“I don’t know what to say. I can’t thank my guys enough. They gave me a great race car all weekend long, said Stewart in victory lane. “I thought I had a legitimate shot at Donny there, and I knew everyone had to be getting close on fuel. I’m kind of numb. Definitely my biggest win ever, and I told myself coming into this weekend this is the best shot I’ve ever had at winning big races. I can thank Kyle (Larson) and Justin (Marks) enough. I was glad Kyle was able to make it, I wish Justin was here to celebrate with us. I have to thank these awesome fans for sticking around. I know it’s a late night, but we’re going to celebrate. It’s an unbelievable feeling.”
Stewart’s win came at around 4:30 a.m. following two rain shows that delayed the program for over four hours.
Tim Shaffer and Schatz started on the front row for the 40-lap feature event. The initial start only went half a lap when JoJo Helberg flipped in turn one. Helberg emerged from the car under his own power.
Shaffer jumped into the lead again during the restart with Schatz right on his back bumper. Shaffer fended off repeated challenges by Schatz until lap six when Shaffer’s engine let go coming out of turn four, handing the lead over to Schatz.
Schatz took command with Christopher Bell glued to his back bumper while approaching the back half of the field. Schatz sliced through the traffic to open up a sizeable lead over Bell. Behind the leaders Abreu made his first appearance into the top five by passing Daryn Pittman on lap 16.
Following a caution for Lee Jacobs slowing in turn two Schatz continued to lead while Stewart used the first double file restart to make his move into the top five. By the halfway point Stewart had worked up to third spot and was pressuring Bell for the runner up position. On lap 22 the caution appeared when Cody Darrah slowed on the surface. Darrah retired from the event.
Schatz got another great restart while Stewart was passed by Johnson had to fend off a challenge from Rico Abreu. While Schatz pulled away Bell, Johnson, and Stewart raced for second position. Stewart’s first attempt to pass Johnson saw him jump the cushion, but the second attempt was successful. Stewart closed quickly on Bell for the second position with 10 laps to go. Stewart used an Eldora slide job to take away the spot from Bell and set out after Schatz for the lead.
Shortly after Stewart took away the second spot Bell had a right rear tire let go, sending him into the wall and helicoptering down the track to bring out the red flag. Bell got out under his own power.
For the second night in a row this setup a final double-file restart with six laps to go before all restarts would be single file. Schatz was up for the challenge and pulled away again during the restart. The caution appeared again when Joey Saldana had a mechanical issue that nearly sent him into the wall in turn one.
This setup a single file restart where Stewart was able to hang on Schatz’s back bumper. Stewart worked the bottom while Schatz was on the cushion. Stewart pulled alongside Schatz on the bottom, but could not quite get ahead. Schatz went to the bottom in turn three while Stewart crossed up to the cushion. Stewart used the momentum at the top to take the lead. Just as Stewart took the lead, Schatz’s car began to sputter and slow down the front stretch. Schatz dropped back through the field and eventually Brent Marks got stacked up and made contact with the inside wall to bring out the caution flag on the final lap. This brought out a red flag for fuel. Schatz dropped back to seventh for the restart.
Stewart led the field to the green, white, checkered finish. Johnson tried to keep up with Stewart during the restart, but found himself under pressure by Abreu for the second spot. That was enough to allow Steawart to motor on to the victory. Johnson held on for the runner up spot with Abreu taking the final podium position. Sammy Swindell and Pittman rounded out the top five.
Bryan Clauson was the fastest qualifier over the 57 car field with a lap of 13.113 seconds. Johnson, Pittman, Bell, Brad Sweet, Schatz, and Shaffer won heat races. Sheldon Haudenschild won the C-Main while David Gravel won the Last Chance showdown.
During the first lap of the opening heat race Steve Kinser took a vicious flip down the backstretch after several cars got stacked up coming off turn two on the opening lap. During the rain delay Kinser went to the hospital but was released and returned to the track to watch the remainder of the event.
