The Amalie Motor Oil North American Nationals was an emotional weekend for the Bingham family as the youngest daughter of multi-time World Champion Gary Bingham won her first race moments after Gary captured his own Ironman in Top Sportsman.

Quick Rod driver Lisa Bingham, in her fifth year of competition, clinched her first career win.

This weekend almost looked to be a washout early on, as qualifying was shortened, limiting Quick Rod to one shot at the track and Top Sportsman to two. Mother Nature stole the show on Saturday, so the start of eliminations had to be postponed until Sunday.

After another delayed start on Sunday, it was time to get down to business.

Gary fought through four rounds of competition, with a single in round one, then taking out Gishlain Beaulieu, David Sottila and Royce Freeman before facing off against Ryan Ondrejko in the final round. Ondrejko, who just came off an impressive performance at the U.S. Nationals in the WileyX Pro Stock machine of Jim Yates, gave a good run with an .032 light, running 6.881 on a 6.86 dial. However, Bingham’s .009 light gave him the advantage and he laid down a 7.579 on a 7.55 dial to take the win light with a .015 margin of victory. 

Lisa, Renee and Gary Bingham celebrate after Gary's Top Sportsman win in Baton Rouge.

Bingham took no time to revel in his win as he rushed to crew on his daughter’s Quick Rod dragster in her final round of competition. With consistency on both ends of the track, Lisa worked her way into a bye into the semi-final round.

At three cars, Lisa faced off against long time friend and competitor Jacob Elrod. This pairing was a re-match of Bingham’s final round appearance in 2007 at the Northern Nationals in Martin, Mich.

There, Elrod took the win, but that was not the case this weekend as Bingham got around Elrod by .008 on the big end. Bingham was then supposed to meet up with Brad Coryell in the final round, but Coryell couldn’t make the call due to breakage, and Bingham coasted down the quarter mile to meet her father in the winner’s circle.

It was hard to tell who was more excited over the win.

“This is one of the proudest moments of my racing career, watching my second daughter win her first race,” tells Bingham. “Being able to double up with her was really special and something we’ll never forget! My oldest daughter, Christy, took home an Ironman back in 2002. How many fathers have two daughters with an Ironman sitting on their mantles?”

Lisa was equally overwhelmed with emotion.

Gary watches in the background as Lisa makes her run.

“This is an unbelievable feeling. We were so busy running both cars all day that I didn’t really have time to think about the possibility of us both making it to the winner’s circle. I don’t even know if I’ve slowed down enough now for it to all sink in," Lisa said. "It’s pretty awesome to win my first race and to have Dad win on the same day. That’s something I’ll cherish forever. It’s been an amazing couple of months. I got engaged at the last national event in Martin and now I have my first win! 

“My fiancé, Matt, is a huge supporter of the racing and my biggest fan. I wish he could have been here this weekend, but hopefully there will be many more to come. This win is as much my dad’s as anybody’s. He’s been my coach, crew, and encourager all along. I can’t even express how happy I am to get this win for him. The support of him, my mom, my sister and now Matt means the world to me. I can’t do this without them.

“I have to say a special thanks to Bruce Litton and Matt Weinert for their help when Dad and I got in a pinch between rounds this weekend. Matt is always willing to pitch in and help Dad and I at national events and Bruce has been mentoring me this year and assuring me I was going to get a win. Thanks for the help.” 

A contributing factor to the Bingham wins was the consistency of Ron’s Flying Toilets fuel injection.

Gary Bingham

“Both of our cars were extremely consistent on race day,” said Gary. “We have a great group of associate sponsors who support us with the right parts to get the job done. Ron’s Fuel Injection has been on our cars since 1991 and has carried us to numerous wins and three Top Sportsman World Championships. Doug Hebert has been supplying us with reliable high performance parts since ’93 and he is truly instrumental in our success. Also thanks to Amalie Motor Oil for sponsoring this race and providing us with oil that’s better than it has to be. We would also like to thank Tom Johnson Camping Center, Stroupe Race Cars, Speedtech, Autometer, Bruno’s Automotive Products, Moroso, MSD Ignition, ARP, Goodyear, TCI, Huggins Tires, RJS Racing Equipment, VP Fuels, Weld Wheels, Griffin Radiators, Hedman Headers, ISC Racers Tape, and Strange Engineering.”

Gary won the season opener in Baton Rouge and secured the first spot in the new Tournament of Champions program instituted this year for IHRA sportsman. Lisa’s win now secures her a spot in the Championship race as well.

Just a month or so away, this one race will determine the World Champions in each of the respective sportsman classes. Time will soon tell if Gary and Lisa can become the first father-daughter duo to clinch World Championship titles in the same year.