Tyler Walker wins in Kings Royal last lap shocker

ROSSBURG, OH (July 16) -- Everything was going Sammy Swindell's way on Saturday night in the $50,000-to-win Kings Royal at Eldora Speedway ... until the final corner. Swindell had the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series crown jewel event locked up when suddenly his right rear tire went down as he exited Turn 4 en route to the checkered flag. The huge crowd was stunned as it watched Tyler Walker shoot past a helpless Swindell to win. Earlier in the night Randy Hannagan got by early race leader Caled Helms to take the NRA (National Racing Alliance) Sprint Invader main event.

After winning his heat to land on the pole for the main event, then lead 39 of the 40 laps, Swindell managed to salvage second in the Big Game Treestands Maxim with Paul McMahan in third in the HR Cattle/Roth Motorsports Maxim, but it was little solace to the three-time World of Outlaws champion from Germantown, Tenn.

A wild finish led to an extremely wild post-race celebration. Walker crossed the scale to officially be declared the winner and was overcome with jubilance. He eventually made his way to victory lane where he was crowned by Earl Baltes, who built Eldora Speedway in 1954 and created the Kings Royal in 1984.

"I've lost so many in the last turn," said Walker, of Los Angeles, Calif. "I was giving it about half throttle there at the end because I knew the tires were getting low. It just feels really good to be on the other side of that kind of deal. I've lost a lot of races like that so I know how it feels to be sitting there watching someone else takes the checkers. This is the biggest win of my career by far and I couldn't have done it without the car owners and team that I have behind me."

Sweetening the deal for Walker was that the race fell on his birthday. The driver of the Keen-owned Hunter Truck Sales/Peterbilt Maxim started the main event on the outside of the front row and was in command of second throughout the night.

Walker was trying to run down Swindell when a scary multi-car crash in Turns 1 and 2 on Lap 11 sent Ed Lynch Jr. in a flip after making hard contact with Joey Saldana's Kasey Kahne Racing machine. Lynch walked away unharmed but Saldana was transported with what appeared to be an injured arm to a local hospital for observation. (For updates on Saldana when available, click WorldofOutlaws.com)

When the race got back under way, the intensity level raised with each passing lap. A late caution bunched the field one final time. Sensing tire wear could be a factor, McMahan did all he could to ensure his tires would last through to the end.
"I could see the tires were wearing pretty good so I tried to just ease off and maintain as best I could," said McMahan, who made it back-to-back third-place finishes on the weekend. "We're happy with another top-5 finish. Dennis and Theresa Roth really make this possible and I really owe them a lot for keeping me out here along with Kasey Kahne."

The last lap show stopper capped off an exciting evening of racing that saw 2010 World of Outlaws champion Jason Meyers and 2004 Kings Royal winner Jason Sides battle their way through the Last Chance Showdown for starting spots in the feature. Four-time series champion Donny Schatz and Brad Sweet rounded out the top-5.

Third generation driver Caleb Helms looked to be the driver to beat in the NRA portion of the Kings Royal and used a smooth run to take an early and commanding lead.

Hannagan broke free from the pack to take runner-up honors about midway into the distance, but with a full straightaway lead, the Helms challenge seemed impossible.

With a non-stop pace ensuing, Hannagan took full advantage of lapped traffic which affected Helms’ pace. With a handful of laps remaining, Hannagan shot by Helms to take the lead and eventual victory.

And understandably dejected Helms finished second, with the previous night’s winner, David Gravel, moving from 17th to take home third. Chad Kemenah and Dustin Daggett completed the top five.

July 16, 2011
28th annual Kings Royal

World of Outlaws - 49 cars
Fast Time: Joey Saldana - 13.497

Heat 1 - (8 Laps)
1. 2l-Ed Lynch Jr. [2];2. 15-Donny Schatz [4];3. 83x-Tim Shaffer [5];4. 14-Jason Meyers [1];5. 44w-Austin Wheatley [6];6. 9-Joey Saldana [3];7. 4-Danny Smith [7];8. 96au-Bruce White [8];9. 45-Rob Chaney [9]

Heat 2 - (8 Laps)
1. 49-Brad Sweet [2];2. 83-Paul McMahan [3];3. 14s-Tony Stewart [1];4. 6-Kraig Kinser [4];5. 89g-David Gravel [5];6. 53-Phil Gressman [7];7. 6r-Bill Rose [6];8. 60-Kory Crabtree [8]

Heat 3 - (8 Laps)
1. 11-Steve Kinser [1];2. 27-Daryn Pittman [3];3. 92-Kerry Madsen [2];4. 7s-Jason Sides [5];5. 7l-Darren Long [6];6. 7c-Tim Hunter [7];7. 17m-Marty Perovich [8];8. 6m-Jac Haudenschild [4]

Heat 4 - (8 Laps)
1. 91-Cody Darrah [1];2. 5w-Lucas Wolfe [2];3. 7-Craig Dollansky [5];4. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [4];5. 1zx-Stevie Smith [3];6. 1z-Jessica Zemken [7];7. 71w-Brandon Wimmer [6];8. 1a-Mark Aldrich [8]

Heat 5 - (8 Laps)
1. 17-Tyler Walker [3];2. 2-Dale Blaney [5];3. 22d-Randy Hannagan [2];4. 39-Greg Hodnett [4];5. 78-Todd Kane [6];6. 97-Dean Jacobs [7];7. 3f-Rick Fraley [8];8. 2m-Dustin Daggett [1]

Heat 6 - (8 Laps)
1. 1-Sammy Swindell [2];2. 63-Chad Kemenah [3];3. w20-Greg Wilson [8];4. 2b-Ben Gregg [1];5. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [7];6. 00-Jim Nier [5];7. -Craig Mintz [6];8. 7k-Kyle Sauder [4]

