For the second year in a row, the TKS Motorsports #2KS team and driver Craig Dollansky won the National Sprint League event at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines. The win on Sunday paid $5,000. The team also racked up another podium finish at the Knoxville Raceway on Saturday. This weekend, they’ll hit another pair of NSL shows, Friday in Jackson, Minnesota, and Saturday, back at Knoxville.
It was another great event in Des Moines. “Tony Moro and his promotion people do such a great job with the track in Des Moines,” says TKS Motorsports owner Troy Renfro. “We were able to go out and get quick time about mid-pack and that was a great start to our night.”
After Craig went from sixth to third in his heat, it was time for two-lap match races to determine the starting order for the main event. “Bret Nehring put up money for the match races,” says Troy. “I think it’s great to have guys like him sponsor a car plus give back to the sport the way he does. That helps all of our racers. It was great to win that event for our team.”
That put the #2KS on the pole, and the track crew had things ready. “They did a fabulous job with the track,” says Troy. “In 25 minutes, they reworked it, and it was ready to go at feature time. It was in great shape. The track crew did a tremendous job.”
Craig went on to lead every lap for the team’s second NSL win of the year, and their second in as many years in Des Moines. “It’s always big to win close to home like that,” says Troy. “It makes it really special. The whole family was there, a lot of our marketing partners, Don Lamberti, Casey’s, and Rick and Belinda (Lander), my in-laws who own Des Moines Industrial Products were there. It’s really great to be able to win one for them again.”
The team also had Webb Family Farms on the car for the win. “We really want to thank Webb Family Farms of Mitchellville for being on our wing Sunday night,” says Troy. “These one-night deals are really important for our team to cover some expenses. We’re still trying to find some sponsorship there to fill our wing space.”
Troy is also happy with the motor program right now. “We ran our HP Motor both Saturday and Sunday, and it runs great. Our 1 Way Technologies motor runs great as well. All of that is in place.”
Saturday at Knoxville, Craig timed in seventh quick before running third in his heat. He would run up front in the feature and finish third. “We’re still just a little bit off at Knoxville,” says Troy. “We’re happy though, we’re a lot closer there than where we were.”
Troy attributes the improvement to some adjustments he made with the team a few weeks back. “We’ve made some small changes here and there,” he says. “It hasn’t all been with the car. We’ve made some changes with the team too.”
He points to Lamberti as a big reason for the team’s success “Don Lamberti has been a great help to us,” says Troy. “Not only did he build Casey’s from the ground up, but he does so much for people in the state of Iowa. A lot of things, people don’t even realize. I took some of his advice about delegating more. I have a great group of people helping me. Scott and Brad Parker, Chad, Mike…everyone does a great job. Instead of me having my hand in everything all night, this helps me keep an eye on the racetrack and take a step back and look at the big picture. My guys aren’t paid. We aren’t like some of the other teams in the pits that have a full-time paid crew. So we take pride in the job we’re doing with what we have here.”
- administrator on Jun 01, 2016
- Article Date: 5/31/2016