The first race of the year for the TKS Motorsports #2KS team and driver Craig Dollansky was put in the books last Saturday night. A part failure while running sixth early in the feature cost the team a solid finish, but they are confident with the racecar they have heading into this weekend.
Despite coming out late in the pack (25th), Craig timed in twelfth quick in the 31-car field. “We struggled at Knoxville last year,” says TKS Motorsports owner and crew chief Troy Renfro. “We did well at other tracks, but Knoxville was just a struggle, especially qualifying. We made some changes over the offseason. We qualified twelfth quick. We were a little tight, so we worked on it from there. We were ahead of where we were in qualifying last year for sure.”
A third place finish in the heat race locked Craig into the feature. “We made a couple of changes for the heat race,” says Troy. “The car was a little better, but not quite where we needed or wanted it to be. Dan Musselman from Maxim was a big help for us though. He was down in one and two, and I was in three and four. After the heat race, he got together with Craig and me. He saw a couple of things that I wasn’t seeing and vice versa. Dan was a big help. We were able to make some minor changes that helped us in the feature.”
Starting eleventh, Dollansky worked his way forward quickly in the main event. “I think within five laps we were sixth,” says Troy. “We had just passed Brian Brown and the motor started missing. It got progressively worse. Craig started backing up a little bit. He was just trying to hang on. Finally, it just shut off.”
Fortunately, it was just a part issue. “We pulled the hood off and found that the crank trigger switch had come apart,” says Troy. “A brand new part failed on us. I was relieved that it was the part and not something more serious. I was glad we found that right away.”
Troy is excited about the prospects for the rest of the season. “We were really pleased with the way the car worked,” he says. “We were disappointed in the end result, but Craig felt good in the car. We know we are fast moving into this weekend.”
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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 and Winters Performance Products.
- administrator on Apr 18, 2016
- Article Date: 4/18/2016