The Headline(s)
Brent Marks does his best Brandon Overton impression, scoring his second six-figure payday of the weekend at Eldora Speedway in the 39th Kings Royal.
We've seen a couple unbelievable individual performances in the past year.@Boverton76 swept the '21 Double #DLMDream week and hauled out $273,000 in the process@bmracing19 put the Sprint Car world on notice this weekend with his $275,000 sweep of the #HB100K & #KingsRoyal
π€― pic.twitter.com/G54STWf8ly
— ELDORA SPEEDWAY (@EldoraSpeedway) July 17, 2022
How it Happened
2022 Kings Royal
Where: Eldora Speedway – Rossburg, Ohio (streamed on DirtVision)
Winnerβs Purse: $175,000
Brent Marksβs 13th win of the 2022 season was the biggest of his career, as a lap 22 pass of Brian Brown for the race lead landed him the Kings Royal crown, a $175,000 paycheck that marked his second six-figure race win in three days at Eldora after winning the $100,000 Historical Big One Thursday night.
βBy the power bestowed upon me, I hereby crown thee King Brent the 39th.β pic.twitter.com/CQPQk6IuO4
— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) July 17, 2022
With Marks running an independent schedule and not needing World of Outlaws show-up points, Marks and his team actually opted to skip the preliminary feature that ran Saturday morning after a Friday rainout. That decision paid off, with Marks winning his heat race and proving unstoppable in his charge to the front of the field in the Kings Royal A-main.
Former Kings Royal winner Kerry Madsen led the opening seven laps, with Knoxville Raceway regular Brian Brown blowing past him on a lap 8 restart to lead until Marks got to the front. Defending Kings Royal champions Tyler Courtney and Kyle Larson never factored in for the race win in 2022, though Larson did charge from 10th to fourth over the final 15 laps.
Marksβs victory made him the first driver in Eldora Speedway history to sweep both the Kings Royal and Historical Big One in the same weekend.
Success Stories
Marks really is the sprint car equivalent of Brandon Overton. Running a true outlaw schedule this year as opposed to a national tour, Marks already has a double-digit win total and is in the neighborhood of a half-million dollars in winnings with months left to go in the season. But perhaps most significant, and the accomplishment that had very audible chants coming from the Eldora grandstand post-race, Marks scored another major victory for the Pennsylvania Posse on the Outlawsβ turf, a bigger triumph than his Devilβs Bowl win in March.
The Posse have finally reclaimed the throne. π€΄πΌ
ππΆπ»π΄ ππΏπ²π»π (Marks) XXXIX of Myerstown, PA is the first Pennsylvania native since ππΆπ»π΄ ππΌπ» (Kreitz Jr.) III in 1986 to win the #ππ’π§π π¬ππ¨π²ππ₯. pic.twitter.com/nUA3xt7KFT
— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) July 17, 2022
The Posse also grabbed hard charger honors Saturday, with the national leader in sprint car wins, Anthony Macri, going from 22nd to eighth in the final running order.
Five-time Kings Royal winner Donny Schatz came up one spot short of his second win of the 2022 season, but Saturdayβs feature was the best heβs run since his season-opening win at Volusia back in February. Said the veteran driver post-race, the race marked a breakthrough for his race team in finishing events, which has been their Achillesβ heel through much of the season.
Cory Eliasonβs biggest race since being released from his ride at Rudeen Racing went about as well as he could hope. Eliason won a heat race, then finished seventh in the Kings Royal A-main on Saturday while his replacement, Zeb Wise, failed to qualify.
Glad @RudeenRacing finally fixed their issues on being slow for the last 3 years⦠Zeb has really rejuvenated the 26. Oh yeah⦠@Cory_Eliason ran 7th tonight too #nottheproblem
— Donnie Corona (@DonnieCorona) July 17, 2022
Brown gave up the Knoxville Raceway points lead to run the Kings Royal at Eldora this weekend, skipping a weekly race on Saturday. Brown led laps and finished sixth, and with the Kings Royal paying $5,000 to start, he made at least as much money running the big show at Eldora than he would have even if he had won at Knoxville Saturday.
Vexed, Villains & Victims
As much as DirtVision tried to walk their words back, commentary from their crew made it sound a lot like this would be the final Kings Royal for Sammy Swindell. If thatβs the case, it was hardly a fitting exit. Swindell went from first to sixth on the first lap of the fifth heat race after his car didnβt seem to move on the restart. Swindell then wrecked out on the first lap of the Last Chance Showdown.
Travis Philo lost a transfer spot in his heat race Saturday afternoon after jumping the cushion in turn 2 while racing with Chili Bowl Nationals winner Tanner Thorson and turning into the backstretch wall. DirtVisionβs crew inadvertently pinned that incident on Thorson, though the replay did exonerate him.
Having said that, the video would later confirm that the same Thorson triggered the sprint car equivalent of the Big One Saturday in the LCS, getting out of shape entering turn 1 and sending Danny Dietrich flying in a wreck that would collect four other cars.
. @DIRTVision REPLAY: Chaotic start of the @MicroLiteLLC Last Chance Showdown at @EldoraSpeedway see's five cars come together in a big way! Thankfully, everyone involved was able to walk away! #KingsRoyal pic.twitter.com/a833LwPjgb
— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) July 16, 2022
NASCAR Regulars
Former Cup Series regular Dave Blaney made a forward charge from sixth to third in his heat race to qualify for the Kings Royal feature, though he finished a distant 21st in the main event.
