5/26/09: The 2009 season is highly unlikely, looking ahead to 2010
Ryan is itching to get back in the car

RentMoney Racing driver Ryan Gardin probably will not run in the 2009 SCCA Regional season. He is looking forward to racing again, but the #29 car most likely will not see the track this year...At least not in a sanctioned racing event through SCCA. Ryan is looking forward to next year when he can commit more time and effort to racing. If things change, he may catch a late 2009 race.

 

 

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3/20/09 Ryan still not sure if he's racing in 2009
Wants to run Thunderhill Double in May

RentMoney Racing driver Ryan Gardin may not run in 2009. With a wedding to prepare for, and a home he's remodeling to sell, "These rough economic times aren't the best times for me to try and squeeze in some racing," Ryan said. "As most folks know, club racing is NOT a cheap hobby, so taking a break and spending extra money on priorities is the smart move." Ryan is still hoping to race the Thunderhill Double in May, but won't know until a few weeks prior to the event.

2008 NEWS:

11/01/08: Rent Money Racing heads for the off season
2008 comes to a close..

RentMoney Racing had so much fun and learned alot in 2008. We are looking forward to racing in 2009. The website will be updated after future races. As of now Ryan is planning on running the 2009 Season Opener at Infineon in Late March, we are still waiting to see how Sean's car is coming along. From what I've seen the paint came out great.I will continue to add news updates in 2009 and when I have time I will add some new photos and videos too.

 

09/08/08: Regional # 8 & 9 plus 2nd Annual Spec Miata Festival
Ryan competes in 3 Spec Miata races at Infineon over Labor Day weekend.

Ryan wrapped up his 2008 racing season at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, CA by competing in the 2 regional races and the bonus Spec Miata Festival Race. Ryan did not have his best qualifying session for Sunday's 1st regional race, he qualified 59th out of 67 drivers with a lap time of 2:02.6. The races at Infineon always are a little crazy...65+ cars barreling up to turn 2 can get pretty wild. Ryan ran a clean race, passed a few cars and ended up 49th overall, not running any faster than his qualifying times.

Qualifying for Monday morning's regional race and Festival were almost identical to Sunday's race. Ryan started in the same spot, 59th and only shaved a tenth off the Sunday's times. Ryan also ended up finishing in the exact same spot-- 49th out of 67 drivers! He ran his fastest lap ever at Infineon Raceway during that race-- a 2:01.3. "Damn, that was fun! I think I ran the 2:01 I wanted", the #29 driver said while exiting the car. Small victories...but victories. In the 2nd Annual Spec Miata Festival, the grid set based on the morning race's qualifying times.

Ryan was excited to run the Festival race again, as it was the weekend's "Main Event". No prize money, no points, just good ol' fashion bragging rights. 61 cars competed in the event and Ryan ran another clean, smooth race. He had some great battles with Steve Torrence throughout the race. He felt he could pass him in turns 4 or 11, but Steve ran a great defensive race the last few laps. Ryan was passing other cars in turns 2, 7 and 11 and grinning ear to ear. The rookie driver finished 37th overall and had "one hell of a good time!"

Ryan looks forward to the Season Opener next year at Infineon Raceway in March. He hopes to have his car dialed-in and plans on running faster lap times and being more consistent at the very technical racetrack so close to his home. He continues to improve as a racecar driver with every event he runs, and his confidence is higher than ever. Video coming soon.

 

07/30/08: SCCA REGIONAL #7 - Thunderhill
Ryan runs ITA and SMT race.

In the S. F. SCCA Regional's 7th event at Thunderhill Raceway, Ryan started and completed his first ITA race. He ran 2 races during the weekend- the ITA race and the Spec Miata Toyo (SMT) race. The ITA race would be Ryan's first race with other cars besides Mazda Miatas. "It was fun mixing it up with cars with drastically different speeds." Ryan said. "Some were really fast, some were much slower, I really had a lot of fun".

Ryan's car felt fast all weekend, but didn't seem to be handling that great. "The car felt slick, as if I had to fight with it all weekend to keep it on the track", Ryan stated after the race weekend. He qualified 21st out of 27 in class (26th out of 36 cars overall). He ran a clean race and resulted in an 18th place finish in class (23rd overall). Even though it was a "small" field, it was Ryan's first top 20 finish.

