Banks was the first driver to pass a “rookie test” at Indianapolis when it was implemented for the 1936 race. He drove relief in ’37,’39 and ’40 and placed 21st in the 1938 race.
      In 1947 he won 30 midget features. In 1950 he won the National Driving Championship in the big cars and was second to Bill Vukovich in the National Midget points.
      Banks won the 1941 ARDC Championship on the East Coast and it was at Freeport Stadium on Long Island that his values of fair competition were displayed. When the Marchese team of rough and tumble drivers Shorty Sorensen and Harry McQuinn showed up for the race, a group of drivers sought out the promoter and threatened to load up if they were allowed to run. The one dissenter in the “strike” was Henry Banks.
      After retiring from driving, Banks became the second Director of Competition for the newly formed United States Auto Club, replacing Duane Carter, Sr.
      Henry Banks died on Dec. 18, 1994.