By Bill W
May 24, 2016 – The TKS Motorsports #2KS team and driver Craig Dollansky claimed a big win last Friday night at the Folkens Brothers Trucking Spring Nationals at the newly renovated Jackson Motorplex in Minnesota. The Elk River, Minnesota driver led the distance, and was the class of the field with a high level NSL field assembled. The team followed Friday’s win up with a solid fourth place run in the first NSL race of the season at the Knoxville Raceway in Iowa Saturday.
TKS Motorsports owner and crew chief, Troy Renfro, is impressed with the work done on renovating the Jackson Motorplex. “You can’t say enough about what Tod (Quiring) and his staff has done at Jackson. There’s still some things to do, but that place is totally different than where it was a couple years ago. It’s pretty phenomenal what they’ve done.”
Despite coming out late, Craig laid down quick time on the night. “Qualifying is the one thing we’ve been working on the most,” says Troy. “It seems like we’d been good away from Knoxville, but we had room to get better. We’ve changed some things and we were creeping up on it. Friday night, we went out late to qualify and we came away with quick time. We can’t thank Sam and Jeff Jones, Scott Gerkin and everyone from 1 Way Technologies enough.”
After finishing third in the heat race, the #2KS finished second in the Dash and earned enough points to start on the pole of the main event. “We were good at Jackson last year as well,” says Troy. “We’ve been tweaking a few things the last couple of weeks to get better, especially at Knoxville. We’re still working on things all the time, but I’m pretty happy right now. I think Craig is too.”
Craig would lead the distance in the feature, and was never really challenged in his win. “We were really good all night,” says Troy. “There was a really strong field there. Ian Madsen, Terry (McCarl), Brian Brown, Danny Lasoski, Kerry Madsen, and the list goes on. There were some big money teams there, and we aren’t a big money team. Craig is a great driver. To go out and win like that was so huge for us.”
The good qualifying continued Saturday at Knoxville, when Craig timed in fourth quick. “Everything went pretty well at Knoxville,” says Troy. “We were really happy to have Neumann Brothers Construction with us and on our front wing. They had all their people up in the Hall of Fame. That made it a really good night.”
After a run from fifth to third in the heat race, Craig started the feature fourth. He took the lead in the early going. “In the feature, I could just tell we were a little too good, too early,” says Troy. “I kind of knew we may be in trouble. I couldn’t figure out why we were so loose on the right rear, but when Craig came in, the left rear tire had shrunk an inch and a half. Sometimes that happens. He did a hell of a job to hang on to fourth.”
The win at Jackson and top five at Knoxville has the team a close second in NSL points. “I was really happy with the way the weekend went,” says Troy. “The guys were happy too. Friday, my daughter Katelyn got her academic letter. I was a little upset, because I had to go to Jackson and miss her ceremony. I felt really bad about that. At least we brought home a trophy.”
Two more NSL shows are scheduled for this weekend. The series returns to Knoxville Saturday, before moving to the Iowa State Fair Speedway in Des Moines Sunday. The team’s win in Des Moines with the NSL in 2015 was their first. “We’re excited for Des Moines,” says Troy. “A lot of our marketing partners are right there. They were able to be with us last year when we won in Des Moines, and that made it very special for us. That was our first win.”
TKS Motorsports is always open to new perspective partners!
TKS Motorsports would like to thank Casey’s General Stores, Des Moines Industrial Products (DMIP), Aggressive Hydraulics, 1 Way Technologies, AL Driveline, AO Designs, All Star Performance, ATL Racing Fuel Cells, Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, Butlerbuilt Professional Seat Systems, Fibreworks Composites, FK Rod Ends, Hoosier, Indy Race Parts, KSE Racing Products, Mag Tech Ignition, Maxim Racing Chassis, Schoenfeld Headers, Schroeder Torsion Bars, Tony Moro Collision Center, Tony Moro Powdercoating & Sandblasting, Vahlco Wheels, Webb Family Farms, Wilwood, Winters Performance Products and Gail Dielman.
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Photo: The TKS Motorsports team celebrates their win at the Jackson Motorplex Folkens Brothers Trucking Spring Nationals