Less than an hour later Ryan lined up in pre-grid for the SMT race in the 42nd spot, in his slowest qualifying times since his first race. Ryan jokingly commented, "I'm getting slower every time I come here, I don't get it! At least I'm consistently slow." The 46 Spec Miata's took the green flag in the 90+ degree heat.

After making a few passes in the early part of the race, Ryan had an opportunity to pass 2 other cars battling in front of him. As he headed up the hill in turn 9, the 2 cars in front of him had locked up a bit and Ryan had ended up lifting and braking so much to prevent from hitting the car in front of him, the back end lightened up and cost him to get really loose and almost spin. This would cost him not only the 2 positions he thinks he could have taken, but 3 more, as cars flew buy him on the way to turn 10. Ryan recouped a couple of those spots and ended up finishing in the 30th position, 12 spots up from where he qualified with a big grin on his face after some very fun battles back and forth with driver George Day.

In a month Ryan will run his last race weekend of the 2008 season (he thinks) at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma for the Spec Miata Festival weekend.

5/27/08: FIREWORKS AT THUNDERHILL - SCCA REGIONAL #3 & 4
Gardin runs Double Regional Memorial Day Weekend.

Saturday's Spec Miata (SMT) race was pretty mild, Ryan qualified 37th out of 47 drivers. There were no major incidents, he passed a few cars and gained positions in the early part of the race, but lost 2 spots after a lengthy spin in the very fast turn 8. "I was gaining on the car in front of me, and made the rookie mistake of watching him--for just a second-- and it threw me off". Ryan ended up getting back on track and finishing one spot ahead of where he qualified in 36th position in class.

For Regional #4 on Sunday, Ryan qualified a slow 38th out of 44 cars in class for Sunday's SMT race. The race started off with a bang....literally. Right out of the gates there was an incident between turns 1 & 2. Several cars got into each other, and cars were everywhere. The # 29 Rent Money Racing car managed to escape the carnage by getting on the inside dirt to avoid hitting the slowed and spinning cars. This was also a good move because cars were coming up fast from behind. Ryan managed to gain quite a few positions before the full course yellow was displayed. Ryan's in-car video of the incident can be seen HERE.

After a few laps, the car started to get really loose and tough to hold onto. "I think the tire pressures were up one pound too high because it started getting really slippery out there". Nearing the end of the race, Ryan tried to catch the rear end sliding out on him between turns 14 & 15 and ended up smacking the famous barrels at Thunderhill. A stubborn barrel managed to get stuck on the front of the car and he finally was able to shake it loose in the dirt in turn 1. See in-car of the Barrel of Laughs for that pretty funny footage. Ryan lost 2 positions shaking the barrel loose and ended up finishing 30th out 41 cars in class. All in all, a very fun weekend. The real victory for Ryan this weekend was the consistent lap times he ran all weekend. Ryan stated, "I'm really happy we maintained steady lap times, that was one of my goals this weekend." RMR Driver Sean Allen did not compete in this event.

 

4/2/2008: SCCA SEASON OPENER AT INFINEON RACYWAY IN SONOMA, CA

Penalty costs Ryan qualifying position—starts race dead last.

A qualifying incident on Saturday in what the SCCA Stewards of the Meet called an "unsafe re-entry" on the track, had Ryan starting dead last for Sunday's season opener. Ryan spun out between turns 3 and 4 during qualifying. On re-entry he was hit by the #75 car in the right rear quarter panel damaging the rear sub-frame on the car. In a statement Ryan said, "When I looked back at the turn-worker at turn 3, I swear he pointed me clear. It's a blind crest from where my car was, but with a yellow out I thought it was safe to get back on track [rookie mistake to think cars might actually slow down on standing yellow ;). ] I started to get on course parallel with the track and before I know it I get hit and see the undercarriage of the #75 car flying by passenger window. It was scary."

Thanks to the Evil Genius himself, the rear sub-frame was replaced & the car was aligned early Sunday morning.
Ryan was ready to go for the 12:30 start. A huge thank you goes out to John and the rest of the Evil Genius Crew for getting
Ryan & the #29 car back on track!

Starting 64th overall, and 54th in class, Ryan ran a clean race and had some good battles with #5, Doug H. and fellow rookie
#36 April H. Ryan closed out the stressful weekend finishing 39th in class and 49th overall.