In Memory of Friends and Family For over a decade, Jim Gardner, working with his brother, DiGard Racing Team founder Bill Gardner, was a beloved and irreplaceable leader of the DiGard team. With Bill handling the business side of the enterprise, Jim was responsible for the success of the team at the individual level. Jim maintained a close personal relationship with each member of the DiGard team, bringing the group together as a single force, galvanizing the entire group as a whole. Each member of the team worked with Jim on a one-to-one basis as they took the team from one victory to the next. Jim was instrumental in the success of the team as a whole, and also the success of each individual member of the team. Jim was a true pioneer in the field, he was a pivotal part of the success of the innovations and progress brought to the motorsports industry by DiGard Racing Jim will be always remembered and truly missed by the entire alumni of the DiGard Racing team, and the true loves of his life, his wife, daughter, and family.     Tributes     Bill Stokely, Chairman of Stokely-Van Camp, had the forsight to become the first non-automotive consumer brand to sponsor a NASCAR racecar. Stokely Van Camp chose their Gatorade product to sponsor the DiGard Racing Gatorade 88 Chevy. During the first year of the sponsorship, sales of Gatorade increased by 300%. The Gatorade sponsorship was the first national sponsorship by a non-automotive, consumer brand in NASCAR history, and it opened the door for other non-traditional sponsors to follow.