ROSSBURG, Ohio — Steve Kinser led all 30 laps to claim his 33rd World of Outlaws victory at Eldora Speedway in Friday night’s Knight Before the Kings Royal at the historic half-mile oval.
Kinser took the lead on the opening lap, powering past polesitter Kenny Jacobs in the first turn to earn his eighth victory of the season. On the first lap, Terry McCarl jumped into the second spot after starting fifth and looked to the high side of the track in turn two and again in turn four for the lead, with Donny Schatz just behind him.
McCarl dove under Kinser on the fifth lap for the lead exiting the second turn, but the caution flag waved, negating the pass. On the ensuing restart, McCarl looked high coming off the second turn for the lead, but Kinser charged down the back straightaway and continued to hold the point.
“Hopefully, we can go back to back and win the Kings Royal tomorrow,” said Kinser. “We weren’t too bad tonight. You have to get started up front. That is what it’s all about right now. There are a lot of good race cars out here, so if you don’t get the right spot you are in trouble.”
While McCarl wanted to be standing in the winner’s circle, he was pleased with his second-place run.
“We had a great car tonight,” said McCarl. “We timed in third and ran strong in the heat. My guys gave me a great car. We junked the car the other night (at Limaland) and you hate to do that. My guys put a brand-new Eagle (Chassis) together and it ran great.”
Point-leader Donny Schatz finished third.
“We found a few things with our race car that we are happy with,” said Schatz. “We know how far we need to go for tomorrow night. We are actually happy right now going into tomorrow night. We’ll give it our best shot tomorrow night.”
Jason Solwold and Jason Meyers rounded out the top five.