Craig competes at the Queen’s Royale in Farmington (Mark Funderburk Racing Photo)
(Bill W) October 4, 2016 – In just their second season of existence, the TKS Motorsports #2KS team and driver Craig Dollansky turned in an outstanding season. Amongst the team’s accomplishments were a fourth place standing at Knoxville Raceway, a third place finish in points with the National Sprint League, and a starting spot in the Knoxville Nationals championship event. The season finished up with a top ten run with the NSL in Saturday’s Queen Royale at St. Francois County Raceway near Farmington, Missouri.
With Craig behind wheel in 2016, the team racked up five wins, including three that were worth $10,000 or more. “We had a good year,” says team owner and crew chief Troy Renfro. “We’re happy with the way things went. We had some big wins. We made it into the Knoxville Nationals through our qualifying night. We had a great year. And we couldn’t do it without the great partners we have like Don Lamberti, Casey’s General Stores, Rick and Belinda Lander from Des Moines Industrial Products and Aggressive Hydraulics.”
Battling in the NSL point race all season long, the team would finish third in the final rundown. “I’m very proud of our team,” says Troy. “All of our guys work hard, Scott Parker, Brad Parker the intern, Chad Lander and Mike Welter. We don’t have paid help, and they volunteer their time. It’s always been my wife Tammy and I’s goal to own our own team. We’ve been able to do that.”
Both Craig and the team have agreed to go their own ways in 2017. “We’ve decided to part company,” says Troy. “It’s a mutual decision that hopefully will be beneficial for everyone. We ran forty races this year as a small team. Everyone knows that. Craig deserves more races than what our team can give him right now.”
Troy has a lot of respect for Dollansky. “The improvement from our first year in 2015 to this year has been incredible,” he says. “A lot of that credit goes to Craig. He’s one of the top drivers out there. His involvement with our team made us better. His talent, his knowledge, his focus, everything. He’s definitely raised the bar for our team.”
It’s hard to gauge what the race calendar will look like next year in the Midwest. Troy knows that leaves uncertainty for a full-time racer like Craig. “Beyond Knoxville, we don’t know exactly what next year holds until we see the schedules,” he says. “We’re not a team that can travel very far. Because of that, we can’t give Craig what he deserves, which is a schedule with a lot of races on it with a higher financed team.”
The team and Craig jelled quickly. “Our relationship has been great,” says Troy. “We wish the best for Craig and will do everything we can to help him get a ride that can give him more races. We’re 100% behind him. I’ve enjoyed working with Craig. I think I’ve said it before, but I wish we had worked together back when we were both on the Outlaw tour. He just did a great job for us.”
Meanwhile, the TKS Motorsports team will gear up for 2017. “We know we’ll be racing,” says Troy. “What we don’t know is how much racing we’ll be doing. We’re planning on running Knoxville on Saturday nights, but anything beyond that, we’re not sure of. There’s no schedules out, so we don’t know what we can do.”
Partnering with TKS Motorsports
TKS Motorsports is always open to new perspective partners! Whether you’d like to partner with the team for the full season, or put your company’s name on the nose wing for a night of your choice, contact Troy at tsrenfro8725@gmail.com!
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, 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: Craig competes at the Queen’s Royale in Farmington (Mark Funderburk Racing Photo)
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