KING BRENT: Marks Completes Monumental Week at Eldora with Kings Royal Crown

Marks is First Driver in History to Sweep Eldora's Historical Big One & Kings Royal

ROSSBURG, OH - July 16, 2022 - Within a span of 48 hours, Brent Marks has altered the course of Sprint Car Racing history not once, but twice.

Topping Thursday's long-awaited return of the $100,000-to-win Historical Big One, Marks had found his season-defining victory but wasn't done there. He then came back on Saturday and aced the $175,000-to-win Kings Royal to seal the deal on a week that will never be forgotten.

All told, the Myerstown, PA native left Eldora Speedway with $276,125 following four nights of racing with the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series. At 31 years old, Marks now owns the richest single week in the history of the sport.

In contrast to Thursday's HBO triumph from 14th, the Murray-Marks #19 won Saturday's 40-lap grand finale from the sixth spot. Marks had driven forward to third by Lap 3, worked into second around Kerry Madsen on Lap 8, and then drove by Brian Brown to assume command on Lap 22 of the show. He then held off late charges by Carson Macedo and Donny Schatz to score the biggest win of his life.

"It feels amazing, what an incredible experience from the beginning," Marks mentioned. "Seeing the reaction from a crowd like we had here and sharing the moment with my family and team means the world to me. I've been working really hard to put myself in a position like this and I think we're getting there."

In a fitting ceremony, King Jac XV returned to Eldora as the Royal Sovereign and officially crowned him "King Brent the 39th."

His 13th overall win of the season brings him to four in 2022 with The Greatest Show on Dirt, upping his career total to 12 wins and putting him in a tie alongside Tim Green, Tyler Walker, Don Kreitz Jr., and Brady Bacon for 12th on the All-Time Win List.

The victory makes Marks the seventh driver (Haudenschild, Kinser, Kinser, Blaney, Schatz, Pittman) to score both a Historical Big One and Kings Royal trophy, but he's now the first in history to sweep both Crown Jewel events at The Big E within a single season, let alone a single week.

"Having my name alongside those guys who have helped build our sport is surreal," Marks added. "I've looked up to those guys my whole career, so to be under the same banner as them means the world to me. That's a stat nobody can take away from us, we're the first in history to win both in the same year."

Amidst a historic campaign, one that ranges from his home state of Pennsylvania all the way to Texas and Iowa, Marks has set his next sights on finishing the triple crown with a Knoxville Raceway crown.

"I'd love to compete for a Knoxville Nationals win, but honestly I would be thrilled with a top-five there," Marks continued. "I really want to get myself another National Open. I feel like I let that one get away last year and I'm ready to win it back."

Learning lessons used from Thursday's Historical Big One, Marks slowly picked his way through the field to open up Saturday's 40-lapper. King Kerry XXXI, Kerry Madsen, led the opening seven laps aboard the Toyota Racing Development, Roth Motorsports #83JR, while Brian Brown took away the lead on Lap 8 and held it for another 12 circuits.

With Madsen and Brown disposed of, attention turned to Carson Macedo's Jason Johnson Racing #41 and Donny Schatz's Tony Stewart/Curb-Agajanain Racing #15. Both made late charges at Marks for the top prize but could do nothing in actually passing the #19. 

Falling short of his sixth Kings Royal crown by 2.399-seconds, Donny Schatz narrowly missed out on Saturday's big win. The Ford Performance, Advance Auto Parts #15 was outstanding in the late running, coming to life on the final restart with nine to go. The 10-time World of Outlaws champion hustled into second by Lap 32/40 and almost took the race lead away before fading to accept a runner-up in his 27th consecutive Kings Royal A-Main start.

"The strides we've made with the Ford have been incredible lately," Schatz admitted. "To be competing at the end, where we've struggled lately, I think is a great sign for this team. We'll keep building on this and hope to get another World of Outlaws win soon."

After making a late run on Marks on the high side, Macedo had cut into the gap and made it interesting down the stretch. He was running second and catching the #19 throughout lap traffic with eight to go, but the final restart was doomed as Schatz drove by Macedo and shuffled him out of the picture."

"I felt like I was catching Brent up on the top, but I definitely didn't need that caution," Macedo said. "I didn't know what to do on that restart and I was just perplexed. Getting that close to this big of a win is for sure a letdown. My guys did an incredible job from where the day began after transferring from the Non-Qualifier."

Rounding out the top-10 at Eldora was Logan Schuchart, Kyle Larson, Brian Brown, Cory Eliason, Anthony Macri, and David Gravel.

UP NEXT (Wed-Sat) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series heads east and reignites the PA Posse rivalry with stops at Port Royal Speedway on Wednesday, and then Williams Grove Speedway on Friday & Saturday. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE, or watch every lap LIVE on DIRTVision.

NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (40 Laps) - 1. 19-Brent Marks [6][$175,000]; 2. 15-Donny Schatz [7][$25,000]; 3. 41-Carson Macedo [1][$15,000]; 4. 1S-Logan Schuchart [3][$12,500]; 5. 57-Kyle Larson [10][$10,000]; 6. 21-Brian Brown [4][$8,750]; 7. 71-Cory Eliason [5][$7,500]; 8. 39M-Anthony Macri [22][$7,000]; 9. 2-David Gravel [11][$6,500]; 10. 83JR-Kerry Madsen [2][$6,000]; 11. 49-Brad Sweet [8][$5,850]; 12. 24-Rico Abreu [14][$5,825]; 13. 55-Hunter Schuerenberg [13][$5,800]; 14. 3Z-Brock Zearfoss [16][$5,650]; 15. 18-Giovanni Scelzi [15][$5,625]; 16. 5-Spencer Bayston [20][$5,600]; 17. 83-James McFadden [24][$5,575]; 18. 7BC-Tyler Courtney [12][$5,425]; 19. 13-Justin Peck [19][$5,400]; 20. 11-Parker Price-Miller [9][$5,375]; 21. 10-Dave Blaney [18][$5,350]; 22. 3-Ayrton Gennetten [17][$5,250]; 23. 101-Lachlan McHugh [21][$5,125]; 24. 17-Sheldon Haudenschild [23][$5,000]. Lap Leaders: Kerry Madsen 1-7, Brian Brown 8-21, Brent Marks 22-40. KSE Hard Charger Award: 39M-Anthony Macri[+14]

