Bankston Racing

The Month of May Turns Out To Be A Very Challenging Month For Bankston Boyz Racing

31 May 2010 - Anyone who has been around any form of racing for prolonged periods realize that many factors must come together for a team to win a championship. It is crucially important to have a superior engine program, excellent team management, world class crew members, and great marketing partners to name but a few. In this washing list is one of the more intangible, yet necessary items, luck!

The month of May has been one of the more challenging in recent years for Bankston Boyz Racing. After a DNQ for driver Stan Allen at the VI annual Georgia Drags in Cecil, GA it was decided that a test session was in order on the black and gold ’68 Tim McAmis Camaro. So, the first weekend of May we made the short run from Terry, MS down to No Problem Raceway located in Belle Rose, LA. Once we got unloaded and set up we were not permitted to take the track due to an expired tech inspection, which took until about 3:00 to clear. During this time everything from street radials to super comp ran down the track at a respectable pace.

Stan staged the car for our first attempt around 4:00 and knowing the racing surface would not really be prepped for a Pro-Mod we decided to make a 330’ hit. When he dumped the clutch we made it out around 200’ before the car drifted right out of the groove and then blew the hides and unloading the suspension. The starting line was ok but the mid track area was poor and could not hold the power of the 5.3 Reher-Morrison powerplant. We made a few more hits without making a full run because even with detuning the nitrous systems we still blew the hides when the third kit came in. We are always happy to come down to test at No Problem Raceway due to the fact that many of our fans come out to visit when our team is operating under low stress levels.

Special thanks to one of our biggest fans, Melvin Landry of Chac Bay, LA, for spending the day with us. Melvin a recent survivor of colon-rectal cancer was able to come and hang out with us even though he was still weak. Bankston Boyz encourages all of our fans that are over 40 years of age to go and get tested for symptoms. Catching this disease in the early stages is crucial to proper case management.

New crew member, Charlie Stelly, was at the track tuning a 69 Camaro that he built after the car was a total loss due to fire. Just looking at the brilliant orange paint job and how clean it was one would never know the history, it burned completely to the ground! On 10.5 tires the 69 Camaro and a Shaffirof powerplant took the track each time ahead of us and it looked good! Nice work Charlie!

By the time the ADRL Speedtech Virginia Drags III rolled around on the weekend of May 21-22, 2010 we were somewhat confident the revamped McAmis Camaro could punch into the field. Stan Allen coming off his first DNQ in Valdosta needed to get in and go rounds in order to have a shot at the points by season’s end. This was the first time in well over a year that Bankston Boyz Racing was represented by only a single team.

Driver John DeFlorian missed this race due to the fact that his son was graduating high school. I talked with John extensively prior to this event and he was noticeably distressed given the choice of going to Virginia to race, or watching his son walk the stage. Ultimately, John decided to put the “fatherly” hat on and place his helmet on the shelf and sit out this event. This hurt our racing effort due to John falling out of the top eight in the points for the Battle-For-The-Belts. On the other hand, I commend John for living up to the core values embraced by Bankston Boyz Racing and the ADRL in that “family is first” because our time on earth is finite as was tragically displayed in Valdosta in April.

I was not able to attend the race in Virginia so the information divulged here is based on what was broadcast over the internet. Brian Olsen and Bret Keppner did a fantastic job reporting from the tower. This was the first time in 29 national events that I was unable to attend, but the reporting from trackside made me feel like I was actually there. For those fans out there that have not ever listened to the live streaming audio I strongly recommend it!

To sum it up Stan Allen struggled with the Mississippi Foundation Repair sponsored ’68 Tim McAmis Camaro on all 3 attempts Friday, and was once again left with the final qualifier to bump into the 16 car field. Bump in he did by running down the 660’ on a 3.954et at 191.51 mph placing him in the number 10 spot. Stan had a first round matchup against the Puerto Rican driver, Isaias Rojas who qualified in the number 7 spot on a run of 3.941 and 190.62 mph.

After servicing the car the Boyz returned to the lanes for the first round of Pro-Nitrous eliminations. Stan Allen staged his steed and this one was over at the starting line due to a red light foul by -.013 rt for Allen ending a challenging weekend in Virginia. Rojas cut a .032 light on a run of 3.977 at 189.20 mph as compared to Stan’s 3.973et and a 190.89 mph.

With this Bankston Boyz Racing packed up and made the long trek home. Go to our results link on this site to see complete Pro-Nitrous results.

Team owner, Michael Bankston, decided that more testing was in order and decided to take the ’68 McAmis Camaro and the ’68 David Janes Camaro to Steele, AL to have a prolonged test session over the Memorial Day weekend. After servicing both cars at the race shop in Terry, MS both rigs pulled out around 4:00 on Friday afternoon to make the short 5 hour hop over to Alabama Dragway in Steele.

While enroute to Steele the rig with the David Janes Camaro had a front left steer tire blow out between Tuscaloosa and Birmingham in a heavy thunderstorm. Crew member David Shelton was driving and I was shotgun, after “manning up” on the wheel David brought the rig under control and off the right shoulder safely. We sat on the shoulder for 6 hours before repairs were made and we were once again on our way.

We woke up Saturday morning to thunderstorms and had the privilege of liquid sunshine for the entire day with a 70% chance of more on Sunday. Based on this it was decided the best thing to do was return home without even making one hit. What a frustrating and expensive trip that was. Track owner Jason Collins was really cordial and was working the track between showers. Just about the time he would get the surface ready for testing the skies would open up and piss rain again. The newest member of the Mickey Thompson 3 second club, Gary White, rode his Harley down from New Market, AL to hang out with us for a test session that never happened. Thanks for the support Gary!

With this we wrap up the month of May only to find driver John DeFlorian falling from 6th in points five spots to 11th, and driver Stan Allen dropping one spot from 13th to 14th overall in points. Looks as if the luck card has been used up for the time being and we truly hope thing turn around soon for Bankston Boyz Racing. We will have both drivers at the next ADRL event in Martin, MI next weekend with hopes of going rounds.

Bankston Boyz Racing wishes to thank our sponsors: Mississippi Foundation Repair Specialists, TeaCo Geophysical, Marion Docks, Red Line Oil, Ross Racing Pistons, Speedtech Innovative Nitrous Solutions, and Vicci Custom Apparel for their continued support.

Regards,

Mark Teague