mike gardner - the bluebandit / ice mike

MIKE HAS DRIVEN A WIDE VARIETY OF BOTH DIRT AND ASPHALT CARS, GO CARTS, LATE MODELS, MODIFIEDS, MIDGETS, SPRINT  AND A DRAG CAR. HAVING WON IN EACH CLASS OF CARS AT LEAST ONCE  IN 18 DIFFERENT STATES, EVEN HAVING RUN IN CANADA.

WINNING SOME 973 TIMES, FAST TIMES, TROPHY DASHES, HEAT RACES, A, B &C FEATURES.

3 TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS

5 FAST TIME TRACK RECORDS

9 CLEAN SWEEPS, FAST TIME, TROPHY DASH, HEAT RACE AND FEATURE, IN ONE EVENING

3 SPORTSMANSHIP AWARDS

HISTORY OF THE NUMBER 72

THE ORIGIN OF THE NUMBER 72 IS THAT MIKE GRADUATED FROM THE GENEVA COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL, GENEVA, ILLINOIS IN 1972. "THE CLASS OF 72". MIKE GARDNER PLAYED SPORTS FOR THE GENEVA VIKINGS, FOOTBALL, WRESTLING AND TRACK. THE GENEVA VIKING COLORS ARE BLUE AND WHITE. MIKE GARDNER'S CARS BECAME BLUE AND WHITE.

" THE BLUEBANDIT" ORIGINATED IN 1975 WHEN A SPORTS WRITER COVERING THE FARMERS CITY RACEWAY. FARMERS CITY, ILLINOIS WAS WRITING ABOUT THE YEARLY COUNTY FAIR SPECIAL. WHEN MIKE CAME TO THE RACE AND WON IT ALL. FAST TIME, WON THE HEAT RACE AND THEN THE FEATURE. HE CALLED MIKE "THE BANDIT" IN HIS FIRST ARTICLE. THIS WAS BECAUSE IN HIS FIRST TIME AT THE FARMERS CITY RACEWAY MIKE HAD STOLEN THE PURSE. THE FOLLOWING WEEK AFTER WINNING AGAIN THE WRITER INTERVIEWED MIKE, HE ASKED IF MIKE GARDNER MINDED BEING CALLED "THE BLUEBANDIT" MIKE REPLIED THAT HE RATHER LIKED IT. SO  MIKE BECAME KNOW AS "THE BLUEBANDIT", 

IN 1971 MIKE GARDNER STARTED RACING AT THE SYCAMORE SPEEDWAY , SYCAMORE, ILLINOIS WHILE MIKE WAS A STUDENT AT GENEVA COMMUNITY  HIGH SCHOOL. MIKE HAD BEEN GIVEN A DRIVING LESSON AT MAZON SPEED BOWL, MAZON, ILLINOIS A FEW WEEKS EARLIER BY HIS FATHER, ARNIE GARDNER. IN MIKE'S FIRST HEAT RACE, STARTING IN THE REAR OF THE FIELD, MIKE WORKED HIS WAY UP TO FORTH WHEN THERE WAS A WRECK RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. MIKE NOT KNOWING WHAT TO DO HE TURNED RIGHT AND HIT THE WALL. AFTER THE RESTART MIKE WORKED HIS WAY FROM THE BACK TO THIRD WHERE HE FINISHED. THIS BECAME AN OMEN FACT IS EACH TIME MIKE MORE TO A DIFFERENT CLASS OF CAR HE FINISHED THIRD IN HIS EACH OF HIS STARTS. WHILE NEVER GIVING UP, THAT DIDN'T  LAST VERY LONG, WINNING CAME SOON.

IN 1972 WHILE A SENIOR AT GENEVA COMMUNITY HIGH SCHOOL, GENEVA, ILLINOIS TWO NOTEWORTHY THINGS HAPPENED. FIRST AT GRADUATION NAN JEAGER GAVE HER SPEECH SAYING HOW MIKE WOULD SOMEDAY WIN THE INDIANAPOLIS 500. MIKE HAS TRIED TO LIVE UP TO  EVERYTHING NAN SAID EVEN THOUGH HE HAS NEVER WON THE INDIANAPOLIS 500 , HE HAS WON OVER 900 RACES AND COUNTING, MIKE HAS NEVER FORGOTTEN WHAT NAN JEAGER SAID TO INSPIRE HIM. NANS WORDS ARE STILL INSPIRING MIKE. THANK YOU NAN VERY MUCH !!!!!!!!! 

SECOND, WAS MIKE WINNING HIS FIRST EVER RACE! 

IN 1973 MIKE WON HIS FIRST FEATURE

IN 1974 MIKE WON THE OLD MILWAUKEE CLASSIC 250 

IN 1975 MIKE GARDNER "THE BLUEBANDIT" WENT TO A TRACK THAT HE HAD NEVER BEEN TO OR SEEN, FARMERS CITY RACEWAY. A TRACK THAT HIS FATHER, ARNIE GARDNER " THE GENEVA FOX" HAD TOLD HIM ABOUT. MIKE GARDNER "THE BLUEBANDIT" SET A NEW TRACK RECORD AND BECAME THE FIRST MAN EVER TO GO UNDER THE 16 SECOND MARK WITH A 15.88 SECONDS. WHAT MAKES THIS RECORD VERY SPECIAL TO MIKE IS THAT IT WAS HELD BY NO OTHER THAN HIS FATHER ARNIE GARDNER "THE GENEVA FOX".

