How
It All Started...
News 2003:
DCS Performance Engineering started in 1993 when owner Dave Gawronski decided to quit being a race spectator and try racing as a competitor at the Dells Motor Speedway. Knowing very little about sourcing parts and supplies, Dave set out to build his first race car by himself using what the salvage yards had to offer. A cage kit from Lefthander Chassis, a rebuilt engine from friend and neighbor Jim Hulberg, and hand painted graphics from a local sign painter made a winning race car of a 75 Malibu that Dave had been driving to work.
That first season was the kind of experience that will make a racer for life. Numerous feature and heat wins and a track championship - a rookie's dream. The following year proved that the freshman wasn't just lucky, another championship and wins at 2 tracks in 2 divisions as well as consistently being fast qualifier, 16 times in 20 weeks of racing. The next challenge proved to be a humbling experience. In 1995, Dave purchased a late model from Kevin Cywinski, a slightly used Artgo engine from Steve Holzhausen and spent the whole season building a car instead of racing. The car was ready for a shakedown by seasons end and off to LaCrosse for the Artgo season finale Octoberfest race. After an encouraging first outing (the car ran and didn't wreck) it was wait for spring and go racing full time.
The '96 season brought frustration, not one win, not even a heat race. Maybe the driver wasn't the key, the equipment was his edge. Lo and behold the more involved the team got with chassis and set-up, (like the first car) the better the results, and by '99 with a brand new race car, the team was a consistent top 5 contender. As this was happening, Dave was also spending time developing ways to make racing easier as well as more exacting in specs. and repeatability of his cars. This is where the Unijig product line came into being.
Before they built that new car in '99, Dave was searching for ways to repair the 3 soon to be obsolete cars he already owned. The chassis they had been running was no longer being built and a jig was needed to repair what would inevitably be wrecked. The jig was so well received by other racers and race fabricators that Dave turned his attention from driving to Engineering and Manufacturing as well as building cars for other racers in the lower divisions. Once again the equipment seemed to prove itself the advantage, everyone in a DCS race car was winning races. Not to take anything from the customer/drivers, but the cars were good!
The late model race cars were still eluding Dave, but with the help of Ed Holmes, that soon would change. Dave hasn't captured the big titles, but the win column is starting to post entries again, enough to keep things interesting at least. From the experiences and connections racing has given Dave, he and his wife Jennie have marketed the Unijig and DCS Performance Engineering while operating their original core business Gawronski Signs. DCS Performance has become a racing and performance parts supplier as well as being a custom fabricator, and will soon be opening a NEW retail performance parts store.
DCS will be winning races for a long time, but they want to share that experience with as many customers as possible. Winning may not be everything, but as long as you're already competing why not do it best.
News for 2010:
For the past four years, DCS Performance has operated a retail performance parts store at 941 E. Main in Reedsburg, Wisconsin. In 2006 we joined forces with Mark Sanborn of Tri-Mark Performance. Mark is one of the racing industries premier head flow specialists and offers CNC machining, hand parting, and cylinder head repair in addition to our complete performance parts line.
We're still at it, and a lot more of you are customers now than in '03.
Thank you!