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TKS Motorsports- Knoxville Podium Run Sets Up Big Weekend!

The progression continued for the TKS Motorsports #2KS team and driver Craig Dollansky last Saturday night at the Knoxville Raceway in Iowa. The Elk River, Minnesota driver stormed from row five to finish third in the 20-lap feature event. This weekend, the team heads for the newly remodeled Jackson Motorplex and the $10,000 to win Folkens Brothers Trucking Spring Nationals in Minnesota on Friday. They’ll return for the first $5,000 to win National Sprint League event at Knoxville Saturday.

Craig timed in 11th quick Saturday after coming out 23rd in the order. “We made a lot of changes last week,” says Troy Renfro, TMS Motorsports crew chief and owner. “A lot of it has to do with Craig and I being ‘Old School’. We had hung onto some of our past ideas with the car, and with the tires and other things that are different now, you can’t do that. I think we’ve done a lot of those things for so long and been successful, but sometimes you need to change your ways of doing things.”

The team has been looking for more, especially at Knoxville. Most of that centers around getting Craig comfortable in the car. “I’ve always been a big believer in working together with the driver, and we’ve been able to do that,” says Troy. “To give Craig the feel and balance he wants, our communication is really important. We had been good away from Knoxville in the past, but we struggled on the big half-mile. We’ve just found some more speed this year.”

Troy says things are going great under the hood. “We bought a new HP motor over the winter and it runs great. Our other motor is taken care of by Jeff and Sam Jones and Scott Gerkin with 1 Way Technologies. That thing is running really well too. I think we have the motor side handled. We’ve been qualifying a little better, but we were still looking for the balance we needed.”

They found it on Saturday, when Craig picked his way forward from ninth and ended on the podium. “Things seem to be headed in a good direction,” says Troy. “There were maybe a couple things on the car we could have changed to get Craig to the front quicker. Overall, we were happy with the balance of the car. Struggling at Knoxville is unusual for him and for me. It was good to be up front again.”

Brooke Tatnell led much of the race before settling for second behind the other Casey’s General Stores car of Brian Brown. “I was happy for Brooke too,” says Troy. “We’re best friends, and we talk about every day. It’s been good for Craig and Brooke as well. Brooke’s been in kind of the same boat we’ve been in in that he’s ‘Old School’ too. If the car is telling you something, you better compensate for it. We’re looking forward to running with the NSL this weekend.”

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