Column By: JIM CLARKE / BANKS RACING – PORTLAND, ONT – Race car drivers at the weekly level dream about winning every time they climb in behind the wheel. Depending on the event, there could be 20 or more entries in the field, making the chance of turning that dream to reality very rare.
Joe Banks has been part of the DIRTcar 358 Modified wars at Brockville Ontario Speedway for 14 seasons. In his career, the father of 2 from Portland, Ontario has logged a pair of main event wins. Following the Saturday, July 30th event, the 35-year-old currently sits 6th in the point standings, with a handful of races remaining on the schedule.
“It may have been a couple of years since my last feature event win, but my team and I are still having as much fun at the racetrack as we ever did,” said Joe Banks. “I haven’t made it to victory lane yet in 2022, but so far this year we’ve had 3 top-5 and 8 top-10 finishes in just under a dozen starts. Close to 30 different teams have made at least one start in the 358 Modified division at Brockville to this point.”
Joe Banks – who works as a truck driver at Willows Agriservices – says that he and his wife Paige have made many life-long friends in their years of racing. And now with their children – Melcolm and Mila – participating in the weekly kart club at Brockville, they’re likely to follow the same path.
Behind the scenes and at the track, Joe Banks’ equipment is prepared and maintained with help from his parents Pernie and Cynthia Banks, his wife Paige, along with Melcolm and Mila and Tyler Hazelaar.