|
Our Mission
Dave Turner Motorsports and the Turner-Bunch Motorsports Group are dedicated to performing at the highest levels in both the
racing and marketing aspects of the motorsports profession. We make every effort to promote our sponsors and thier products
in a positive manner at the race venues and promotional events such as the Off Road Expo or SEMA conventions.
Our History
Dave Turner combined his success as a professional motorcycle racer, his background as the off road racing coordinator for
Mazda Motors of America and his experience in off road and stadium racing to form Dave Turner Motorsports.
In November of 1985 Dave entered his first off road, the granddaddy of them all, the Score Baja 1000. He surprised many
of the veterans in off road racing with his ability to make the class 7 Mazda perform.
In 1987 Dave built a Mazda B2600 class 7S truck and again participated in the SCORE/HDRA series, finishing in the top
5 in points in 1987,1988 and 1989. This was the heyday of factory support in off road racing and the 7S class was filled with
talent such as Spenser Low, Rob McCachran, Scott Douglas, Mike Falkowski, Billy Bunch and many others. It was a great time
for 7S with factory support from Ford, Mazda, Nissan, Toyota, Jeep, and Isuzu and entries as high as 46 trucks.
In 1990 Dave and Crew Chief Jeff Stromgren took the Mazda truck overseas competing in Guam, Hawaii, and Japan with some
local short course races thrown in. The Mazda finished 2nd in a 6 hour endurance race in Guam, 2nd again in Hawaii, and then
1st at the Tokoyo Dome in the U.S. Off Road Championships. The Mazda was also Pro-force truck champion in a the local short
course series that year.
In 1992 and 1993 Dave joined up with Dave Wolin Motorsports where he built, maintained, and tested various rally cars
(truck,production,and GT)for participation in divisional and national competition. In addition Dave built two ITE road racing
cars for the grueling Nelson Ledges 24 hour endurance race and built and prepped the Pikes Peak winning Mitsubishi 3000GT
driven by John Norris. Dave brought homr the legendary "Chief Mechanic" silver urn from Pikes Peak that year.
In 1994 Dave was joined by veteran rally navigator Bill Gutzmann and familiar crew chief Jeff Stromgren in a Dave Turner
Motorsports prepared Mitsubishi Eclipse. Dave and Bill competed in the SCCA/Michelin Pro Rally series and won the national
championship in the production class after 10 races in the 11 race series.
For the 1995 season the Dave Turner Motorsports team once again fielded their own vehicle, a Mitsubishi D50 pick up to
compete in the SCCA/Michelin Pro Rally series. Dave teamed up with Ben Bradley from Portland, oregon and the team won their
second national title in a row. Winning back to back national championships in two different classes had only been accomplished
once before in Pro Rally history, by rally great, Rod Millen.
After retiring in 1996 to concentrate on his fabrication and race-prep business, Dave was once again lured into racing
a Ford Explorer for the Ace Motorsports team. Racing the last race of the 1999 season, Dave drove the Ace Motorsports owned,
Dave Turner Motorsports built Explorer to its first victory. Joining the Ace team for 2000, the team finished every mile
of every race in 2000, as well as winning the Tonopah 300 and finishing 2nd at the Terrible's 250. The group dominated the
2001 season, winning the first three races to clinch tghe Best in the Desert Class 3100 championship. Racing the Explorer
one last year in 2002, the team won the grueling Nevada 1000 and again finished every mile of every race that year.
The Dave Turner Motorsports team decided to take the 2003 season off and parted ways with the Ace Motorsports and concentrated
on securing sponsorship for a new effort in 2004. Early in 2004 Dave Turner Motorsports received a new Ford F150 and began
construction of the new truck top compete in the 8100 stock full class in the Best in the Desert series and a few selected
Score races. The four wheel drive F150 proved to be a handfull and although competitive, it also proved to be delicate in
the front suspension and steering area. One of the highlights of the F150 era was taking first place and ending the 3 year
Hummer winning streak at the 2005 San Felipe 250.
Early in 2005 Dave was fortunate enough to join forces with Billy Bunch, another highly experienced and successful off
road racer. Billy, along with his wife Debbie are multiple Baja winners and past Score champions. Together Bill and Dave
created the Turner-Bunch Motorsports Group and have been building an off-road team to be reckoned with ever since. Since
joining together the team has grown into a brand new 3000 sq. ft. shop with an additional 2400 sq. ft. storage facility.
We have built a brand new 2007 Ford Explorer Sport Trac to compete for the 2008 BITD championship and are rebuilding our F150
and changing everything over to our new paint scheme to offer a more appealing marketing package to potential sponsors. Look
for the Turner-Bunch racing effort to continue to be a force in off-road racing for a very long time.
|
