Schatz, though, isn’t thinking about dethroning Kinser, dubbed the King of Outlaws for his historic dominance in the WoO series. Schatz has another throne in mind.
The North Dakota native is a favorite to win the Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway on Saturday night and all that comes with it.
The highest-paying sprint car race at $50,000 to win, the Kings Royal is equally known for the celebration that surrounds victory stage. The winner of Saturday’s 40-lapper around Eldora’s high-banked, half-mile dirt track receives a cape and scepter before kneeling in front of a boisterous grandstand crowd to be proclaimed King (winner’s name) XXXII.
Susie Barga, the sister of Eldora founder Earl Baltes, serves as the Royal Sovereign and crowns the champion Saturday.
Schatz won the Kings Royal in 2007 and 2009. He’s qualified for the feature in all 19 attempts. He has nine top-five finishes including last year’s runner-up effort to Australian Kerry Madsen.
“You want to win it again and again and again. It’s almost like greed sets in,” said Schatz, who drives for Tony Stewart-Curb Agajanian Racing. “You know that’s what makes the competition what is is. All those guys have the desire and the want to win that race.”
Schatz gets two more chances to add to his 290-point lead over Shane Stewart this weekend. The Knight Before The Kings Royal, a full-feature event, is tonight.
Schatz enters with 192 career WoO victories. That’s good for third all-time behind Kinser (577) and Sammy Swindell (294). Schatz is also the defending WoO points champion with six titles since 2006. He’s finished second the other three years.
And he’s not finished in his No. 15 Bad Boy Buggies/Chevrolet Performance J&J ride.
“I’m not one to sit around and coast because things happened. … I’m sure I could coast and not do anything the rest of the year and still have a great season,” Schatz said. “That’s not what this team is. They’re fighters and they want to scratch and claw their way to a win every night. We’re going to push and shove as much as we can to try and get what we can.”
A victory Saturday carries special meaning for drivers. This is the first Kings Royal since Baltes, who started the event in 1984, died in March.
“It’s a tradition Earl Baltes built and there’s a lot of heritage, a lot history and lots of prestige that comes with it,” Schatz said. “Since Earl has passed I can only imagine that gets bigger. When you win that race, your mindset is you can’t let loose right at that moment. It feels so surreal. It doesn’t hit you at the time.
“It’d be awful fun to sit up there and be able to have those emotions of winning that race again.”
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