Sammy Swindell Wins Knight Before The Kings Royal
7 min read
ROSSBURG, Ohio — July 11, 2014 — After a string of near wins and some bad luck, three-time champion Sammy Swindell forged ahead Friday night, battling non-Outlaw Tim Shaffer and winning the Knight Before the Kings Royal, his second World of Outlaws STP Sprint Car Series win of the season.
“It’s great – after the year we’ve had… We’ve been right there the last few races, just couldn’t pull it off at the end and tonight the car just got better and better,” Swindell said. “The Big Game Treestands car and team did an awesome job.”
Swindell has led at least part of three of the last four races – including the last Outlaws event at the Brad Doty Classic at Limaland Motorsports Park, where he dominated early but fell off toward the end of the event. At the first night of the Boot Hill Showdown in Dodge City, Kan., Swindell picked up the pole for the A main, but had his night ended in the first turn of the first lap, after Paul McMahan made contact with him and Swindell flipped.
Friday night at Eldora, Swindell put all of that behind him.
Shaffer, who sat on the pole, jumped out to an early and dominate lead after a short battle with Swindell to begin the A main.
“We were a little bit too tight at the start, let Shaffer get away,” Swindell said.
By lap five, Shaffer hit the first lapped traffic in his Canton Electric car but pushed through undeterred. Swindell however was in hot pursuit and by lap 13 had caught Shaffer. Swindell made the pass in his Big Game Treestands car through turns three and four and drag raced Shaffer into one and two. By the time the two cars hit the backstretch, Swindell firmly had the lead.
“Once I got in the front I was just trying to pace myself,” Swindell said. “I didn’t hear anybody or see anybody – I was just running some nice laps and then trying to keep the car under me.”
The first yellow flag in what would become a series in the middle of the feature fell on lap 16 after Joey Saldana’s right rear tire shredded. Once the green flag again flew, only two laps passed before contact between fourth-place Kerry Madsen and fifth-place David Gravel left Gravel at the bottom of the front stretch. Another short green with 18 complete, ended before the first lap could be completed with Brandon Wimmer on his roof after flipping.
The green flag flew for the final time with 18 complete. The final 12 laps saw battles between Kerry Madsen and Jac Haudenschild, and Madsen and Pittman, as Shaffer looked for one last chance.
Swindell took the checkered flag, scoring his 36th all-time win at Eldora.
“It was really awesome here tonight… Everything fell in place,” Swindell said. “If we can keep that up, we might win a couple more.”
Shaffer, who was pulling double duty Friday night, competing with the Outlaws and in a separate 360 sprint car, said running as well as he did felt great.
“I screwed up in lapped traffic,” Shaffer said. “I got there and I got my timing wrong. I was trying too early and I know better. Hopefully we learned a few things for tomorrow. It feels great to be up there in second.”
In victory lane, Swindell thanked his supporters.
“I’ve just got to thank everyone that’s been helping me and been behind me – all the guys, Pete and Tony; my wife Amy,” Swindell said. “Everybody knows that helps me.”
In the midst of all the excitement, two people Swindell forgot to thank were his longtime team owners Tod and Lisa Quiring. Swindell often credits the Quirings as his biggest and most strident supporters.
Swindell heads into the Kings Royal on Saturday night as a three-time winner of the event and looks to become the first winner of both the ‘Knight Before’ and the Kings Royal since 20-time champion Steve Kinser did it in 2003.
Kerry Madsen drove his American Racing Custom Wheels car to a third place finish – his sixth podium finish in a row. He said he had a really good car all night, but struggled on the restarts. Tempers flared on track and off between Madsen and Gravel, and Madsen and Pittman in the closing laps as the three drivers battled for position.
“There at the end of that run I had a quicker car than the two cars ahead but there really wasn’t much I could do unless they made a mistake in front,” Madsen said. “And then when someone made a mistake you had to commit to it and go for it – that’s part of racing at Eldora.”
“Just trying to bring it home every night – that was a tough battle.”
The battle for the championship continues to tighten as Donny Schatz’s points lead shrunk again over Pittman to 66. Paul McMahan remains in third, 85 points out of the lead.
In NRA Sprint Invader action, seventh starting Randy Hannagan stormed through the field to capture the victory. Hannagan assumed the top spot when race leader Tim Shaffer got caught up in a lap 12 accident.
Both divisions return to Eldora Saturday night to compete in Kings Royal XXXI. Tickets are still available for the event and can be purchased at the box office upon arrival to the Speedway. Live streaming PPV video can also be purchased at http://live.eldoraspeedway.com.