World of Outlaws
32 Annual Kings Royal
Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, OH
Friday July 18, 2015
A-Main – (40 Laps) – 1. 2-Shane Stewart [14] [$50,000]; 2. 41-Jason Johnson [6] [$12,500]; 3. 24-Rico Abreu [10] [$7,500]; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell [16] [$5,500]; 5. 9-Daryn Pittman [5] [$4,500]; 6. 15-Donny Schatz [2] [$3,800]; 7. 49-Brad Sweet [3] [$3,300]; 8. 6M-Jac Haudenschild [24] [$2,800]; 9. 29-Kerry Madsen [18] [$2,650]; 10. 51-Paul McMahan [19] [$2,550]; 11. 19-Paige Polyak [15] [$2,250]; 12. W20-Greg Wilson [7] [$2,100]; 13. 17W-Bryan Clauson [13] [$2,050]; 14. 7-David Gravel [21] [$2,000]; 15. 2M-Dustin Daggett [23] [$1,950]; 16. 19M-Brent Marks [20] [$1,900]; 17. 71M-Joey Saldana [8] [$1,850]; 18. 67-Christopher Bell [4] [$1,800]; 19. 35AU-Jamie Veal [9] [$1,750]; 20. 1B-Dale Blaney [12] [$1,700]; 21. 89-Cody Darrah [22] [$1,650]; 22. 81-Lee Jacobs [11] [$1,625]; 23. 45-Tim Shaffer [1] [$1,600]; 24. 7H-Jojo Helberg [17] [$1,550]. Lap Leaders: Tim Shaffer 1-5, Donny Schatz 6-36, Shane Stewart 37-40. KSE Hard Charger Award: 6M-Jac Haudenschild [+16]
Qualifying – 1. 17W-Bryan Clauson, 13.113; 2. 2-Shane Stewart, 13.138; 3. 51-Paul McMahan, 13.148; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell, 13.238; 5. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.259; 6. 29-Kerry Madsen, 13.297; 7. 19M-Brent Marks, 13.298; 8. 71M-Joey Saldana, 13.315; 9. 59-Danny Holtgraver, 13.349; 10. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.382; 11. 7H-Jojo Helberg, 13.396; 12. 63-Kody Swanson, 13.418; 13. 11-Steve Kinser, 13.429; 14. 49X-Cole Duncan, 13.441; 15. 19-Paige Polyak, 13.472; 16. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.484; 17. 89-Cody Darrah, 13.494; 18. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.496; 19. 41-Jason Johnson, 13.498; 20. 9-Daryn Pittman, 13.500; 21. 35AU-Jamie Veal, 13.505; 22. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.506; 23. 40-Caleb Helms, 13.516; 24. 1B-Dale Blaney, 13.522; 25. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.542; 26. 1ST-Gary Taylor, 13.545; 27. 67-Christopher Bell, 13.551; 28. 2M-Dustin Daggett, 13.572; 29. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.582; 30. 45-Tim Shaffer, 13.590; 31. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.617; 32. 13-Kevin Swindell, 13.617; 33. 10H-Chad Kemenah, 13.627; 34. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.636; 35. 94-Ryan Smith, 13.644; 36. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.662; 37. 7-David Gravel, 13.707; 38. 6M-Jac Haudenschild, 13.713; 39. 21-D.J. Foos, 13.722; 40. 27-Beau Stewart, 13.780; 41. Q83-David Murcott, 13.782; 42. 57X-Andrew Palker, 13.793; 43. 26-Tayler Malsam, 13.804; 44. 56R-Ryan Myers, 13.811; 45. 4-Danny Smith, 13.825; 46. 33M-Caleb Griffith, 13.833; 47. 9P-Parker Price-Miller, 13.874; 48. 16X-Ryan Ruhl, 13.875; 49. 71MX-Paul May, 13.904; 50. 60-Kory Crabtree, 13.910; 51. 70-Derek Hagar, 13.915; 52. 1S-Logan Schuchart, 13.970; 53. 11N-Randy Hannagan, 13.980; 54. 16-Stuart Brubaker, 14.108; 55. 45L-Brian Lay, 14.390; 56. 38-Jared Horstmen, 14.486; 57. 3F-Rick Fraley, 15.192