C Main - (10 Laps)
1. 6m-Jac Haudenschild [2];2. 6r-Bill Rose [4];3. 09-Craig Mintz [5];4. 96au-Bruce White [6];5. 1a-Mark Aldrich [9];6. 60-Kory Crabtree [7];7. 3f-Rick Fraley [10];8. 17m-Marty Perovich [8];9. 2m-Dustin Daggett [1];10. 7k-Kyle Sauder [3]

B Main - (12 Laps)
1. 14-Jason Meyers [1];2. 39-Greg Hodnett [6];3. 00-Jim Nier [9];4. 7s-Jason Sides [8];5. 97-Dean Jacobs [20];6. 78-Todd Kane [14];7. 1z-Jessica Zemken [19];8. 93-Sheldon Haudenschild [21];9. 44w-Austin Wheatley [10];10. 09-Craig Mintz [15];11. 4-Danny Smith [16];12. 7c-Tim Hunter [18];13. 2b-Ben Gregg [2];14. 96au-Bruce White [22];15. 7l-Darren Long [12];16. 53-Phil Gressman [17];17. 15h-Sam Hafertepe Jr. [5];18. 6-Kraig Kinser [3];19. 6r-Bill Rose [11];20. 89g-David Gravel [7];21. 6m-Jac Haudenschild [4];22. 71w-Brandon Wimmer [13]

A Main - (40 Laps)
1. 17-Tyler Walker [2];2. 1-Sammy Swindell [1];3. 83-Paul McMahan [8];4. 15-Donny Schatz [7];5. 49-Brad Sweet [5];6. 7-Craig Dollansky [16];7. 00-Jim Nier [23];8. 91-Cody Darrah [3];9. 92-Kerry Madsen [15];10. 14s-Tony Stewart [14];11. 11-Steve Kinser [4];12. 39-Greg Hodnett [22];13. 22d-Randy Hannagan [17];14. 14-Jason Meyers [21];15. 7s-Jason Sides [24];16. 2-Dale Blaney [11];17. w20-Greg Wilson [18];18. 5w-Lucas Wolfe [10];19. 1zx-Stevie Smith [20];20. 2l-Ed Lynch Jr. [6];21. 9-Joey Saldana [19];22. 83x-Tim Shaffer [13];23. 27-Daryn Pittman [9];24. 63-Chad Kemenah [12]

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NRA Invaders - 36 cars
Fast Time: Randy Hannagan - 14.733

Heat 1 - (8 Laps)
1. 18-Todd Heuerman [1];2. 2m-Dustin Daggett [5];3. 22-Randy Hannagan [6];4. 49t-Greg Dalman [7];5. 2h-Dallas Hewitt [2];6. 10j-Jarred Delong [8];7. 22d-Dennis Yoakam [3];8. 17-Jared Horstman [4];9. 41j-Jeremy Powley [9]

Heat 2 - (8 Laps)
1. 28h-Hud Horton [2];2. 1-Kyle Sauder [3];3. 1-Jessica Zemken [5];4. 49-Shawn Dancer [1];5. 27s-Beau Stewart [8];6. 2m-Matt Westfall [4];7. b20-Butch Schroeder [6];8. 4-Josh Turner [7];9. 10c-Bob Carman [9]

Heat 3 - (8 Laps)
1. 6-Chad Kemenah [5];2. 07x-Dain Naida [2];3. 12m-Caleb Griffith [3];4. 82-Mike Miller [4];5. 22d-JR Stewart [6];6. 22-Ben Rutan [1];7. 2g-Joesph Geibe [8];8. 48-Tommy Kerce [9];9. 26-Ryan French [7]

Heat 4 - (8 Laps)
1. 11-Tim Allison [2];2. 40-Caleb Helms [4];3. 89-David Gravelle [6];4. 56-Ryan Meyer [1];5. 34-Luke Hall [3];6. 35-Ron Blair [5];7. 3t-Tony Beaber [9];8. 32m-Derek Hastings [8];9. 2p-Alex Pettas [7]

B Main - (10 Laps)
1. 89-David Gravelle [2];2. b20-Butch Schroeder [1];3. 17-Jared Horstman [3];4. 2g-Joesph Geibe [8];5. 41j-Jeremy Powley [9];6. 10j-Jarred Delong [7];7. 22d-Dennis Yoakam [4];8. 48-Tommy Kerce [10];9. 22-Ben Rutan [5];10. 26-Ryan French [6]

B Main 2 - (10 Laps)
1. 22d-JR Stewart [1];2. 35-Ron Blair [2];3. 2h-Dallas Hewitt [4];6. 2p-Alex Pettas [6];5. 32m-Derek Hastings [8];4. 27s-Beau Stewart [7];7. 3t-Tony Beaber [10];8. 2m-Matt Westfall [3];9. 4-Josh Turner [5];10. 10c-Bob Carman [9]

A Main - (25 Laps)
1. 22-Randy Hannagan [6];2. 40-Caleb Helms [1];3. 89-David Gravelle [17];4. 6-Chad Kemenah [3];5. 2m-Dustin Daggett [5];6. 82-Mike Miller [2];7. 1-Jessica Zemken [4];8. b20-Butch Schroeder [19];9. 12m-Caleb Griffith [8];10. 28h-Hud Horton [10];11. 34-Luke Hall [9];12. 07x-Dain Naida [11];13. 56-Ryan Myers [15];14. 11-Tim Allison [12];15. 18-Todd Heuerman [13];16. 49t-Greg Dalman [16];17. 1-Kyle Sauder [7];18. 22d-JR Stewart [18];19. 35-Ron Blair [20];20. 49-Shawn Dancer [14]