as mine is. It is so important to me to be able to go racing with my family. I can’t tell you what a big deal that is to me. My family supports me and they want to be there with me. I wouldn’t miss the opportunity to spend as much time as possible with them.”

Despite the fact that his children are getting older, Savell says they still make time to be a part of the team when they can.

“My oldest daughter Kristen just graduated from college and she’s going to be a school teacher, so her time is pretty limited any more. When she was younger she always went with us, though, and I’m trying to get her to work around her schedule so she can go to Michigan with us. My youngest girl Jordan is a huge racing fan, and when her other activities permit she’s always at the track with us.”

When asked if he came by his love of racing through a family connection, he responded by saying, “My family really has no background in racing – I’m the first generation. I just love cars and have been interested in them all of my life. When I was a young guy I had an old Oldsmobile that I tore around the streets in. I was so hooked on cars that the night of my high school prom I was out in the garage pulling the motor out of the car and putting a new cam in it!

“When I was around 17, I started going to a local dragstrip with the Oldsmobile and it took off from there,” Savell said. “I moved up to better and faster cars over the years and got real involved in bracket racing. I have always driven door cars and always had clutch cars. I just love clutch cars. My friends and I were grassroots bracket racers and that was our gig for quite a while. Eventually my cars got fast enough to where I could run in Quick 8 programs, so I got into that. In 1998 I bought a Pro Mod car and started running some events at local tracks. I also got into Top Sportsman, and I did real well there. The biggest win I had was at an IHRA event at Red River, which I think was in 2000.”

Savell’s focus changed when he became a hired gun, as he explained.

“I eventually sold my car and started driving for other people, in bracket cars and Pro Mods. I had known Michael Bankston for a long time, and in 2006 he called me and told me that he wanted to run a two-car team. I did that for a couple of seasons until Michael decided to go back to having just one car. The situation changed again soon after that, and when Michael called me the second time, well, the rest is history. We are again now a two-car team with me driving a Rick Jones-built 2013 Camaro and my teammate David Janes driving a ’69 Camaro that he built for Michael.

“Without a doubt these are some of the best guys in the sport to work with,” Savell said. “I especially have to thank Mark Neibis, Billy Banaka, and most of all Michael Bankston, because without him I wouldn’t be here. Michael not only owns the cars but he tunes them as well. Without his tuning expertise we would not be out here doing what we do. He’s a great guy to race for. He gives me good stuff and every time I go to the track I know that I have as good a chance as anybody to win. I feel like we’re very competitive and I also feel like we’re racing against the best nitrous guys in the country. The baddest hot rods in the country are in the PDRA and it’s just an honor for us to participate in Pro Nitrous.”

Although the Bankston Boyz team is highly competitive they are always looking for ways to improve, and recent major upgrades to Savell’s car underscore that commitment.

“We made a powerplant change and we’re real excited about that,” Savell said. “We have gone with a fuel-injected Pat Musi motor and it looks like it’s going to be a major step forward. They put the engine in the car at Pat’s shop up in North Carolina and we wanted to go testing with it right away. Unfortunately it was raining everywhere we tried to run, so we had to go to a little local track to shake things down. We just wanted to be sure everything worked, so we didn’t try to really get after it. Pat flew down to be with us at the track, which was absolutely a great experience for us. He really cares about what goes on with our program. Pat is a great person to work with and we have never had that kind of hands-on experience with an engine builder before. It’s the first time I have driven a Pro Mod car with a fuel-injected motor, and I love that. We really have a stellar race car now and I think we will be even more competitive.

“Even though we couldn’t do much at the track we were at I could tell that the car really wanted to get after it,” Savell added. “We’re going to try and test at least once before Michigan, which I think will be a very good race for us. That’s a real good track and if we have good air I believe you’ll see the E.T. record broken.”

When asked his impression of the PDRA, he again emphasized that all-important factor in his life – family.

“What I like about the PDRA is that it’s the same as my close family is to me. It’s just like a tight-knit family group. The owners are all racers and it’s good to be racing with racers. They are not there to make money – they’re doing it because they love to race, like the rest of us. We’re just a bunch of go-to-work guys and we all work real hard. When you put that much passion into something it’s just got to work. Everybody there is passionate about the PDRA or they wouldn’t be there. I am very, very glad that these guys put this program together. It gives us a place to race at a very high level. I think you’re going to see the PDRA in the next couple of years exceeding anything that has come before. Because of their vision and passion there’s nowhere to go but way up. I hate to see what up is, actually, because I’m really pleased with where we are now! Anything past that is just a bonus.”

Photo Credits: Gary Rowe / RaceWorks.com / PDRA66.com