While attending General Motors Institute, a youthful Bruce Putney spent his free time hot rodding around East Aurora and Flint Michigan in his 1948 Chevy Convertible.  He began drag racing and was gaining a reputation as a stellar mechanic with very fast cars. 

 Shortly after college Bruce purchased his first new car.  That car was a 1956 Convertible Chevrolet Corvette.  This strategic acquisition veered from the norm about 30 minutes after the paperwork was signed as Bruce began to pull the motor from this future classic.  After a hefty boar job, it was time to head south to see what she could do on the measured mile beach coarse in Daytona Beach Florida.  The number was 142 mph.  Bruce will tell you that at that speed, the beach is not nearly as flat and smooth as it looks.  This, and a couple of less frightening trips down paved drag strips were about the extent of Bruce’s career as a driver.

 Bruce decided to concentrate on the mechanical side and let others take the seat.  He sold his Corvette to start Bruce’s Automotive and ran his Chopped and Channeled 5-window 1932 Ford Coupe for the next 2-years before deciding to go Stock Car Racing.  Little did anyone know that this decision set the stage for what was just the beginning of a long wrenching journey that would eventually induct Bruce into the FOAR Score Hall Of Fame.

 No one could predict what would lie ahead for him as he began to concentrate on being a car owner and building competitive racecars.  Bruce began producing his engineering marvels and there was no shortage of drivers willing to pilot the Putney cars.  Roger Ott drove Bruce’s first stock car in the B-Modified class at Holland & Perry Speedways.  Together they won many features and track championship the Perry Track Championships in the 1960 & 1961.

 Bruce took some time off in the 60's to attend to his automotive repair business and start a family with his wife Kareen.  Bruce and Kareen had two children, Donna and Billy.

 The racing bug that was lying dormant inside Bruce for some time now had bit Bruce again.  This time Bruce would field late models with drivers like Roger Kelly and Bill Watson.  The combination would add numerous victories as well as Track Championships at both Perry and Holland Speedways in 1971 & 1972.  Things were going great until a major setback struck the Putney’s' in 1977.  A fire destroyed the house, racecar shop and everything in it one Saturday afternoon during race preparation.

 After several more years off, Bruce rebuilt his home and race shop and in the early 80's set his sites on Modified racing at Lancaster Speedway.  Bruce and the crew prepared racing rockets for such drivers as Gary Iulg, Gail Barber, Sege Fidanza, Kenny Troyer, Danny Knoll and Joe Stearns.  During the time period from 1980- 1994 these drivers won numerous features and 5 Championships at Lancaster Speedway in the Modified division.

 In Billy’s early teens he began to show that he too had a competitive side.  Over a 4-year period while racing Bicycle Motocross (BMX) Billy won numerous titles and over 200 races.  Also, through High School he proved to be not only a Champion Wrestler, but a Team Captain and MVP in his senior year.  While maintaining a Dean’s List GPA in college, Billy continued to develop his leadership skills as the President of his fraternity.  It was shortly after college when he decided to move from behind the toolbox to behind the wheel.

 In 1992 Billy decided he wanted to drive a racecar in the newly created Sportsman Division at Lancaster Speedway.  For his many years of helping on the Blue Army, Bruce gave Billy a rolling Modified chassis, but told Billy if he was going to race he had to find his own way to support it from there.  Well Billy was more then up for the challenge.  Having never driven a racecar before, it only would take until August 1st of his first year of driving to get that forever coveted first victory.  Billy capped of that first season with the first of 3 consecutive US Open wins.  Billy had thirteen wins from 1992 to 1994 including a Spencer Speedway Invitational victory and the 1994 Lancaster Sportsman Track Championship. It was time for the team to move up to the local version of big time.

 In 1995 Billy and his crew moved up to the Modified Division.  The new team was working out of Bruce’s race shop as a second but separate entity.  Kenny Troyer was driving Bruce’s car at the time and there was a competitive edginess between the 2 teams.  At the conclusion of the season, Billy had won the 1995 Modified Rookie of the Year Award and also in his rookie year finished an amazing 2nd place in the Lancaster Championship Points Standings.  1996 brought another 2nd place season, but this season was much more significant for several reasons.  Billy won his first 3 Modified races in 1996, and 1 of the wins was while driving Bruce’s car in a special event at Evergreen Speedway in Pennsylvania.

 In 1997, Bruce and Billy merged teams and formed Bandit Motorsports.  Their first season together produced Bruce’s 6th Lancaster Modified Track Championship as an owner and Billy’s 1st as a driver.  The 1998 and 1999 seasons resulted in several feature wins and points standing finishes no worse then 4th.  The end of the 1999 saw the team switch car chassis types that would set the stage for the run on the new millennium.

 The crew rolled to a 2000 Lancaster Modified Track Championship.  The team won 2 races and finished 3rd overall in 2001 before quickly rebounding with another Lancaster Modified Track Championship in 2002.  At the end of 2002 the team broke ground on a new race shop that is now known as “The Woodshed”.  The 2003 season was looking bright as the team had the points lead until a situation beyond the their control removed them from championship contention.  Racing for pride, the Bandit Motorsports Team earned the Smith’s Top Dog award with a division high 4 feature wins.  Once the season was over the team took up residence in their new shop.

 As the 2004 approaches the team looks forward for more success.  Bandit Motorsports will continue to be a top contender for years to come.                                                                                           

    
Revised 4/22/04