Bob Gardner has been suspended from competing at MARS Late Model events and all DIRTcar-affiliated events, like the World of Outlaws Real American Beer Late Model Series, for a minimum of six months following July 18’s on-track incident with Daryn Klein at Farmer City (Ill.) Raceway, the MARS tour announced Monday.

In those series of events at Farmer City, a MARS-sanctioned event, the 47-year-old Gardner of East Peoria, Ill., (pictured) sought retaliation against Klein when the two tangled racing for the lead during the night’s heat race action. Spinning toward the infield after his slide job for the lead went awry, Gardner drove back onto the racing surface the wrong way while heat action remained under green.

When the caution eventually came out for Gardner driving backwards, he singled-out Klein and made retaliatory contact, resulting in the Fairview Heights, Ill., driver flipping over on his roof on the frontstretch. In a 10-minute video posted to his YouTube channel explaining the incident — which Gardner prefaced with “this isn’t intended to justify anything I did,” but rather “wanting to speak for myself” — Gardner said “what I did was uncalled for.”

💥 Some contact and extracurriculars during the @MARSDirtRacing heat races at @FarmerCityRacin.#MARSLateModels pic.twitter.com/DFj7OXRDx7

— FloRacing (@FloRacing) July 19, 2025

“It was wrong and out of my character, but I did it and I’ll suffer the consequences for that, whatever that may be,” Gardner said before penalties were released. “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.”

Gardner added that “obviously it didn’t go that way and it went way wrong from that point on.” In their penalty-issuing statement, MARS officials expressed that “we do not condone this type of behavior at our events.” 

Gardner had entered all 15 series events until Friday’s MARS program and was 11th in the tour’s standings.