SIR DAVID: Gravel Wins #TheKnightBefore at Eldora, Prepares for Kings Royal Tonight

Watch $175,000-to-win Kings Royal Tonight on DIRTVision

ROSSBURG, OH - July 16, 2022 - For the second time in a span of three days, David Gravel once again found Eldora Speedway Victory Lane at a Crown Jewel prelim. On Wednesday, it was Joker's Wild; today, it was The Knight Before.

Starting from fourth in the postponed Feature on Saturday afternoon, Gravel quickly worked forward in the Big Game Motorsports #2. He drove by the current championship leader, Brad Sweet, to take second on Lap four and completed a super slider on Rico Abreu to steal the lead on Lap 9.

From there, it was a  bout of lap traffic and tire conservation in the 25-lap afternoon delight special. The Watertown, CT native had just enough tread left on his Hoosier Tire and cleared the scales post-race to score the victory by a margin of victory of 1.409-seconds.

His second win of the week and fourth win of the season brings him to 73 career World of Outlaws NOS Energy DrinkSprint Car Series wins, giving him sole possession of 12th on the All-Time Win List.

It's his fifth-career Eldora Speedway victory and offers a big boost of confidence and momentum into tonight as the 30-year-old chases his first Kings Royal crown. He's topped the Knoxville Nationals and National Open, but the throne and $175,000 payday still eludes him.

"Live I've been saying, we're extremely consistent and right there ready to challenge for wins, we just needed a little tweak," Gravel commented. "Sprint Car Racing is the toughest it has ever been and every single position, every single win is hard to come by. The day show isn't ideal but the drivers, track, and fans all made the most of it I think. It feels damn good to grab two already this week, now we just need to add the big one tonight."

By virtue of his victory this afternoon, Gravel once again reserves the right to qualify whenever he would like during Kings Royal Qualifying this evening. 

"That takes a lot of stress off," he noted on the unique advantage. "We're probably gonna go fairly again and try to set QuickTime. Then we just need to win that Heat from fourth and go after that money."

With the preliminary action all wrapped up, teams are now focused on the 39th Kings Royal tonight on DIRTVision, an event offering a $175,000-to-win, $5,000-to-start Feature.

After leading the opening nine laps, Rico Abreu of St. Helena, CA slipped back to finish second after Gravel cleared him with a slider through traffic. It's his second podium of the week at Eldora Speedway and only adds more momentum ahead of tonight's 39th Kings Royal.

"We've got such great balance right now," Abreu noted. "This Rowdy #24 is awesome to drive right now. It's a pleasure working with Ricky [Warner] and the rest of these guys. Shoutout to you fans for packing this place, even for a day race. We'll get this thing in Victory Lane soon."

While Brad Sweet's winless streak extended to 28 races, the Grass Valley, CA native kept it consistent as he earned his 14th podium finish of the 2022 season in third-place. The Kasey Kahne Racing, NAPA Auto Parts #49 team now turns their attention to chasing a third Kings Royal title tonight.

"We've got a big night ahead of us," Sweet said. "I wasn't good on the starts today, it just felt like I was spinning the tires so bad. I knew we needed lap traffic to have a shot, but David beat us there when Rico got hung up. I could see it all unfolding in front of me, but there was just nothing I could do about it."

Rounding out the top-five in Saturday afternoon's program was Spencer Bayston in fourth aboard the CJB #5, and Hunter Schuerenberg in fifth aboard the Tony Vermeer #55.

Carson Macedo earned the KSE Hard Charger Award with a sensational 24th-t0-sixth run aboard the Jason Johnson Racing #41, matching the largest charge of the 2022 season. Closing out the top-10 behind him was Giovanni Scelzi, Donny Schatz, Anthony Macri, and Justin Peck.

UP NEXT (Wed-Sat) – The World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series concludes a week of racing tonight with the 39th Kings Royal offering a $175,000-to-win, $5,000-to-start Feature. Fans can BUY TICKETS HERE, or watch every lap LIVE on DIRTVision.

NOS Energy Drink Feature Results (25 Laps) – 1. David Gravel (4); 2. Rico Abreu (1); 3. Brad Sweet (2); 4. Spencer Bayston (5); 5. Hunter Schuerenberg (3); 6. Carson Macedo (24); 7. Giovanni Scelzi (9); 8. Donny Schatz (14); 9. Anthony Macri (12); 10. Justin Peck (16); 11. Sheldon Haudenschild (17); 12. Logan Schuchart (25); 13. Cory Eliason (8); 14. Danny Dietrich (10); 15. Brock Zearfoss (22); 16. Kerry Madsen (18); 17. Daryn Pittman (7); 18. James McFadden (23); 19. Kraig Kinser (15); 20. Zeb Wise (20); 21. Parker Price-Miller (11); 22. Brian Brown (21); 23. Logan Wagner (13); 24. Tyler Courtney (6); 25. Jacob Allen (26); 26. Kasey Kahne (27); 27. Sam Hafertepe Jr. (19). Lap Leaders: Rico Abreu 1-9; David Gravel 10-25. KSE Hard Charger Award: 41-Carson Macedo[+18]