt, 8. Chris Jones. (Top three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
Heat Race #6 (10 Laps): 1. David Gravel, 2. Paul McMahan, 3. Jason Sides, 4. Christopher Bell, 5. Cole Duncan, 6. Nathan Skaggs, 7. Paige Polyak. (Top three finishers transferred to the A-Main)
C-Main (8 Laps): 1. Travis Philo, 2. Jac Haudenschild, 3. Brian Paulus, 4. Kory Crabtree, 5. Dallas Hewitt, 6. Paige Polyak, 7. Chris Jones. DNS: Danny Mumaw, Sheldon Haudenschild. (First six finishers transferred to the A-Main)
B-Main (12 Laps): 1. Logan Schuchart, 2. Christopher Bell, 3. Kraig Kinser, 4. Tim Kaeding, 5. Joey Saldana, 6. Roger Crockett, 7. Lee Jacobs, 8. Ed Lynch, Jr, 9. Tim Shaffer, 10. Travis Philo, 11. Dustin Dagget, 12. Cole Duncan, 13. Shane Helms, 14. James McFadden, 15. Jac Haudenschild, 16. Danny Holtgraver, 17. Brian Paulus, 18. Kory Crabtree, 19. Austin Wheatley, 20. Jacob Allen, 21. Paige Polyak, 22. Danny Dietrich, 23. Dallas Hewitt, 24. Nathan Skaggs. (First four finishers transferred to the A-Main)
A-Main (40 Laps): 1. Kerry Madsen, 2. Donny Schatz, 3. David Gravel, 4. Kevin Swindell, 5. Paul McMahan, 6. Greg Wilson, 7. Dale Blaney, 8. Rico Abreu, 9. Daryn Pittman, 10. Jason Sides, 11. Christopher Bell, 12. Steve Kinser, 13. Brian Brown, 14. Chad Kemenah, 15. Logan Schuchart, 16. Cody Darrah, 17. Sammy Swindell, 18. Jason Meyers, 19. Brent Marks, 20. Joey Saldana, 21. Shane Stewart, 22. Kraig Kinser, 23. Randy Hannagan, 24. Brad Sweet, 25. Tim Kaeding.
Lap Leaders: Gravel 1-9, Schatz 9-10, Gravel 11-12, Madsen 13-40