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Event: Knight Before the Kings Royal
Date: July 11, 2014
WORLD OF OUTLAWS SPRINTS
TIME TRIALS – 1. 71M-Joey Saldana, 13.069; 2. 51-Paul McMahan, 13.082; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen, 13.095; 4. 24-Rico Abreu, 13.205; 5. 1-Sammy Swindell, 13.230; 6. 45-Tim Shaffer, 13.234; 7. 83-David Gravel, 13.237; 8. 2-Shane Stewart, 13.258; 9. 9-Daryn Pittman, 13.259; 10. 49-Brad Sweet, 13.302; 11. 4-Cody Darrah, 13.337; 12. 82-Roger Crockett, 13.348; 13. W20-Greg Wilson, 13.352; 14. 49X-Cole Duncan, 13.364; 15. 15-Donny Schatz, 13.375; 16. 9W-Jac Haudenschild, 13.384; 17. 10H-Danny Holtgraver, 13.411; 18. 11-Steve Kinser, 13.425; 19. 40-Caleb Helms, 13.429; 20. 63-Chad Kemenah, 13.432; 21. 11N-Randy Hannagan, 13.452; 22. 1s-Logan Schuchart, 13.452; 23. 14K-Dale Blaney, 13.462; 24. 21-Brian Brown, 13.473; 25. 81-Lee Jacobs, 13.479; 26. 71-Kevin Swindell, 13.508; 27. 5T-Travis Philo, 13.513; 28. 7S-Jason Sides, 13.514; 29. 24H-Brandon Wimmer, 13.516; 30. 83X-Jason Meyers, 13.530; 31. 3G-James McFadden, 13.568; 32. 11K-Kraig Kinser, 13.582; 33. 59-Tim Kaeding, 13.599; 34. 19M-Brent Marks, 13.601; 35. 48-Danny Dietrich, 13.627; 36. 9X-Rob Chaney, 13.628; 37. 44W-Austen Wheatley, 13.711; 38. 21M-Dallas Hewitt, 13.713; 39. 19-Paige Polyak, 13.757; 40. 1A-Jacob Allen, 13.760; 41. 60-Kory Crabtree, 13.840; 42. 33H-Sheldon Haudenschild, 13.860; 43. 28-Brian Paulus, 13.952; 44. 16-Danny Mumaw, 13.968; 45. 40DD-Caleb Griffith, 14.024; 46. 2M-Dustin Daggett, 14.025; 47. 2X-Nathan Skaggs, 14.026; 48. 46AU-Stuart Williams, 14.061; 49. 59P-Chris Jones, 15.244
HEAT 1 – 1. 9W-Jac Haudenschild [1]; 2. 4-Cody Darrah [2]; 3. 45S-Tim Shaffer [3]; 4. 71-Joey Saldana [4]; 5. 71S-Kevin Swindell [6]; 6. 11N-Randy Hannagan [5]; 7. 3G-James Mcfadden [7]; 8. 2M-Dustin Daggett [10]; 9. 9X-Rob Chaney [8]; 10. 60-Kory Crabtree [DNF];
HEAT 2 – 1. 83-David Gravel [3]; 2. 10H-Danny Holtgraver [1]; 3. 1S-Logan Schuchart [5]; 4. 11K-Kraig Kinser [7]; 5. 82C-Roger Crockett [2]; 6. 33H-Sheldon Haudenschild [9]; 7. 44W-Austen Wheatley [8]; 8. 2S-Nathan Skaggs [10]; 9. 51-Paul Mcmahan [DNF]; 10. 5T-Travis Philo [DNF];
HEAT 3 – 1. 11-Steve Kinser [1]; 2. 2-Shane Stewart [3]; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen [4]; 4. 20W-Greg Wilson [2]; 5. 14K-Dale Blaney [5]; 6. 59K-Tim Kaeding [7]; 7. 21M-Dallas Hewitt [8]; 8. 28-Brian Paulus [9]; 9. 7S-Jason Sides [DNF]; 10. 46AU-Stuart Williams [DNF];
HEAT 4 – 1. 9-Daryn Pittman [3]; 2. 24H-Brandon Wimmer [6]; 3. 40-Caleb Helms [1]; 4. 49X-Cole Duncan [2]; 5. 21-Brian Brown [5]; 6. 24A-Rico Abreu [4]; 7. 19M-Brent Marks [7]; 8. 19P-Paige Polyak [8]; 9. 59P-Chris Jones [DNF]; 10. 16-Danny Mumaw [DNF];
