World of Outlaws Donny Schatz Takes Second at King's Royal

World of Outlaws point leader Donny Schatz started in 6th place at the 23rd annual King’s Royal presented by Crown Royal at Eldora Speedway near Rossburg, Ohio.

Schatz worked his No. 15 ParkerStore J&J with Shaver power inside the top three during the 40-lap marathon. He took second with five laps to go, but could not run down eventual winner Joey Saldana.
ParkerStore Team uses K&N Products
ParkerStore Team uses K&N Products
“It’s hard to be happy with second,” said Schatz, following his ninth second place of the season. “In the past, Eldora has not been one of my stronger tracks, but I can honestly say that Saturday night I felt better than I ever have there in the past.”

Schatz was the second fastest qualifier in the field of 57 cars entered in this year’s King’s Royal. In this unique race drivers had to win one of the six heat races to be in the dash event, which set the first six starting positions of the feature event. Schatz understood the consequences and charged from fourth to win the second heat race and earned the fifth starting position in the six car dash. Schatz finished sixth in the four lap race and started his 11th consecutive King’s Royal feature event on the outside of row three.

In the feature, Schatz moved quickly into the top five and continued to search for the best way around the high-banked half mile dirt oval. The Fargo, North Dakota racer tried a number of racing grooves as he pursued the competitors in the front. There were a couple of near misses, especially when he was running fourth and trying to pass Jac Haudenschild for third. Haudenschild lost a right rear tire and flipped as he was coming down the back straightaway and Schatz was able to avoid a disaster.

On the restart, Schatz made a couple of attempts to take second from Danny Lasoski before finally taking the position with six laps remaining. While he was battling Lasoski, the leader was able to pull away. Schatz could not reel in Saldana and scored a career-best second in the King’s Royal.

“The track was really fast and we didn’t get to the front with enough time to chase down Joey,” said Schatz. “This was a new car on Friday night and we know what it’s capable of doing, so it would be an understatement to say that we are looking forward to the races next week at Lernerville and Williams Grove.”

Schatz ParkerStore Team Start Month of Money at King's Royal
Schatz ParkerStore Team Start Month of Money at King's Royal
Donny Schatz Motorsports has a winning combindation of parts and components. The team uses K&N Engineering Products. “With the K&N Sprint Car Airbox we’re confident we’re getting maximum airflow to produce the highest performance,” said Schatz. “The debris stays out of our motor with K&N.”

Schatz has taken the ParkerStore sprinter to victory lane five times this year. The team is looking forward to the 15th annual Don Martin Memorial Silver Cup race at Lernerville Speedway. The Silver Cup is the second race during the “Month of Money,” which includes four high paying races: King’s Royal ($50,000-to-win), Silver Cup ($30,000-to-win), Cleveland Brothers Summer Nationals ($20,000-to-win) and the Knoxville Nationals ($140,000-to-win).

Follow Donny Schatz's progress throughout the racing season at the K&N news site.  Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world.