Gary Dyer was among the eight competitors inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame on Thursday, as part of the Class of 2025.

Dyer was born in 1934, growing up in the Midwest and getting into drag racing as a high schooler. Upon graduating, he began racing at Maremount Speedway, a drag strip built atop the remnants of Allendale Field (an airstrip run by Naval Air Station Glenview during World War II) in 1952. From there, he went on to compete at other local tracks before going national.

Throughout the 1960s, Dyer was a pioneer of the Funny Car discipline. Norman Kraus, also known as “Mr. Norm”, built a Dodge for him to use that became one of his cars of choice through the decade. In 1969, he won the Coca-Cola Funny Car Cavalcade of Stars title.

Funny Cars would rapidly become the most popular drag racing class. Representing Dodge, he and Kraus had spirited rivalries with those like Pontiac’s Arnie Beswick and Don Gay.

“What Gary taught me in one year would take anyone else ten years to learn,” Kraus said in an interview. He also described Dyer as a “a genius! The man has got golden hands, a golden mind! Everything he touched… he was a very dedicated, responsible car guy.”

He retired from racing in 1973 to focus on Dyer’s Blowers, a family-operated aftermarket supercharger kit business. Now in his 90s, his son William told 131 Off-Road that his father is a private person.

The International Drag Racing Hall of Fame is a wing of the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing, which was founded in 1991. Also among the inductees were Charlie Allen, Phil Burgess, Jim Head, Byron Hines, Jay Howell, Gary Scelzi, and Terry Vance. Debbie Bader received the Pat Garlits Award while the Founder’s Award went to Paul Sergi.

For his achievements, he was also inducted into the Drag Racing and Biloxi Dragway Halls of Fame.

Featured image credit: William Dyer