‘Lifetime ban’ and ‘prison’ calls after frightening US dirt racing incident

Elizabeth Blackstock
racing incident MARS late model series American motorsport

One driver intentionally flipped another onto his roof during a dirt late model race this weekend.

A terrifying incident in the American dirt racing has fans calling for the driver in question to receive a lifetime ban — or to face jail time.

The crash in question involved dirt racing driver Bob Garnder, who drove directly into traffic during a MARS Late Model this weekend at Farmer City Raceway.

Fans call for ‘lifetime ban’ for driver involved in terrifying dirt racing incident

A terrifying incident in the MARS Late Model series at Farmer City Raceway in Farmer City, Illinois has race fans calling for a driver to be banned for life — or sent to prison.

During the event at the dirt track, driver Daryn Klein (No. 10) attempted to pass Bob Gardner (No. 4) coming out of a corner. Klein wasn’t quite able to make the move stick, and that saw him hop up on the hood of Gardner’s car. Gardner was then knocked into driver Dylan Thornton.

That likely would have been a race-ending incident, but Gardner — caught up in the frustration of the moment — turned his car around and drove directly into traffic.

 

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Race control immediately threw a caution flag to avoid any high-speed head-on collisions.

Gardner came to a rest on the track, forcing the field to bypass him… and then rejoined the track!

He cut across the infield and rejoined the track just behind Klein; Gardner then shoved Klein into the outside barriers and ran into him again.

When Klein tried to drive off, Gardner struck again. He wedged the nose of his car under Klein’s, flipping the No. 10 onto its roof.

Thankfully, no drivers were injured in the incident, as the low speeds under the yellow flag prevented any major wrecks. But it was more than enough for officials to black-flag Gardner.

Further penalties are likely to follow for Gardner, but the MARS Late Model series has yet to confirm them.

Fans, though, have taken to social media to blast the driver in question for his dangerous behavior, with many branding it one of the most reckless late model incidents in recent history.

“Whoever is driving that 4 car needs a few weeks in prison to think about what he’s done,” one fan wrote on X.

“Unbelievable that ppl think this sorta behavior is acceptable behind the wheel…” wrote another. “Racing, much like driving, is a privilege, NOT a right…”

A third added, “If any driver uses the car as a weapon, they should be banned for life from that track and division.”

“Should literally be arrested for that,” said another.

Others pointed out that, while Klein was driving a little too hard on the first lap of the race, it did not justify Gardner’s response, no matter how upset he might be.

Bob Gardner himself took to YouTube to address the incident from his point of view.

“I wanted to share this video, share a few thoughts about last night,” he began.

“I understand that the haters are going to continue to blast me on the computer and social media and whatnot, any my supporters will continue to support.”

After noting that he didn’t intend to attempt to persuade anyone of his perspective, he issued an apology to driver Dylan Thornton, who was caught up in the initial wreck.

He then continued, “What I did was uncalled for, was wrong, was out of my character — but I did it, and I’ll suffer the consequences for that, whatever that may be.

“In the heat of the moment, I wanted to flatten Daryn’s left rear tire; in my mind, he put me out of contention for not only that heat, but for the rest of the night for a possible win, and in my mind, he wasn’t going to finish that heat race.

“I just wanted to flatten his left rear tire so he could race the heat race, give him a little payback.

“Whether anybody thinks that’s right or wrong, that was my intention.

“Obviously it didn’t go that way.”

He noted that Klein had taken to social media after the incident to claim that Gardner had incorrectly taken the restarts of other events; Gardner then stated that he would share further clips from the restarts and incidents in question for fans to judge.

Many fans weren’t convinced.

“Doesn’t matter what he did or didn’t do, using your car as a weapon is a weak guttered act! Stop making excuses and just own up to losing your mind!” one YouTube commenter wrote.

Others demanded Gardner pay for the damages he caused, and that he step back from the sport.

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