It took Donny Schatz 10 years to win his first Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway in Ohio and he made sure on Saturday night that it would not take another decade to match the feat, as he was victorious in the prestigious $50,000 to-win event at the legendary high-banked half-mile with the cameras from SPEED capturing all of the action before a huge crowd at the famed half-mile.
Schatz battled Dale Blaney throughout the race along with Sam Hafertepe Jr. and was victorious with his car owner Tony Stewart in attendance. The NASCAR star also owns Eldora Speedway.
“It’s big,” said Schatz. “This was the start of our Month of Money run in (20)07 and we are pumped to get the first win of the Month of Money. It’s an awesome win for us and my guys deserve this. You have to take this and enjoy it. I was glad to have the boss here this weekend and be able to enjoy a victory with him.”
Schatz wound up leading a total of 38 laps on the night en route to his 10th win of the 2009 campaign and the 98th of his World of Outlaws career, as he closes in on becoming just the fifth driver in series history to win at least 100 races.
“It was an awesome night for us,” said the three-time and defending series champion. “We were a little nervous after qualifying and we got an all important heat win. That’s what did it for us. Starting up front was key and probably the most important was that my guys made all the right decisions. They kept plugging away and making things as good as they could and they did a great job.”
Schatz led from the drop of the green in the Armor All J&J, after a caution flew for a Joey Saldana spin in turn three before the first lap was in the books, leading to a complete restart. On the first start, Dale Blaney got the jump on Schatz, who started on the pole, heading into turns one and two.
The caution flew again on the second lap with Schatz using another strong restart to quickly jump to a comfortable lead. By the sixth lap, Blaney had caught back up to Schatz and nearly took the lead from him in turns one and two. On the eighth lap, Blaney used a slide job on Schatz to take the lead in turns one and two, though he drifted high coming off turn two, allowing Schatz to dive back under him and take back the top spot. The scenario repeated itself a couple of times over the next few laps.
On the 15th lap Blaney again put a slider on Schatz in turns one and two nearly taking the lead. He then moved up the track coming off turn four and was credited officially with leading that circuit at the line.
The 16th lap saw Schatz take the lead back with a textbook slide job in turns one and two. He would lead the rest of the way, but he would withstand a challenge from Sam Hafertepe Jr. and then another one from Blaney.
“You always have to be patient, especially in a 40-lap race,” he noted. “You have to have some tire management as well when you think there may be some rubber or an abrasive surface. We had to race, but we had to be smart with it. We had a little fun going back and forth there from time to time and I’m glad I came out on the better end of it.”
A caution with four laps remaining turned into an open red flag for a fuel stop, setting up a four-lap shootout between Schatz and Blaney. A strong restart by Schatz would propel him to a sizeable advantage as the laps wound down and he ended up winning by nearly two seconds over Blaney.
“We put fuel in it and went and it seemed like I really did go,” he explained. “I spun the tires coming into one and I was really nervous that Dale (Blaney) would go right on by. I had the wing back in the trunk and let it spin the tires for four laps. I spun the tires to a victory anyway.”
Blaney started second in the Ti-22 Performance Maxim and was bidding for his second career Kings Royal triumph. He worked his way right back up to Schatz with seven laps remaining as they worked traffic, only to have the caution fly on the 36th go-around.
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