WHAT IS PERRIS RACER JEFF DYER UP TOO DURING CORONAVIRUS CRISIS? By Scott Daloisio (Perris, CA, May 1, 2020) Round #3 of interviews with Perris Auto Speedway racers about what they are doing during the coronavirus is on USAC/CRA Sprint Car driver Jeff Dyer. In addition to racing in USAC/CRA, Dyer has picked up a 360 to race in the USAC West Coast and VRA Series’ as well as racing with the California Lightning Sprint Cars. However, all those big plans are currently on hold and in fact, he has not raced since last November. Here is what he has been up to. The PAS: A lot of people are off work right now, but for those who do not know, you are a California Highway Patrol officer, so it has been work as usual. Dyer: That is correct. Work as usual. Nothing has really changed in that aspect of life. The PAS: Is it true that with the freeways being so vacant some people are really trying to take advantage and pretend they are racecar drivers? Dyer: Yeah, definitely. I work the nighttime, so there are not many people out at night, but usually the people we are getting are well over 100 miles per hour. We are trying to be careful about who we contact. But there are some things we cannot let go, and that is one of them. We cannot look the other way for people that are just acting dumb. The PAS: How is the coronavirus affecting you away from work? Dyer: Out of work, my hobbies are racing. That (racing) is pretty much what we do as a family. It (coronavirus) has pretty much stopped all our weekend activities. It stopped that and even simple things like going to home depot to get something to work on the house. All in all, it seems like everything is an inconvenience or delayed. The PAS: What are you doing to occupy the extra time? Dyer: I have been doing a lot of yard work. I did a lot of upgrades to my racing trailer. I added some tire mounts, shock mounts and a new toolbox. Stuff like that. I have watched a lot of Netflix movies and got stuck on that stupid “Tiger King” show like everybody else. The PAS: Man, do not tell me you watched that? Dyer: I wished I had not watched it, but it was actually kind of funny in the long run. Work keeps me pretty occupied right now as well. At least it gets me out of the house. The PAS: You had an ambitious season planned. You were going to drive for Cal Smith in the USAC/CRA Series and your own car in the California Lightning Sprint Car Series. In addition, you picked up a chassis out of Arizona and a 360-sprint car to run in VRA and the USAC West Coast Series. Dyer: Yeah, we had real big plans to race all the time. I also bought my son (Seth) a racecar. I was pretty much going to be busy until the end of the year, but we have not been able to do anything. We were not able to go to Arizona (for the USAC/CRA opener) due to schedule conflicts for me and Cal. So, I have not raced this year. I did one practice day at Ventura. The PAS: When we do finally get back to racing, do you plan on keeping the same ambitious schedule? Dyer: Yes, we still plan on doing everything we had planned on whenever they open it up. My 360 will be done soon. I have all of the part and just have to put it all together. I am trying to put on a race in Arizona for the Lightning Sprints on Memorial Day weekend. I have hopes that they might open up (the state) before California. The PAS: What track? Dyer: Adobe Mountain Speedway which is in Glendale, Arizona. It is a 1/5 of a mile mini sprint track. I think they have only been open a couple of years. They just did a bunch of upgrades. The PAS: You mentioned that you bought your son Seth a racecar. Tell us about that. Dyer: He has been helping me out quite a bit and he has really shown a lot of interest. I went and talked to John Aden (the promoter of Wheel2Wheel Raceway in Victorville, California) and he had a really good used Speedway Sprint for sale. It was a really good price that I could not pass up. I talked to the boss of the house and she gave the okay and I bought it for him for his birthday. He was super happy about that. We have not been to a racetrack to run it, but he has run it in a couple dirt parking lots. With no suspension in those cars it kinda’ beat the crap out of him which is kind of funny. He did not hit anything. I was actually surprised how fast he picked it up and stepped on the gas because he has never driven anything. It is going to be fun watching him. CHP officer and sprint car racer Jeff Dyer and his son Seth at Perris Auto Speedway in 2019. Doug Allen photo. The PAS: You just mentioned the boss of the house, your wife Christina. She is also your owner on your 360 car. How cool is that? Dyer: Yes, she does own it. I keep telling her that when I buy all the parts and have to spend my own money. I remind her that she is the owner and needs to get her own checkbook out. That hasn’t worked yet, though. The PAS: You received a chassis from former USAC/CRA car owner John Springstead. You are