News from Banning Motorsports

"The Long Way"
2009 Vegas to Reno is the longest point-to-point race held in the USA, and is a race that is on the top of the list of events that team Banning wants to out perform the competition. With the best crew and hundreds of hours dedicated to race notes and car preparation, Banning Motorsports was ready for this adventure that would start taking place months before the green flag would drop.
With half the team heading to Las Vegas, NV on August 18th and then the rest of Banning Motorsports filing in on the 19th, everything was set for contingency and the drivers meeting. With a good night sleep and an early rise team Banning was counting down till go time. There was three class 11 cars that where fielded by Banning Motorsports. The teams were set up with Rick Graf, Alan Dillemuth, Bryan Folks, and Chris Godfrey attempting to get car 1178 to the finish with Gary Williams Jr., Brian Hosford, Tom Shaw, and Jeff Rhodes looking to take that from them in 1156. The third car that was registered for the event was 1123 that was filled with Lee Banning Sr., Kyle Danielson, Lee Banning Jr., and Clayton Buttle. The thing about Banning Motorsports and fielding more than one car is there seems to always be a lot of betting going on between the cars to see who is going to place better than the others.

Day 1
camp v2r The race would start at 10:30 Thursday morning with Rick Graf and Alan Dillemuth leading the Banning cars in the dusty deserts of Nevada with car 1156 driven by Gary Williams Jr. and then 1123 of Lee Sr. The first portion of the race would turn out to be a good one with all three buggies running within 2 miles of each other for a hundred miles and all be in the top four positions. Pit 4 would mark the position were the drivers changes would take place with 1178 arriving first and Rick handing the wheel over to Bryan Folks and they were away, continuing to turn up dirt with the class lead. Next to stop was Lee Sr. who would hand it over to Lee Jr. who would keep the rhythm going for car 1123. Coming in behind Lee was 1156 and Tom Shaw would take over and be the man to keep 1156 up in the hunt. By the end of the first day 1178 was the first to cross the line with a 10 minute lead over second position. 1123 would cross the checkered flag with 1156 behind them. With only a few issues during day 1, it was an overall great performance and a great start to what is the most demanding race of the year.

Day 2
With the start of the second day and 1178 leading the field. With that advantage it aloud the team to make first dust in class starting the second day with Rick and Alan in the buggy. Tom Shaw driving 1156 would be the second Banning car, followed by Lee Sr. in 1123. Shortly after the start 1178 would make contact with another vehicle do to the extremely dusty conditions. They would limp the vehicle to pit one were repairs from Benny and Chris began. Tommy Shaw would have the class lead for a majority of the first half of the day. While leading coming to pit 4 were the driver change for the day would take place 1156 would have a tire go down allowing 1123 to go around him and come to the driver change first. Lee Jr. would take the buggy and keep the hammer down finishing 1st in class for the day. 1156 was having a good day and would have another tire go down but it did not stop the determination of the group to keep moving and finish 4th for the day just before nightfall. With two Banning cars running towards the front all day 1178 continued to have some issues with the motor expiring just after Bryan Folks and Chris Godfrey took over. The evening of repairs went a little long for 1123 which added 30 minutes to there time as they made the necessary repairs to ensure a flawless 3rd day. Great job to everyone that hustled on the wounded 1178 car and getting the front suspension back in working order.
Day 3
group shot With two Banning Buggies left in competition and the top five buggies virtually under a blanket, the whole team new what had to be done in order for a strong finish overall. With Tommy Shaw leading the Banning crew off of the line due to the 30 minute time addition to 1123. Some issues with the oil system on buggy 1156 almost deemed a dnf but again with hard work from the team at pit 4 and 5 and the quick thinking by driver Tom Shaw and Jeff Rhodes the buggy was saved and repaired for Gary to bring 1156 to the finish. Lee Sr. and Kyle Danielson kept a solid pace up and making up valuable time on the morning session until Lee Jr. and Clayton got in the vehicle at pit 5 and put the peddle to the floor which is second nature to Jr. At the end of the event both cars that started the day finished 2nd and 5th respectively on the 3rd and final day of the grueling and famous Vegas to Reno.
The entire team that included Cooper Ericson, Amy Perez, Robert Hosford, Gail Graf, Kathy Beeswy, Gilbert, Gerald Wiley, Tim West, Chris Miller, Scoop Godfrey, Benny Porter, Nicole Banning, Brandy Buttle, Dennis Plante and his wife Terri, Danny Foddrill and a big thanks to team captain Andy MeGaw who with his quick thinking and knowledge lead the organization to a successful event.

The entire Banning group would like to thank the following partners that make this possible. BFGoodrich Tires, Ionearth, Mendeola, KC HiLites, Foddrill Motorports, Fat Performance, Banning Motorsports, Weddie Gears, Action Auto Transmission, Fox Shocks, F&L Fuels, and Slime. Your help and support in supplying the best products on the market is what allows us to compete at the top level. Thank you again and we look forward to more success in the near future!

Banning Motorsports can not thank everyone enough for the effort and time that each and everyone put forth for this event. It is each and every one of you that make this all possible. Next event is the Silver State 300 in Sept. Always remember to put the Hammer Down and get them Elbows Up.

During the event we had Lee Banning Sr. celebrate his birthday as well as Gary Williams Sr.


Sincerely,

Amy Perez-Banning
Banning Motorsports