HEAT 5 – 1. 63-Chad Kemenah [1]; 2. 49-Brad Sweet [3]; 3. 15-Donny Schatz [2]; 4. 1-Sammy Swindell [4]; 5. 81-Lee Jacobs [5]; 6. 48-Danny Dietrich [7]; 7. 83X-Jason Meyers [6]; 8. 1A-Jacob Allen [8]; 9. 40DD-Caleb Griffith [9];
DASH – 1. 45S-Tim Shaffer [1]; 2. 1-Sammy Swindell [2]; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen [3]; 4. 71-Joey Saldana [4]; 5. 9-Daryn Pittman [7]; 6. 2-Shane Stewart [6]; 7. 83-David Gravel [5]; 8. 63-Chad Kemenah [10]; 9. 11-Steve Kinser [9]; 10. 9W-Jac Haudenschild [8];
C FEATURE – 1. 44W-Austen Wheatley [1]; 2. 1A-Jacob Allen [4]; 3. 21M-Dallas Hewitt [2]; 4. 19P-Paige Polyak [3]; 5. 2M-Dustin Daggett [10]; 6. 2S-Nathan Skaggs [11]; 7. 28-Brian Paulus [7]; 8. 59P-Chris Jones [13]; 9. 60-Kory Crabtree [DNF]; 10. 16-Danny Mumaw [DNS]; 11. 33H-Sheldon Haudenschild [DNS]; 12. 40DD-Caleb Griffith [DNS]; 13. 46AU-Stuart Williams [DNS];
B-FEATURE – 1. 51-Paul Mcmahan [1]; 2. 24A-Rico Abreu [2]; 3. 11N-Randy Hannagan [4]; 4. 5T-Travis Philo [9]; 5. 14K-Dale Blaney [5]; 6. 82C-Roger Crockett [3]; 7. 7S-Jason Sides [10]; 8. 3G-James Mcfadden [12]; 9. 71S-Kevin Swindell [8]; 10. 48-Danny Dietrich [15]; 11. 9X-Rob Chaney [16]; 12. 83X-Jason Meyers [11]; 13. 1A-Jacob Allen [17]; 14. 19M-Brent Marks [14]; 15. 21-Brian Brown [6]; 16. 81-Lee Jacobs [7]; 17. 44W-Austen Wheatley [18]; 18. 59K-Tim Kaeding [13];
A FEATURE – 1. 1-Sammy Swindell [2]; 2. 45S-Tim Shaffer [1]; 3. 29-Kerry Madsen [3]; 4. 2-Shane Stewart [6]; 5. 9-Daryn Pittman [5]; 6. 51-Paul Mcmahan [11]; 7. 15-Donny Schatz [17]; 8. 9W-Jac Haudenschild [10]; 9. 11-Steve Kinser [24]; 10. 49-Brad Sweet [13]; 11. 24A-Rico Abreu [12]; 12. 11N-Randy Hannagan [20]; 13. 1S-Logan Schuchart [21]; 14. 10H-Danny Holtgraver [18]; 15. 40-Caleb Helms [19]; 16. 4-Cody Darrah [14]; 17. 63-Chad Kemenah [8]; 18. 11K-Kraig Kinser [9]; 19. 7S-Jason Sides [25]; 20. 83-David Gravel [DNF]; 21. 20W-Greg Wilson [DNF]; 22. 24H-Brandon Wimmer [DNF]; 23. 5T-Travis Philo [DNF]; 24. 49X-Cole Duncan [DNF]; 25. 71-Joey Saldana [DNF];
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NRA SPRINTS
TIME TRIALS – 1. 12H-Tim Hunter [14.460]; 2. 20B-Butch Schroeder [14.470]; 3. 45S-Tim Shaffer [14.555]; 4. 16-Ryan Ruhl [14.564]; 5. 17-Jared Horstman [14.601]; 6. 49-Shawn Dancer [14.635]; 7. 2MD-Dustin Daggett [14.672]; 8. 23-Devon Dobie [14.678]; 9. 83-Kyle Sauder [14.716]; 10. 11-Tim Allison [14.736]; 11. 6JS-Jr Stewart [14.759]; 12. 22H-Randy Hannagan [14.795]; 13. 98-Joe Trenca [14.837]; 14. 89-Robbie Stillwaggon [14.845]; 15. 5G-Curt Michael [14.863]; 16. 