1978 Ryan “Rygar” Gardin was born into this world a fan of racing.  His father, Mario Gardin raced cars from 1972 through 1986 in both SCCA and IMSA clubs, so Ryan was no stranger to the racetrack and the wonderful sights, sounds and smells of racecars.

After years of watching local and pro racing at his hometown track Infineon Raceway, dreaming of the day it would be him rounding turn 2 with the wheels squealing, Ryan got his driver’s license and really started to visualize what it would be like to drive a racecar.  Often, he drove his street car as if he was actually in a racecar, but that’s another story…

Knowing he loved driving fast, Ryan ran HPDE (High Performance Drivers Education) events and some “track days” with the Volvo Club of America.   After a few years, Ryan decided he was ready to step up and make an attempt at road racing.

In late 2006, he purchased a stock 1991 Mazda Miata and planned to slowly build it into a race car -one piece at a time-to eventually race in the very popular SCCA Spec Miata series.  Well, one thing led to another- and 6 months and a few hefty credit card purchases later, the car met all of the safety standards to actually attempt the 2007 SCCA Driver’s School.

Ryan attended the SCCA Driver’s School in 2007, one year earlier then he had planned, and ended up starting on the front row for both of his run group’s races. He did very well in the races and graduated the school with very high marks.

Roughly 4 months later Ryan decided to run his very first SCCA race at the racetrack he had the most driving experience with- Thunderhill Raceway.  It was the “Sizzling Summer” regional event held on July 15th.  Ryan had 2 main goals for his first race: finish, and no body contact. He accomplished both goals finishing 32nd out of 40 drivers and had a blast. 

A couple months later he decided to test his hometown track, Infineon Raceway, about 5 miles from his house.   Not having raced there before, Ryan qualified and finished in both regional races that weekend, and went on to run in the Spec Miata Festival with over 60 other Mazda Miatas. He had no major incidents, no body contact and improved his skills and lap-times throughout the weekend.  A lifelong dream was now a reality.

Ryan looks forward to running more SCCA Regional races in 2009 and may also run some NASA races as well (see 2009 racing schedule coming soon).  He is very excited about improving his racing skills and looks forward to continue to race hard in the very talented and competitive Spec Miata class.