IN 1975 MIKE AGAIN WON THE FIRST OF HIS TWO OLD MILWAUKEE CLASSIC 250 LAP RACES

IN 1976 MIKE GARDNER "THE BLUEBANDIT"SET MORE MILE STONES. 

FIRST, MIKE WON TWO CHAMPIONSHIP AT TWO DIFFERENT TRACKS, SYCAMORE SPEEDWAY AND FARMERS CITY RACEWAY. TALK TO MANY TEAMS AND THEY WILL TELL YOU WINNING ONE CHAMPIONSHIP IS HARD ENOUGH BUT TWO TAKES REAL WORK AND DEDICATION.  

SECOND, RACING 6 NIGHTS A WEEK MIKE WAS ABLE TO WIN 5 FEATURE RACES IN ONE WEEK.

MIKE HAS SAID TIME AND TIME AGAIN THAT HE NEVER WOULD HAVE DONE ANY OF THIS IF IT HADN'T BEEN FOR THOSE MEN AND WOMAN THAT HELPED PREPARE, FIELD AND MAINTAIN THESE CHAMPIONSHIP CARS.

IN 1982 AGAIN CAME BACK TO SYCAMORE SPEEDWAY TO WIN ANOTHER CHAMPIONSHIP, IN DOING SO SET ANOTHER RECORD 14 FEATURE WINS IN A ROW. EACH BEING DONE FROM THE BACK ROW. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE BUT MIKE GOT CAUGHT UP IN A BOUNTY SITUATION BECAUSE HE WAS WINNING EACH WEEK, HE WAS SPUN OUT BY LAPPED CAR TO COLLECT THE BOUNTY. MIKE WAS ABLE TO GET A THIRD PLACE FINISH BECAUSE THERE WAS ONLY 3 LAPS TO GO. HOWEVER, MIKE WAS ABLE TO WIN EVERY FEATURE THROUGH THE END OF THE SEASON AND THE CHAMPIONSHIP. FINISHING THIRD IN ONE FEATURE YET WINNING EVERY OTHER FEATURE  

IN 1982.

SINCE 1983 MIKE HAS NEVER RUN  FOR A CHAMPIONSHIP TO THIS DAY, NOT TO SAY NEVER AGAIN. MIKE HAS RUN MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF RACE CARS TO BECOME A MUCH BETTER ROUNDED DRIVER. STARTING AT AN EARLY AGE IN GO CARTS, THEN LATE MODELS ON BOTH DIRT AND ASPHALT,MIDGETS ON DIRT AND ASPHALT, MODIFIEDS ON BOTH DIRT AND ASPHALT, SPRINT CARS ON DIRT. WITH 973 FIRST PLACE FINISHES IN MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF CARS, MIKE FEELS HE IS COMPETITIVE BECAUSE HE HAS DRIVEN A LARGE VARIETY OF CARS.

"ICE MIKE" CAME FROM A DIFFERENT SPORTS WRITER WHILE WATCHING A MIDGET RACE AT MENDOTA FAIR GROUNDS, MENDOTA, ILLINOIS. WHILE WATCHING MIKE DRIVE HIS NUMBER 72, MIDGET FROM THE BACK TO THE FRONT. DURING THAT RACE THERE WAS A MULTI CAR WRECK. TWO CARS WERE FLIPPING THROUGH THE AIR AND OTHERS BLOCKING THE TRACK. MIKE GARDNER PASSED UNDER ONE FLIPPING CAR WHILE DRIVING THROUGH THE ACCIDENT. A PICTURE RAN IN THE MIDWEST RACING NEWS SHOWING MIKE DRIVING UNDER A YELLOW CAR NUMBER 2 WHILE AVOIDING OTHERS. THE WRITER WAS AMAZED THAT MIKE WAS ALSO LOOKING UP AT THE GUY ABOVE HIM WHILE DRIVING THROUGH THE ACCIDENT. LATER THE WRITER INTERVIEWED MIKE AFTER THE RACE AND AGAIN IN THE WEEKS TO FOLLOW. THE WRITER COULDN'T GET OVER HOW COOL MIKE HAD BEEN IN NAVIGATING HIS WAY THROUGH THE ACCIDENT. THUS HE CALLED MIKE GARDNER "ICE MIKE" FROM THEN ON.

MIKE GARDNER "THE BLUEBANDIT" HAS HAD MANY GREAT PEOPLE HELP OVER THE YEARS SOME OF WHICH ARE GONE NOW. FIRST IS ARNIE GARDNER, JAMES DIFAZZIO, DAVID FENDER, JOHN KENNEDY, TIM TOPPLE AND JANE GARDNER, MY MOTHER.

OTHERS THAT HAVE HELPED BEYOND WHAT WORDS CAN SAY EARL CLEMENT JR, JIM BENNETT, DON FENDER, DAVID RICKER, DAN MOELLER, STEVE AND BOB DEVERAU, TIM REMPE, STEVE SHAY AND MANY MORE.

MIKE GARDNER "THE BLUEBANDIT" WAS THE DRIVER BUT NEVER WON ALL THESE RACES BY HIMSELF. GREAT MECHANICS, ENGINE BUILDERS AND SPONSORS HAVE MADE THIS ALL POSSIBLE.

MIKE IS VERY PROUD OF WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR IN RACING, 973 FIRST PLACE FINISHES AND HE'S NOT DONE YET!

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