Illinois Race Car Driver Deserves Lifetime Ban For Risking Lives By Angrily Driving Into Oncoming Traffic

Bob Gardner put other drivers’ lives at risk when he drove into oncoming traffic during his most recent race on the MARS Championship Series. His unruly behavior is deserving of a lifetime ban from the sport.

He is very fortunate that a caution flag was administered prior to a potentially catastrophic wreck.

Gardner, a veteran driver at this point in his racing career, has more than 7,000 followers on Facebook and TikTok. That is a pretty big deal on his level of competition. He is known as ‘The Pink Panther.’

@bobgardnerracing

However, I would imagine that the size of his follower base will take a hit after his most recent actions. Fans of racing already turned against him.

Who is Bob Gardner?

The midwest-based dirt Late Model driver hails from Washington, Illinois. He competes on the Midwest Auto Racing Series and the Lucas Oil and WoO tours, and in DIRTcar events. He drives a 4G Longhorn powered by Pro Power engines.

His 2025 season has been impressive. Gardner ran 22 Late Model events this year with nine top-10 finishes, four top-five finishes and one win.

All of this goes to say that the 47-year-old knows better than to do what he did.

The MARS Championship Series continues to grow.

This latest event took place at Farmer City Raceway in Illinois, about 65 miles southeast of Peoria and 27 miles northwest of Champaign. The Midwest Auto Racing Series features Late Model cars on a dirt track.

Its total points fund recently rose to $80,000 with the champion earning $25,000, $15,000 for second, $10,000 for third and various bonuses for consistency. Perhaps the additional financial incentive played a role in Bob Gardner’s frustrations.

An ugly incident ended with wreckage.

The unfortunate sequence of events started when Bob Gardner went wide to the outside on the far turn at Farmer City. Daryn Klein went inside.

Klein could not hang on to his line as he came around the corner and slid up the dirt track into Gardner, pushing him into the wall and causing a wreck. Gardner was not pleased.

Although he had every right to be angry, the manner in which he expressed his frustrations is absolutely unacceptable. His behavior is deserving of a lifetime ban.

Bob Gardner turned around on the front straightaway and drove the wrong direction into oncoming traffic. He proceeded to chase Klein around the track, pushed him to the wall and repeatedly bumped into him until his car flipped upside down.