By Shawn Brouse
Mechanicsburg – The staff and management of Williams Grove Speedway is mourning the loss of one of its most venerable and iconic sprint car owners, Walter Dyer of Mercersburg.
Dyer, the decades-long owner of the Dyer Masonry No. 461 “Brickmobile” sprint car, passed away early Friday at the age of 90.
Aside from fielding his iconic No. 461 sprint car with a brick wing, Walter “Bud” Dyer is perhaps best known for launching the prolific career of veteran sprint car star Lance Dewease in late 1991.
It was a tenure that would net over 130 wins for the pair.
However Dyer’s legacy of ownership and success dates to 1967 and his first driver, John Ebersole, but it was a career that would span some 34 years and encompass some of the best drivers the sport had to offer while they picked up some of the biggest races the sport had to offer.
At Williams Grove Speedway Dyer’s car beat the World of Outlaws on more than one occasion, with pilots Billy Stief and Dewease at the wheel.
Dyer Williams Grove victories, totaling 49 in all, came in not only outlaws and All Stars races but they also came in the prestigious National Open in 1996, in the Open Preliminary in 1994 and 1996, the Early Bird Championship in 1995 and 1996 and in the Jack Gunn Memorial in 1995 and 1996 – all with Dewease as pilot.
Dewease also took the Williams Grove Mitch Smith Memorial for Dyer in 1992, 1995 and 1997 while driver Joey Allen claimed the race for him in 1990.
Dyer’s No. 461 first graced the historic Williams Grove winner’s circle in 1977 with Jimmy Sheaffer in the seat after taking its first win anywhere at Hagerstown Speedway in 1973 with Jimmy Edwards as driver.
And ironically, on 4/6/01, Dyer saw his car take its final victory anywhere, at Williams Grove Speedway with Delaware’s Curt Michael scoring the checkered flag.
After retiring from the sport following the 2001 season, Dyer made a brief, one-year comeback in 2007 with grandson-in-law Tommy Beavers working the throttle but the record books would close on the No. 461 with over 165 wins having passed over its famed brick wing.
Drivers Cliff Brian and Mike Wagner took the only Williams Grove wins of their careers aboard the Dyer mount.
Walter Dyer was the 1994 and 1996 sprint car owner track titlist at Williams Grove Speedway with Dewease as his driver.
Dyer was also the 1997 Pennsylvania Speedweek car owner champion.
Other track titles included seven at Port Royal Speedway and a 1998 Grandview Speedway Thunder on the Hill series title.
Some of the other drivers that graced the seat of the No. 461 during its memorable tenure included: Sean Michael, Paul Lotier, George Ferguson Jr., Gary Howsare, Len Thompson, Don Hill, Tom Stimely, Steve Siegel, Van May, Dub May, Rod Gross, Scott Tobias, Keith Kauffman, Bob Elbin, Smokey Snellbaker, Kramer Williamson and Gary Brazier.
At the age of 86, Walt Dyer was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in Knoxville, Iowa, in 2020.
Williams Grove Speedway feted the dedicated, familiar and jovial car owner with a tribute event in 2018.
The mark that Walt Dyer and his iconic car left on sprint car racing in the region and at Williams Grove Speedway was indelible and will never be forgotten.
Williams Grove Speedway extends its deepest condolences to the many family and friends of Mr. Walter Dyer along with its deepest appreciation for all that he meant to so many.