Some of Rhett Gardner’s earliest memories are at the dragstrip. Specifically, Darlington Dragway, where he’d study his elementary school vocabulary words while his father raced. He had no idea at the time that those formative years at the racetrack would eventually lead to a career in drag racing, serving in track official roles at two historic facilities, Darlington and New England Dragway.
[Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #191, the 30 Under 30 Issue, in November / December of 2024.]
When he was old enough, Gardner got his feet wet in a Jr. Dragster, spending the first year or so just tinkering around and getting seat time. That training was rewarded with a win in his very first race. He went on to win an IHRA Division 2 Jr. Dragster championship before stepping into the big car that his dad previously grudge raced.
Gardner, who grew up 10 minutes away from Darlington, struck up a friendship with local businessman Russell Miller, who purchased the track and assumed operations in December 2015. One night while eating out at the Applebee’s in downtown Hartsville, South Carolina, with his parents, Gardner saw Russell and his wife, DeeDee, walk in. Miller introduced himself and said the couple had watched Gardner grow up at the track and would like for him to drive their Top Sportsman car, which Gardner grew up admiring and complimenting whenever he saw Russell. Gardner did end up driving for a stint, but he also traveled with the family’s PDRA Pro Boost team with Tylor Miller driving.
While he was in high school, Gardner got a part-time job at Darlington. He worked there through college. After graduating, he got a job as a microbiologist for Nestlé Waters, working on products like Nestlé Pure Life bottled water, but it wasn’t what Gardner ultimately wanted to do. He called Miller and asked if he had any full-time positions available. As it turned out, Miller was looking for a new track manager, so Gardner was hired as the assistant general manager, then promoted to GM, a role he held for five years. During that time, Darlington was named the 2018 PDRA Track of the Year and inducted into the IHRA Hall of Fame in 2022.
Gardner’s time at his home track came to an end when he chose to support his wife, Autumn, whose career in the medical field sent her to New Hampshire in 2022.
“She was very supportive of me while we were together and I was working at Darlington,” says Gardner, now 29. “She’s an anesthesiologist and she had to do her residency. You don’t get to pick where you go. They tell you where you’re going. She was told that she had to go to New Hampshire, so I traveled with her and it just happened to work out that Epping was looking for somebody to help fill a void. The track is actually an hour and a half away from where I live. I drive a long ways to work here because I love it.”
New England Dragway is around 900 miles away from Darlington Dragway, and the two are equally different when it comes to the events and racers they host. The Epping, New Hampshire, track was previously a mainstay on the IHRA national event tour like Darlington once was, but it now hosts the NHRA New England Nationals, an NHRA divisional, and numerous bracket races and nostalgia events. It’s a shift from the eighth-mile-heavy Darlington scene with its Wednesday night grudge racing, nearly daily NHRA Pro Stock and Pro Mod testing, and outlaw events.
“It’s so cool to be a part of national event and having a divisional. It’s just awesome,” Gardner says of serving as the race director at Epping, which is owned by more than 200 shareholders. “Up here, it’s very die-hard, old-school racers. We have a .90 weekly series with Super Street, Super Comp, and Super Gas. It is die-hard, quarter-mile bracket racing. All of our bracket races are quarter mile. I think we’re probably one of the only few tracks left that still do quarter-mile bracket races.”
Gardner hopes to someday get back to driving as well, even admitting that he’s looked around for cars on Facebook Marketplace. But for now, he’s focused on his opportunity as race director at NED. After all, it’s a whole lot more exciting than looking at test tubes of drinking water.
“I really want to thank Russell and DeeDee Miller for giving me my start and having faith in a kid,” Gardner says, also thanking his wife and parents Garrett and Robin. “I was only 22 when I started. I was young, and they really put their faith in me to run a big, legendary facility. That really got my start to be able to do what I wanted to do. I’d also like to thank Paul Lorenti [New England Dragway president] and the board of directors for allowing me to continue my passion at NED.”
This story was originally published on February 10, 2025. 