Former Cup Series regular Kasey Kahne ended up sitting out Saturdayβs Kings Royal after flipping three laps into the rain-delayed βKnight Beforeβ feature earlier in the day Saturday, a wreck that dumped more than 20 gallons of racing fuel on the surface and caused an extended red flag.
It was definitely good to see @kaseykahne walk away from this wild ride during yesterday's @WorldofOutlaws feature @EldoraSpeedway pic.twitter.com/z2ronh37il
— SprintCarNews.com (@SprintCarNews) July 17, 2022
Defending Cup Series champion Larson got hot late in the Kings Royal feature, but could only muster a 10th to fifth charge in the feature event.
Fanning the Flames
To say Eldora was packed is putting it lightly. There may not be a stock car series in America that shouldnβt be angling for a date at this venue.
Someoneβs taking home $175K in 40 laps! #KingsRoyal pic.twitter.com/e8tLNns3d8
— Lauren Stewart (@LaurenStewart9) July 17, 2022
Did anybody else find it a little sacrilegious to see Eldora commentator Blake Anderson seated on the Kings Royal throne when he was doing the live intro to DirtVisionβs web stream? Itβs one thing to admire a trophy, itβs another to essentially play with it as a non-competitor.
Between the daylight conditions of Saturday morning not providing a great reference for Saturday afternoon/eveningβs Kings Royal feature, the ongoing battle for tires, engine parts, etc., I was honestly surprised that more cars not needing World of Outlaws show-up points didnβt take the Marks route to sit out Saturdayβs rescheduled preliminary βKnight Beforeβ feature.
I loved how DirtVisionβs coverage this year routinely referred to previous winners of the Kings Royal feature as Kings based on their win date.Β
King Brad XXXVI clocks a 13.178 at second-quick! King Tyler XXXVIII hits a 13.253 for fifth-quick.
Now David Gravel (originally 7th) electing to go 17th with Kyle Larsonβ¦
— World of Outlaws (@WorldofOutlaws) July 16, 2022
If thereβs a way to do it thatβs sponsor-friendly Iβd want to see that go a step further in 2023 with decals on the former winnersβ cars.Β
Super late model drivers such as Overton a year ago and Jonathan Davenport and Chris Madden this year have already proved that running outlaw schedules as opposed to following national tours can be very profitable if drivers can pile up wins. Sprint car racing is a little different, as there is truly a pinnacle series (World of Outlaws) as opposed to three in late models (Lucas Oil, WoO and now the XR Super Series). But with Marks proving very capable of besting the Outlaws repeatedly in 2022, will 2023 see any Outlaws adopt an βoutlawβ slate?
Yes, the decision to hurry up the Kings Royal race program did lead to an embarrassing caution three laps into the feature, where smoke from the pre-race fireworks made visibility in turns 1 and 2 impossible for track officials.Β
That is not the first time yellow has had to be thrown due to fireworks smoke…how about you wait for it to clear before starting the race π€#KingsRoyal #WorldOfOutlaws
— Todd Wilder π¨π¦ (@dirtfan44) July 17, 2022
Having said that, the show went very smoothly, with hot laps through victory lane interviews with the podium finishers clocking in at four and a half hours. Thatβs for a crown jewel event with qualifying, a 50/50 draw, extended driver intros and a trophy ceremony. Take out the hot laps and the entire program was web streamed in a 3.5-hour time slot.
I bring this up only because it feels like a real missed opportunity for the dirt racing industry. The ability to run crisp programs in that timeframe not only makes the sport more accessible to the casual fan, but also could open doors for actual TV coverage to supplement streaming.Β
Yes, I am fully aware of how hard a track staff gets pushed making a program run that fast, and even if the staff gets their work right, the second the surface starts taking rubber or a car flips into the catchfence the program is stalled and the time slot likely lost. But in an era where the SRX tour can get motorized wrestling on network TV, there seems to be a road worth exploring for big-league dirt racing.
Numbers Game
54 – sprint cars entered for Kings Royal qualifying Saturday at Eldora.
$5,000 – minimum pay to start Saturdayβs Kings Royal feature.
$63,065 – winnerβs share of Saturdayβs Kings Royal 50/50 raffle.
Where it Rated (on a scale of one to six cans with one a stinker and a six-pack an instant classic): Weβll give the Kings Royal four and a half Eldora Toilet Waters. The program avoided the rain and Brent Marks is honestly a surprise storyline. But for as much battling as there was in the top five of the feature field, the battles for the lead were nothing to write home about.
Up Next: Thinkinβ Dirty will return to the late model rank this coming weekend, as the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series contests what may well end up being the final Silver Dollar Nationals as the future of Nebraskaβs I-80 Speedway is very much in doubt. The $53,000-to-win finale feature will go off Saturday night, with coverage available on Flo Racing.
About the author
Richmond, Virginia native. Wake Forest University class of 2008. Affiliated with Frontstretch since 2008, as of today the site's first dirt racing commentator. Emphasis on commentary. Big race fan, bigger First Amendment advocate.
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