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TKS Motorsports- Special Knoxville Weekend Yields Another Podium!

Inductions for the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, beautiful weather and another great crowd made last Saturday night at Knoxville Raceway special. The TKS Motorsports #2KS team and driver Craig Dollansky had a good night as well. The Elk River, Minnesota driver made the charge from eighth to finish on the podium at the checkers. This weekend, the World of Outlaws come to town for a two-night showdown.

Craig qualified ninth quick, and raced from fourth to third in his heat. He would start eighth in the main event and finish third. “We changed a couple of things qualifying,” says TKS Motorsports owner Troy Renfro. “They didn’t really make us better though. The rest of the night went well. It was an all-around good weekend for Knoxville. We were happy with our feature run.”

The team is still looking for their first win at Knoxville. “We still have some things to work on,” says Troy. “We’re very good away from Knoxville, but we’re creeping up on things there. We’ve made some really good gains. We’re hoping to be better this weekend. That’s our goal every week.”

Troy attributes the team’s success as of late partially to a change in the structure of the team. “We’ve said before that we’ve made some positive changes,” he says. “They aren’t just with the car, but with the team. Letting my guys do what they do and taking a step back, has been a very positive thing. I can take a step back. Scott Parker is great. I can communicate to him and he gets things done along with Brad, Mike and Chad.”

The team is looser as well. “We’ve tried to have more fun and laugh a little bit more,” says Troy. “Craig is the most intense, serious guy I may have been around. He’s a lot like me. So we’ve tried to lighten things up a little bit. Brad Parker is our guy that does that. He is very good at keeping things light-hearted. I really appreciate what Brad has done for us as a team.”

Troy says his driver is 100% this year as well. “The other thing that’s really helped is that Craig is healthy again. I like to say he has his swagger back. For years, you knew when Craig had that swagger in his walk, he’d be on his game. He had some health issues last year. His main priority was getting healthy over the winter, and he has. He has that swagger back. He’s starting to get some notoriety nationally again, and that’s the result of the whole team’s effort.”

As far as the Hall of Fame inductees, Troy has a personal connection with at least three of them. “It was a great day with the Hall of Fame inductions,” he says. “It was just good all the way around. All of the inductees are deserving, obviously. A few of them were extra special for me, because they had a personal impact. Shirley Kear is a great lady. She’s been in the sport a long time, and was well deserving. I worked for Frankie Kerr when I was just starting to get out on the road back in 1990. That was the first year he was in the (Stan) Shoff car. He taught me a lot. He was all about being consistent. Working in the shop is how you do that. Frank had the greatest work ethic that I was ever around. He taught me a lot.”

Another inductee had an impact on Troy’s roots in the Pennsylvania area. “The most deserving guy I thought may have been Bud Grimm,” he says. “My family knew him well. That was very long overdue for him to be in the Hall of Fame. He was such an innovator in the day. I have the utmost respect for him, and people like Shirley and Frank. All of them had a big impact on my life.”

Are there any special preparations with the Outlaws coming to town? “We don’t approach anything different,” says Troy. “I did the Outlaw thing for years, and everyone seems to get revved up about it. We just need to keep doing what we’re doing. We look at it as a race with a few more cars.”

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