King Donny XXVI: Schatz Wins Kings Royal - Blaney double dips with NRA Invaders

 Rossburg, OH— July 18, 2009—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.  Dale Blaney had a successful weekend as well, by capturing both nights of action (Knight Before Kings Royal preceded Saturday's race) with the NRA (National Racing Alliance) Sprint Invaders.

 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 10^th win of the 2009 campaign and the 98^th 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 15^th 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 16^th 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 36^th go-around.

 “It was pretty fun,” said Blaney. “This is one of my favorite tracks and we always run pretty good here. The car was good all weekend and we qualified in the right spot. We won a heat race both nights and were in a position to do something with it. You hate to take second, but it was a good race and he just got a little better than we did in the rubber. Anytime we can run in the Top-Fives with these guys we’ll take it, especially in a prestigious race like that is pretty neat.”

 Blaney was torn on if a longer green flag run at the end of the race would have worked to his advantage. He kept pace with Schatz in the middle portions of the 40-lapper in traffic.

 “He was stuck behind traffic and really wasn’t going to take a chance at that point and if he did, I might have been able to stick my nose in there a little bit,” shared the veteran driver. “I was catching a little, but we is good too good to make a mistake like that the last couple of laps.”

 Sam Hafertepe Jr. matched his career best World of Outlaws finish with a third-place performance on Saturday night. The runner-up finish in the G.H. Plumbing machine was his best with the series at the famed Ohio half-mile.

 “We’re really proud of this,” said Hafertepe. “Hopefully we can take this head of steam to Lernerville in a few days and see what we can do there.”

 Hafertepe was glad to see the caution flag with four laps to go, as he didn’t have much fuel left in the tank.

 “We needed that because we ran out of fuel and that’s how Dale Blaney got by us,” shared the third-year driver. “I really think if we wouldn’t have had any cautions all night we would have won the race.”

 As the leader worked their way through traffic near the halfway point of the race, Hafertepe made up a substantial amount of ground on Schatz who had a little trouble getting my some lapped cars. He was right on Schatz prior to the caution coming out for a Steve Kinser spin in turn three.

 “The long green flags were really good for us,” said the native of Sunnyvale, Texas. “We could move around and run places where other guys couldn’t. That’s how we caught (Donny) Schatz and got right up on his back bumper and had that caution. I think that kind of save him, but we’ll never know.”

 Tim Shaffer ended up fourth in the Kistler Engines J&J. Terry McCarl, who won the Knight Before the Kings Royal on Friday night, came all the way from the 22^nd starting spot to finish fifth to earn the KSE Racing Products Hard Charger Award in the Big Game Treestands Maxim.

 Tim Kaeding was sixth in the DTR Transport KPC, with Danny Lasoski seventh aboard the Casey’s General Store Maxim. Daryn Pittman was eighth in the Hunter Truck Sales JEI, with Kraig Kinser one spot behind him in the Bass Pro Shops Maxim. Brandon Wimmer rounded out the Top-Five in the Alan Barton Motorsports Maxim.