Slick Racin Gardner (born February 25, 1972, in

Buellton, California Buellton is a small city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It is located in the Santa Ynez Valley, west of Solvang. The population was 5,161 at the 2020 census, up from 4,828 at the 2010 census. Located at the junction o ...

), is a former professional

racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

driver who most notably raced in the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

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 ...

for

Simon Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...

Team Scandia Team Scandia was a short-lived American auto racing team that competed in the Indy Racing League between 1996 and 1999, also entering the 1998 NASCAR Cup and the 24 Hours of Daytona on three occasions. The team traces its origin to when Andy Eva ...

. Previously, Gardner tested the

Green Monster The Green Monster is a popular nickname for the left field wall at Fenway Park, home to the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. The wall is from home plate at the left-field Foul line (baseball), foul line, making it a popular target f ...

land speed car at Bonneville for four years, becoming the youngest driver ever to top 500 mph in 1988 at the age of 16. He drove off-road vehicles in the High Desert Racing Association from 1991 to 1993, and was eighth in points and the rookie of the year in the

American Indycar Series The American Indycar Series (AIS) was an American open wheel racing series founded in 1988 by racing driver, owner, and businessperson Bill Tempero. The series utilized year-old (and older) chassis and engines from the CART series and later the I ...

in 1993. After a second year in the series, he tested for the

Project Indy Project Indy was a car racing team owned by Andreas Leberle that competed in the CART Championship Car series and the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. Leberle was a former chief mechanic for Euromotorsport, and like Euromotorsport, Project Indy ...

team, which was competing in the IndyCar World Series. Gardner intended to debut in the new

Indy Racing League IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...

in 1996 at Phoenix. Despite failing to pass his rookie test in the "Test at the West" because of an engine failure, Gardner was entered at the last minute with Tempero/Giuffre Racing. However, further mechanical issues in practice left him unable to pass his test and compete. At the

, he competed for

, qualifying 25th on the second day of qualifiers. He retired after 76 laps with a suspension failure, being credited with a 25th-place finish. After Indy, Gardner would compete in one

ARCA Racing Series The ARCA Menards Series is an American stock car series, the premier division of the Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA). It is considered a minor, semi-professional league of stock car racing, used as a feeder series into the three nationa ...

race, at

Charlotte Motor Speedway Charlotte Motor Speedway (known as Lowe's Motor Speedway from 1999 to 2009 due to sponsorship reasons) is a quad-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Concord, North Carolina. It has hosted various major races since it ...

, finishing 18th. After retiring from racing, he became a stunt driver for television and motion pictures.

Racing record

Complete IndyCar Series results

Indy 500 results

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Racin 1972 births Living people IndyCar Series drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Sportspeople from Santa Barbara County, California Racing drivers from California