Richard Petty notched his 200th NASCAR Cup Series victory at Daytona Int’l Speedway with President Ronald Reagan in attendance; SPEED SPORT marked its 50th year with a special pullout section; and promoter Earl Baltes sent shockwaves through the short-track industry by paying $50,000 to the winner of the inaugural Kings Royal.
The year was 1984. The average income was around $21,600, a gallon of gas sold for a buck and a dime and a new Ford Mustang convertible stickered for approximately $13,500. Simply put, $50,000 was a lot of money.
Owner and promoter of Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, Baltes knew he had to sell plenty of tickets to cover the $100,156 purse, so it was no surprise when a full-page ad detailing the Kings Royal appeared in the June 27, 1984, issue of SPEED SPORT.
The surprise was that Baltes used a sizable portion of the ad space for the following:
HEAR YE! HEAR YE!
This summons is being served to let it be known to all the people across the land including the kings, queens and their courts, the emperors, dukes, nobles, knights, marquis, earls, counts and pages, when the checkered flag falls and the dust settles on July 28 in the year of our lord 1984, a man will have conquered what no other man has accomplished. After he has been crowned by the high priest, history will have been made and from that day forth he shall be known as the king of all kings.
Scheduled for July 27-28, 1984, the inaugural Kings Royal was to be an unsanctioned sprint car event. According to the ad, “Track Rules Prevail — no nitro, no big blocks, no side spoilers of any kind, 25-foot square wing, 2×2 nose wing.”
As for the format, the Friday night card consisted solely of three rounds of qualifying with each driver’s fastest lap being his official time. The four fastest cars went straight to the feature with the fourth-fastest driver on the pole.
The Saturday night portion of the show started with six heats, “straight-up, staggered starts,” with the top three finishers in each advancing to the main event. The top two cars from the last chance race completed the 24-car field for the 40-lap feature.
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