28H-Hud Horton [14.924]; 17. 10X-Dustin Stroup [14.929]; 18. 6S-Max Stambaugh [14.977]; 19. 12CS-Cody Swanson [15.002]; 20. 35-Ron Blair [15.010]; 21. 6K-Chad Kemenah [15.026]; 22. 2MS-Beau Stewart [15.169]; 23. 11N-Ed Neumeister [15.186]; 24. 79-Jordan Thomas [15.198]; 25. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr [15.264]; 26. 49T-Gregg Dalman [15.305]; 27. 31-Andy Teunessen [15.350]; 28. 15-Brandon Ferguson [15.472]; 29. 97-Bryan Sebetto [15.482]; 30. 8J-Jess Stiger [15.556]; 31. 14C-Andy Conley [15.704]; 32. 3B-Brad Greer [15.723]; 33. 12R-Nick Roberts [16.262]; 34. 23P-Nick Patterson [99.999];
HEAT 1 – 1. 6K-Chad Kemenah [1]; 2. 10X-Dustin Stroup [2]; 3. 17-Jared Horstman [5]; 4. 97-Bryan Sebetto [8]; 5. 98-Joe Trenca [3]; 6. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr [7]; 7. 12R-Nick Roberts [DNF]; 8. 83-Kyle Sauder [DNF]; 9. 12H-Tim Hunter [DNF];
HEAT 2 – 1. 89-Robbie Stillwaggon [3]; 2. 11-Tim Allison [4]; 3. 20B-Butch Schroeder [6]; 4. 49T-Gregg Dalman [7]; 5. 2MS-Beau Stewart [1]; 6. 6S-Max Stambaugh [2]; 7. 8J-Jess Stiger [8]; 8. 49-Shawn Dancer [DNF]; 9. 23P-Nick Patterson [DNS];
HEAT 3 – 1. 45S-Tim Shaffer [6]; 2. 11N-Ed Neumeister [1]; 3. 5G-Curt Michael [3]; 4. 6JS-Jr Stewart [4]; 5. 31-Andy Teunessen [7]; 6. 12CS-Cody Swanson [DNS]; 7. 2MD-Dustin Daggett [DNS]; 8. 14C-Andy Conley [DNS];
HEAT 4 – 1. 22H-Randy Hannagan [4]; 2. 16-Ryan Ruhl [6]; 3. 28H-Hud Horton [3]; 4. 35-Ron Blair [2]; 5. 23-Devon Dobie [5]; 6. 79-Jordan Thomas [1]; 7. 3B-Brad Greer [8]; 8. 15-Brandon Ferguson [DNS];
B-FEATURE – 1. 98-Joe Trenca [6]; 2. 23-Devon Dobie [4]; 3. 12CS-Cody Swanson [8]; 4. 6S-Max Stambaugh [7]; 5. 2MS-Beau Stewart [9]; 6. 79-Jordan Thomas [10]; 7. 22R-Kevin Roberts Jr [11]; 8. 8J-Jess Stiger [14]; 9. 31-Andy Teunessen [12]; 10. 14C-Andy Conley [15]; 11. 3B-Brad Greer [DNF]; 12. 12R-Nick Roberts [DNF]; 13. 12H-Tim Hunter [DNF]; 14. 23P-Nick Patterson [DNF]; 15. 49-Shawn Dancer [DNS]; 16. 2MD-Dustin Daggett [DNS]; 17. 83-Kyle Sauder [DNS]; 18. 15-Brandon Ferguson [DNS];
A FEATURE – 1. 22H-Randy Hannagan [7]; 2. 11-Tim Allison [2]; 3. 20B-Butch Schroeder [6]; 4. 89-Robbie Stillwaggon [8]; 5. 6K-Chad Kemenah [13]; 6. 6JS-Jr Stewart [1]; 7. 35-Ron Blair [12]; 8. 97-Bryan Sebetto [16]; 9. 16-Ryan Ruhl [4]; 10. 5G-Curt Michael [9]; 11. 10X-Dustin Stroup [11]; 12. 12CS-Cody Swanson [19]; 13. 6S-Max Stambaugh [20]; 14. 49T-Gregg Dalman [15]; 15. 23-Devon Dobie [DNF]; 16. 45S-Tim Shaffer [DNF]; 17. 17-Jared Horstman [DNF]; 18. 28H-Hud Horton [DNF]; 19. 98-Joe Trenca [DNF]; 20. 11N-Ed Neumeister [DNF];
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