Gary Dyer

Gary Dyer (born 1934) is an American businessman and drag racing driver. He was one of the discipline's most notable drivers in the 1960s, who developed the Funny Car class.

His company, Dyer's Machine Service Inc., builds supercharger kits for cars under the Dyer's Blowers name.

Career While attending Argo Community High School in Summit, Illinois, Dyer and his friends John Farkonas and Pat Minick expressed interest in drag racing. Dyer purchased a 1956 Chevrolet shortly after graduation, and the three began racing on a decommissioned airstrip in Half Day, Illinois that had been converted into a quarter-mile drag strip. He also drove a Ford coupe with a Cadillac engine at local tracks and other gas-powered coupes.

In late 1963, Dyer started racing an A/FX (A/Factory Experimental) Mercury Comet from Marauders, Inc., an auto club in Chicago run by Edward Rachanski. The partnership reunited him with Farkonas and Minick, who raced for Grand Spaulding in Super Stock. The car's supercharger and engine were built by Dyer. It originally used gasoline before switching to nitromethane, which increased its performance to match that of the superior Mercury cars.

At the end of 1965, Dyer acquired an altered-wheelbase Dodge Coronet, nicknamed "Color Me Gone", from Roger Lindamood. He and Beswick were scheduled to race each other for the first time at the 1965 World Series of Drag Racing, though Dyer withdrew due to a rear axle problem. Future matchups across the decade prompted Dyer to proclaim he would "put that Pontiac-driving farmer right back on his tractor." although Dyer directly faced Gay in races, Kraus' name was typically featured on promotional material that highlighted the feud.

A new Charger-bodied Funny Car designed by Dyer and built by Race Car Specialties under the direction of Frank Huszar, nicknamed the "Mini Charger" because it was ten inches narrower than the stock model, was introduced for the 1968 season. In June, the Mini Charger won three times in a row at KK Sports Arena, where he also set the track record of 7.76 seconds. However, it was destroyed in a fire at 30 Dragway when an oil filter broke off the engine following a 7.47-second run at .

Dyer and Kraus developed a new Charger for 1969 that used a chassis from Logghe Stamping Company, dubbed "Band Aid" to hide a newly attached front end. During the year, Dyer established Dyer's Blowers to build superchargers for drag racing teams; he previously received automotive aftermarket parts from the West Coast, but high costs and shipping delays to the Midwest prompted him to start his own company. For the 1971 and 1972 seasons, he raced a Dodge Challenger Funny Car from Krause that ran as quick as . Dyer later became the Challenger's crew chief for Safford. Also known as Dyer's Machine Service Inc., the company was originally headquartered in Bridgeview before moving to a larger facility in Summit when he retired.

Kraus described Dyer as "a genius" with "golden hands, a golden mind. Everything he touched, he was a very dedicated, responsible car guy." The Dodge, along with other cars in the class, grew in popularity for their resemblance to stock drag racers while being as fast as dragsters.

In 2020, Dyer was inducted into the Drag Racing Hall of Fame, Biloxi Dragway's Hall of Fame, and Mopar Hall of Fame. He was also part of the 2025 class for the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing's International Drag Racing Hall of Fame.

Personal life Dyer was born and raised in Mankato, Minnesota, before moving to Illinois.