combining that with Cal’s ex-Rip Williams engine, right? Dyer: Yeah, it is going to be his engine and my chassis. He will still be the car owner. Trying to upgrade things a little bit to help us get up to the front faster. The PAS: You are an animal lover. Update us on the pet situation at your house. It must help pass time during the coronavirus crisis. Dyer: Well, I had a pig, but we ended up getting rid of the pig. The PAS: Hold on. We will come back to the pig in a minute. Dyer: We have three Pugs, and an English Spaniel. I always wanted a German Shepard. So, my wife decided to get me a German Shepard puppy for my birthday. So now we have five dogs. It is a handful, but we have a big yard and they all get along. The PAS: A couple of months ago when you first got the German Shepard, you said she was kind of standoffish. Has she gotten any better? Dyer: She is still kind of a by herself dog. She likes us sometimes, but she is kind of a loner. She likes the other dogs and likes to play with them, but she does not like to sit on your lap and sit and let you pet her. She only does those on her terms. She is kind of like a big cat. The PAS: Sounds like she is less maintenance if she acts like a cat. Dyer: No, I wish. It is all the same maintenance as a dog. The PAS: Back to the pig. You got a cute little piglet last year. Did not stay that way for long, did it? Dyer: One day I was getting ready to go to work, and we had not had dinner yet. I told Christina I was hungry. So, she gets her purse and tells me she was going to get me some food. Fast forward to when it was almost time to leave for work and she is still not home, and I am still hungry. She comes running in the house and says, “Hey, I have got to show you something.” The whole time I am thinking she had better have brought me some damn food, but I walk out there, and she has this little piglet in a cage. Her grand idea was that we were going to slaughter this pig and eat it. Well, I am an animal lover. Not going to happen when you sit there and pet it, play with it, feed it, it follows you around and comes when you call it by name (she was named Carnitas). I ended up liking it, but the damn thing got close to 400 pounds. It kept escaping my yard and the city was getting mad at me. It was down to slaughtering it or finding a rescue. A friend found a rescue for it. The pig is now hanging out on a farm. The PAS: Back to racing. When do you think you will get back on the track? Dyer: Hopefully, we can get this race together for Memorial Weekend. That would be the first time. It all depends on when we are allowed to go racing at this point. The PAS: Let us not forget those sponsors. Dyer: Cal Smith, John Springstead (JSR Racing), T Shirts By Timeless, Safehouse, the Amsoil Oil Twins, Haircuts by Susie and LBA Investigations. The PAS: Wait a minute. Haircuts by Susie? You do not have a hair on your head! Dyer: That is my mom. She throws in a little cash every now and then. Even when I had hair on my head, I never let her cut my hair. I never let her cut any girlfriend or wife’s hair that I had either. I didn’t want her to screw up and I get the blame for it. Only kidding! To keep up with all the latest Perris Auto Speedway news, photos, gossip and receive special offers, please use the following links: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Perris-Auto-Speedway/113876798686480?ref=hl Twitter: Perris Auto Speedway on Twitter. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/perrisautospeedway/ Website: http://perrisautospeedway.com/ Perris Auto Speedway is conveniently located on the SoCal Fair and Event Center (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, on the Ramona Expressway and go three miles east to the fairgrounds. For directions on MapQuest, the address to enter is: 18700 Lake Perris Drive and the zip code is 92571. Perris Auto Speedway wants to thank its corporate partners for the 2019 season. Ahern Equipment Rentals, All Coast Construction, Battery Systems, Budweiser, Bud’s Tire Pro, Chris’ Hauling, City of Perris, Communication Innovations, Daytona Boat & RV Storage, Ed Moore Bullet Proof Driveshaft, Flowdynamics, HD Industries, Hoosier Tires, Inland Rigging, Living Water’s Hospice, LKQ Pick Your Part, Luke’s Transmission, Pepsi-Cola, Pole Position, PrintItNow.com, Rainbow Bolt & Supply, Rugged Radios, Shaver Specialties, Square H, Sunoco Race Fuels, Trench Shoring, Upland Rock, Varner Construction and Vista Paint. Video and DVD productions of all racing sprint cars 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:trtruex@gmail.com or you can visit the website LoudPedal Productions. DVD’s of all the PASSCAR/IMCA racing and Nights of Destruction at The PAS are available from Fourvideos. For more information call (714) 225-9500. racesatthepas@aol.com is the only authorized Internet address to issue official media news released from The Perris Auto Speedway or Oval Entertainment.