Henry
Banks

Henry Banks was born in Croydon, England, in 1913 and grew up in Royal Oak, Michigan. His father was an early European racing driver. Banks began racing in 1932 and found success in midget cars. He was the first driver to pass the rookie test introduced at Indianapolis from 1936 onwards. He took part there as a relief driver in 1937, 1939 and 1940, and finished 21st in 1938. In 1941 he won the American Racing Drivers Club championship in New England.

After a break during the war, he won 30 midget races in 1947. In 1950 he became AAA National Champion, taking the title in a three-way fight in the final race of the season. That same year he finished second in the AAA midget standings.

The Indianapolis 500 counted towards the Formula One World Championship from 1950 to 1960. Banks started it three times: in 1950 in a Maserati, in 1951 in a Moore and in 1952 in a Lesovsky. His best result was sixth place, and he scored no championship points. After he stopped racing he occasionally tested cars and later became Director of Competitions at USAC. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2023.

Source: Wikipedia, “Henry Banks”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.