Heat 1 – (10 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 41-Jason Johnson [2]; 2. W20-Greg Wilson [6]; 3. 17W-Bryan Clauson [5]; 4. 7-David Gravel [7]; 5. 26-Tayler Malsam [8]; 6. 71MX-Paul May [9]; 7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [1]; 8. 19M-Brent Marks [4]; 9. 45L-Brian Lay [10]
Heat 2 – (10 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 9-Daryn Pittman [2]; 2. 71M-Joey Saldana [4]; 3. 2-Shane Stewart [5]; 4. 1ST-Gary Taylor [1]; 5. 6M-Jac Haudenschild [7]; 6. 13-Kevin Swindell [6]; 7. 60-Kory Crabtree [9]; 8. 56R-Ryan Myers [8]; 9. 38-Jared Horstmen [10]
Heat 3 – (10 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 67-Christopher Bell [1]; 2. 35AU-Jamie Veal [2]; 3. 19-Paige Polyak [3]; 4. 59-Danny Holtgraver [4]; 5. 10H-Chad Kemenah [6]; 6. 51-Paul McMahan [5]; 7. 21-D.J. Foos [7]; 8. 70-Derek Hagar [9]; 9. 4-Danny Smith [8]; 10. 3F-Rick Fraley [10]
Heat 4 – (10 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 49-Brad Sweet [2]; 2. 24-Rico Abreu [4]; 3. 1-Sammy Swindell [5]; 4. 2M-Dustin Daggett [1]; 5. 7S-Jason Sides [3]; 6. 1A-Jacob Allen [6]; 7. 1S-Logan Schuchart [9]; 8. 33M-Caleb Griffith [8]; 9. 27-Beau Stewart [7]
Heat 5 – (10 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 15-Donny Schatz [5]; 2. 81-Lee Jacobs [1]; 3. 7H-Jojo Helberg [4]; 4. 89-Cody Darrah [3]; 5. 94-Ryan Smith [6]; 6. 11N-Randy Hannagan [9]; 7. Q83-David Murcott [7]; 8. 40-Caleb Helms [2]
Heat 6 – (10 Laps – Top 3 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 45-Tim Shaffer [1]; 2. 1B-Dale Blaney [2]; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen [5]; 4. 63-Kody Swanson [4]; 5. 5T-Travis Philo [3]; 6. 16X-Ryan Ruhl [8]; 7. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6]; 8. 57X-Andrew Palker [7]
C-Main – (12 Laps – Top 6 finishers transfer to the Last Chance Showdown) – 1. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [1] [-]; 2. 60-Kory Crabtree [2] [-]; 3. 70-Derek Hagar [3] [-]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart [4] [-]; 5. 11K-Kraig Kinser [6] [-]; 6. 56R-Ryan Myers [8] [-]; 7. Q83-David Murcott [5] [$200]; 8. 33M-Caleb Griffith [10] [$190]; 9. 27-Beau Stewart [15] [$180]; 10. 3F-Rick Fraley [14] [$170]; 11. 4-Danny Smith [9] [$160]; 12. 38-Jared Horstmen [13] [$150]; 13. 11-Steve Kinser [16] [$150]; 14. 49X-Cole Duncan [17] [$150]; 15. 16-Stuart Brubaker [18] [$125]; 16. 9P-Parker Price-Miller [19] [$125]; 17. 40-Caleb Helms [11] [$125]; 18. 57X-Andrew Palker [12] [$125]; 19. 45L-Brian Lay [7] [$125]
Last Chance Showdown – (15 Laps – Top 4 finishers transfer to the A-feature) – 1. 7-David Gravel [1] [-]; 2. 89-Cody Darrah [5] [-]; 3. 2M-Dustin Daggett [4] [-]; 4. 6M-Jac Haudenschild [8] [-]; 5. 10H-Chad Kemenah [9] [$500]; 6. 1ST-Gary Taylor [2] [$450]; 7. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [19] [$400]; 8. 7S-Jason Sides [10] [$350]; 9. 13-Kevin Swindell [14] [$300]; 10. 1S-Logan Schuchart [22] [$250]; 11. 70-Derek Hagar [21] [$200]; 12. 59-Danny Holtgraver [3] [$200]; 13. 94-Ryan Smith [11] [$200]; 14. 26-Tayler Malsam [7] [$200]; 15. 21-D.J. Foos [15] [$200]; 16. 1A-Jacob Allen [16] [$200]; 17. 71MX-Paul May [13] [$200]; 18. 5T-Travis Philo [12] [$200]; 19. 11K-Kraig Kinser [23] [$200]; 20. 11N-Randy Hannagan [17] [$200]; 21. 63-Kody Swanson [6] [$200]; 22. 56R-Ryan Myers [24] [$200]; 23. 16X-Ryan Ruhl [18] [$200]; 24. 60-Kory Crabtree [20] [$200]