Chester Leroy Gardner (March 16, 1898 – September 3, 1938) was an American

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

, named by promoters as "The Grand Old Man of Auto Racing."He was also known as the "King of the Money Makers" because in the 1930s he was one of only several drivers that made good money at racing. He was killed in an accident during a time trial at the Flemington Fair Speedway when he swerved to avoid a child that had run onto the racetrack.

Racing career

Gardner started racing in 1922 in Colorado. In 1933, he won the Midwest AAA Sprint Car Championship. He was named "Southern Dirt Racing King" twice. Between 1928 and 1938, Gardner made 25 starts in the AAA series, where his best result was third. From 1930 to 1938 he competed in the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

Motorsports career results

Indianapolis 500 results

Ref.:

Sources

External links

"King of the Money Drivers" ''Popular Mechanics'', April 1936, pp. 554-556

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Chet 1898 births 1938 deaths AAA Championship Car drivers 20th-century American sportsmen Indianapolis 500 drivers People from Grant City, Missouri Racing drivers from Missouri Racing drivers who died while racing Sports deaths in New Jersey