Banning Motorsports Hits Bump In The Road at San Felipe 250
San Felipe, Baja California
After a strong finish at the Parker 425 where the team took first and second place, Banning Motorsports headed south to San Felipe for the Mastercraft Safety Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250. With a 2012 championship wrapped up for Bryan Folks in Henderson and the 1-2 finish at the BITD season opener in Parker, the team was clearly on a roll.
They arrived in San Felipe on the Monday prior to the race to do some prerunning and to adjust the car for the sandy whooped-out terrain that makes up the San Felipe course. Hours were spent behind the wheel checking out the course to find the fastest lines through the endless whoops and deep silt. The crew meticulously tweaked on the car; hounding the drivers for every ounce of information they could get to perfect the tune to make them faster.
As the chase crews headed out to man their positions on the morning of the race, Lee pulled his #1023 into the staging lanes. They were ready to duplicate the success they had been building throughout last season and into 2013; they were hungry for a win. At the drop of the flag, they charged off into desert. All the hard work put in before the race seemed to be for nothing, as the car was not handling in fact, it was a beast to drive, something was amiss.
They met the chase crew at mile 27 so some adjustments could be made to the car. The changes made the car work better but it was not where they needed to be to hang with the faster racers out front. They pressed on as fast as they were able until mile 100 when they had a fuel injector problem that stopped them cold. The issue could not be repaired in the field. In only 100 miles, they went from being a top contender to being out of the race. There is only one way to win but a thousand ways to lose in desert racing.
“We did our best as usual,” said Lee Banning, “It just wasn’t our day. All of our chase guys and girls are the best out there in the Dirt, I can’t thank them enough for the hard work they put in. I also need to thank all of our sponsors; General Tire, Ford Racing, Neo Synthetics, FOX Racing Shox, KC Hilites, Foddrill Motorsports, Weddle Industries, Action Auto, Eibach Springs, Select Glass, P.C.I. Race Radios, MasterCraft Safety and Azuñia Tequila. Without your support, we would be lost in the Dust.”
“At The Mint 400 we will be running all 3 cars; the 1023 with Lee, Lee jr, and Chris, the 1178 with Bryan, Rick, Marley and Alan and the 1124 rookie car with Ali, Fernie, Bradley and Cory. We are looking forward to building on the great day we had at Parker.”
Visit www.banningmotorsports.
Photography By: Brian Binkert
Bink Designs – www.binkdesigns.com
2nd Photo By: Art Eugenio
Get Some Photo – www.getsomephoto.com
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Category: Event Recap, Offroad
