2011 Year in Review
They
say time flies when you're having fun. For the Big Game Treestands #7
team, 2011 was an outstanding year as the nine month long season flew by
with the team enjoyed strong finishes all across the country while
motoring to nine victories, a career best in a single year for Craig
Dollansky and an achievement mark that also tied him for the most this
season on the World of Outlaws tour.
After surging from
fifteenth spot up to second to mark a 1-2 finish for Big Game
Motorsports on opening night under the All Star Circuit of Champions
banner, the team suffered some tough finishes after leading the most
laps of any driver, 54 of a possible 90, during the three World of
Outlaws events. Dollansky and the crew of DJ Lindsey, brother Troy, son
Luke, and Tyler continued to battle through the adversity when action
continued two weeks later as the team recorded their first top-ten and
top-five finishes of the season at Pike County Speedway in Mississippi
and then the following night at Royal Purple Raceway in Texas.
The
team would stay in the hunt until the beginning of March at Silver
Dollar Speedway when 'The Crowd Pleaser' powered the Karavan Trailers
Maxim to victory lane at the prestigious Mini Gold Cup leading all 35
laps of the main event. Following other events in California and some
rain-outs along the way the #7 team captured victory next in Oklahoma
during the World of Outlaws inaugural event at the Salina Highbanks.
After
enduring a few more rain-outs 'The Crowd Pleaser' started to heat up
along with the approaching hot summer temperatures as he recorded six
top-tens including three in the top-five before making a huge statement
weekend in mid June. The weekend was in North Dakota as Dollansky swept
action at the tight bullring of River Cities Speedway aboard the
Aggressive Hydraulics paint scheme sprinter including a last lap, last
corner, pass around Jason Sides to seal his fourth triumph of the
season.
Hard work continued to pay off for the team as they
opened up the month of July with another victory in the late stages of
the race at Dodge City Raceway Park where the Big Game sprinters once
again recorded a 1-2 punch. A strong run and near victory at Beaver Dam
Raceway as part of the Jim Boyd Memorial a week later resulted in a
runner-up finish heading into 'The Month of Money'. Strong charges at
the Kings Royal and Summer Nationals yielded top-ten finishes before
another victory at Lebanon Valley Speedway in New York on July 24th.
Following
a trip through Canada, the #7 team returned to 'The States' by flexing
their muscles the beginning of August during the most grueling race of
the season, the 55-lap Ironman 55 event at I-55 Raceway, where the
Eaton's Aeroquip Performance Products #7 recorded victory #7 of the
season when Dollansky powered into the lead on lap 4 and raced to the
$20,000 payday.
A top-ten finish at the Knoxville Nationals was
followed by the teams second trip to Canada and then to the Pacific
Northwest where the Elk River, Minnesota native won the opener of a
two-day show at Skagit Speedway in Washington. After a top-five finish
during the second trip of the season to Silver Dollar Speedway as part
of the Gold Cup finale, Dollansky was on the verge of another win in the
inaugural Outlaws event at Antioch Speedway but trouble in lapped
traffic would erase the strong finish.
The Big Game Treestands
#7 team made a quick rebound however at the very next event as they
cruised to victory at Clay County Fair Speedway, a race Craig and wife
Julie promoted for the fifth straight year. After the mid September
event in Iowa with the season winding down the team kept the momentum
rolling by reeling off seven top-five finishes, nine in the top-ten,
during the eleven remaining events including the World Finals when the
team capped off the season with a 4th and 3rd place finish among the 50+
cars competing.
With the 2011 racing season in the books, the
Big Game Treestands #7 team is already hard at work at the shop in
Princeton, MN as they build on the success from this year and prepare
for 2012 which will be here before you know it when actions gets
underway in February during the 41st Annual DIRTcar Nationals in
Florida.
2011 In Numbers 2 - Last Chance Showdown victories 3 - Pole Positions 3 - Quick Times 5 - Hard Chargers (won overall KSE Hard Charger Award) 5 - Position in the final driver standings 6 - Position in the final owner standings 9 - Feature victories (tied 1st overall) 29 - Top-five finishes (4th overall) 46 - Top-ten finishes (tied 4th overall) 218 - Feature laps led (4th overall)
Craig
Dollansky Racing competes on the World of Outlaws circuit, the most
premier sprint car series in the world, with great sponsors in Big Game Treestands, Karavan Trailers, Aggressive Hydraulics, and Eaton's Aeroquip Performance Products.
Other supporters of CDR include Snap-on, Schoenfeld Headers, Morrison
Racing Engines, Maxim Chassis, Integra Shocks, Sander Engineering,
Overnight Wraps, Simpson, GATR Volvo, Butler Built Seats, Wings
Unlimited, QuickCar Race Products, Saldana Racing Products, FK Rod Ends,
KSE Steering Gears, Astro Titanium, Ray's Autobody, Premier Powder
Coating, Spectro Oil, Bob's Bike Shop, Justice Brothers Products,
CarMate Trailers, and R&R Enterprises. -- Check out Craig Dollansky Racing on Facebook and Twitter!
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