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Perris Auto Speedway

18700 Lake Perris Drive

Perris, CA  92571

(951) 940-0134

http://perrisautospeedway.com/ 

For further information contact Scott Daloisio (909) 226-7768 or mailto:[email protected] 

For Immediate Release 

RACER JEFF DYER TO PAY HOMAGE TO FALLEN ARMY FRIENDS AT PERRIS AUTO SPEEDWAY MEMORIAL WEEKEND RACE! 

(Perris, CA, May 19, 2014)  Racing has always been a big deal for California Lightning Sprint Car driver Jeff Dyer.  Growing up in Chino, the now 31-year-old has fond memories of his early youth watching the CRA Sprint Cars spray chards of moist, tacky clay into the grandstands at legendary Ascot Park in Gardena.  This Saturday night, May 24^th, at the Annual Salute to Indy at Perris Auto Speedway, Dyer is going to have an emotional night as he reflects on some other memories when he races in honor of some of his fallen friends in the United States Army.  

Dyer has been in the Army for 10 years and is a Sargeant1st Class in the 759^th EOD.  Spelled out, that means Explosives Ordinance Disposal - he is the guy in the thickly padded suit who disarms bombs.  That is not what he started out as in the Army.  Initially the former Laverne Lutheran sports star was a cavalry scout.  

“I deployed doing that (cavalry scout) and I enjoyed doing it, it was fun,” Dyer stated on the phone last Thursday.  “But, there were these guys who would show up when there was an IED.  They would come and get rid of it and go off into the shadows and do their own thing.  When I came home I tore up my ACL playing rugby so I was playing around on the Internet one day looking for something else to do because I was kind of bored doing what I was doing.  So, I looked into it and signed up.  It is a specialty job and there are not very many of us doing it.  It is pretty much the only job in the Army when you can quit anytime you want.” 

Over the years, Dyer has had many of his friends pay the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty and he is going to remember them this Saturday in a special way.

“I have lost a lot of real good friends and five of them were real close to me,” Dyer explained.  “I wanted to do something special and I will have a special wrap on the car honoring them on Saturday.  Those guys were close to my heart and I still talk to their families.  I told the families about what I was doing and I did not realize the reaction that I would get from them.  They were really happy about it and it brought tears to their eyes.  May is a special; month for the EOD community anyway.  Every May they put the fallen member’s names on the wall at the EOD School. We are kind of the only job in the Army or the military where we have our own memorial and we take care of ourselves.  We have our own wounded foundation.  It is pretty cool.  Whatever I can do to give back, I want to do.     

Needless to say, there is a lot of extreme danger associated with his job and in the not too distant future, Dyer has his sights set on retiring from the Army and moving on to a job he has wanted to do for a long, long time. 

“I have 20 more months and then I am going to call it quits,” he said. “I am going to try to become a cop. That is something I have always wanted to do.  I am at a point in my life where I am getting older so I might as well do it or don’t. I am looking at the San Bernardino County or Riverside County Sheriffs because they both have bomb squads.”  

In his time in the Army, the friendly racer has had two tours in Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan  He has been awarded two bronze stars, three Arcoms, Two AAM, Iraq Campaign Medal, Afghan Campaign Medal, Over Seas Ribbon, Good Conduct Medal, NATO Medal , Combat Action Badge and Senior EOD Badge. 

One the racing side of his resume, thus far in 2014, the father of two boys ages seven and nine, has had a decent year.  He has one win (it came at The PAS) and comes into Saturday’s race second in points behind defending champion and Army veteran Stephen Limon of Corona,  If not for a mishap about a month ago, Dyer may have been the military man leading the championship chase at this time. 

“We have had a good year,” he said.  “I worked really hard in the off season to get our stuff right.  I had a new car last year and I struggled big time with it.  Finally I got all the bugs out of it, Alex Grigoreas helped me a ton with it.  I got on the right track and then we went to Ventura.  I was fast qualifier that night, but in the main I just got in over my head trying to do too much too fast.” 

On the opening lap of the Ventura main, Dyer ran over the right rear of the car starting in front of him and flipped violently and only stopped flipping because the crash wall got in the way.  Fortunately he was not injured, but the car was done for the night.  In the two races since his flip, he has a second and a third place finish and has started to dig himself out of the hole the flip created.  Heading into Saturday’s race at The PAS, Dyer is 51-points behind Limon in the race for the 2014 title. 

Dyer’s time around dirt track racing began at Ascot where his step dad, Don Nelson, was part owner of a sprint car driven by Gary Howard, Keith Chrisco and Frank Baldozier among others.  

“I actually had a deal worked out to race a 410 sprint car in some races this year, but it fell through,” Dyer said.  “That is my ultimate goal. That is the only thing I ever wanted to do since I was a little kid.  Race 410 sprint cars.  I never had any desire to try to get to Indy or NASCAR or anything like that.  A 410 sprint car to me is probably the cream of the crop and it is my ultimate goal.  Once I get there, I could finish racing and be done with it and be satisfied.  Growing up at Ascot I just always wanted to do it.  I was always playing baseball or football and I got a late start in racing, so now I am trying to catch up.  I take care of the car by myself at home and they (step dad and his brother John work on the car in the pits) meet me at the track and do their thing.  It helps me out a lot because I can basically just show up and drive” 

For more information on The PAS call: (951) 940-0134. 

Camping for all events at The PAS is available for $25.00 per night.  The campground will open at noon on Friday.  Tailgating in the spectator parking lot will begin at 1:00 PM for all PAS events as well. 

Perris Auto Speedway wants to thank its corporate sponsors for the 2014 season. 1-800LoanMart, 777 Racecars, All Coast Construction, Amsoil, Ayers Hotel and Spa, BlueLine Rental, Budweiser, California Budget Finance, CamGuard, Champion Towing, City of Perris, Daytona Boat & RV Storage, Edelbrok, Engine Pro, HD Industries, Hoosier Tires, K&N Engineering, Luke’s Transmissions, Marjon RV, Pep Boys, P.I.P.E., Pepsi-Cola, Pick-A-Part Auto Salvage, Prolong Super Lubricants, Running Waters Hospice, Scott Sales, Shaver Racing Engines, Sherwin-Williams, Showtime Motorsports, Sprint Car Driving Experience, Square H, Swedish Speed, Trench Shoring, US Foods and Valley Auto Salvage. 

To keep up with all of the latest Perris Auto Speedway news, photos, gossip and receive special offers, sign up at The PAS Facebook site at:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Perris-Auto-Speedway/113876798686480?ref=hl 

You can also keep up with the latest news and receive special offers from The PAS Twitter site: http://twitter.com/perrisautospdwy 

Video and DVD productions of all racing events at Perris Auto Speedway are available from Loudpedal Productions. For more information on these productions you can contact them by calling (805) 844-3854, E-mailing mailto:[email protected] or you can visit the web site http://www.loudpedalvideo.com/ 

Perris Auto Speedway is located on the Lake Perris Fairgrounds (home of October’s Southern California Fair), approximately one hour east of Los Angeles and one hour North of San Diego. To get to the track, take the 215 freeway, exit on the Ramona Expressway and go three miles east to the fairgrounds.

[email protected] is the only authorized Internet address to issue official media news released from The Perris Auto Speedway or Oval Entertainment