Schatz turns in strong runner-up finish at Kings Royal

FARGO, N.D. (July 19, 2022) – When the big money is on the line, the Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing No. 15 team and driver Donny Schatz always seem to rise to the top. Saturday evening was no different at Eldora Speedway for the 39th running of the $175,000-to-win Kings Royal.

Schatz started seventh on the grid for the 40-lap Kings Royal feature and quickly worked his way into the top five by lap eight. He then moved into a podium position after getting by the No. 41 of Carson Macedo and No. 83JR of former TSR teammate Kerry Madsen.

Up front, Brian Brown and Brent Marks were waging war for the race lead, trading slide jobs at both ends of the Eldora Speedway. That allowed Schatz to close in rapidly.

Running his patented middle groove around the Big E, Schatz cruised by Brown to take over second.

Just as he did, however, Brown countered with a slide job that slowed up Schatz and also allowed Macedo to get back by.

Schatz then went to work on regaining the runner-up spot and did so on a restart with nine to go.

The 10-time series champion set his sights on Marks in the closing stages of the race, but Marks, who was the driver to beat all week at Eldora, was not to be denied as Schatz took the checkers in second.

“This Tony Stewart Racing team, along with everybody at Ford, has done an incredible with the strides they’ve made. It was great to be able to compete there at the end. That’s where we have been struggling – at the end of races. Scuba took a big swing at that and hats off to him,” said a please Schatz after the race.

“After that last yellow, I rode it for all it was worth. We hung with him and I thought if he made a mistake, we’d be able to get by him, but after four laps I started fading in the middle groove and had to get back up to the top,” Schatz explained. “With Marks running the lip in clean air, I knew he wasn’t going to make a mistake and I knew we were going to run second. But second is better than third so we’ll take it and move forward.”

Schatz finished eighth in the Saturday afternoon Knight Before the Kings Royal feature. He finished 10th in the Historial Big One on Thursday and seventh in the Jokers Wild main event on Wednesday.

Schatz currently sits sixth in the point standings heading into Port Royal on Wednesday, 164 behind points leader Brad Sweet.

Schatz and the entire Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanian Racing team would like to thank all of their great partners for their continued support!

Carquest Auto Parts, Curb Records, Ford Performance, Sage Fruit, Digital Ally, Mobil 1, Absolute Automation & Security, Rush Truck Centers, Advance Auto Parts, Hunt Brothers Pizza, J&J Auto Racing.

Schatz’s Statbook
2022 World of Outlaws Results:
Races: 40
Wins: 1
Top Fives: 13
Top Tens: 30

STAY CONNECTED:
Website: DonnySchatz.com
Store: Store.DonnySchatz.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/DonnySchatz15/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/DonnySchatz
Instagram: www.instagram.com/donnyschatz/

————————

Contact:

Mike Spieker
SpiekerPromotions.com

Photo by Frank Smith.

Leave a Reply