Meyer, who raced across the Midwest and later became an acclaimed car builder, mechanic and owner during racing’s Golden Years, was named to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Meyer, who died in 1994, will be inducted into the Class of 2012 on June 2 in Knoxville, Iowa.
“He was a very dedicated man in his racing. He loved it,” said his daughter Jane (Meyer) Gerhard, who lives in Portsmouth, R.I. “He started out as a driver and he said he always drove with his foot versus his head. ... One time he was pronounced dead. He wanted me to have a father. That’s when he went into the mechanic and design building part of his career.”
Meyer’s driving career ended in 1939 after another accident. The Dayton resident continued to build superior sprint cars and worked with driver Bob Sweikert in the Zink Spl. to win the 1955 Indianapolis 500. He also worked with car owners John and Howard Iddings of Greenville to set world record times on half-mile tracks at Winchester Speedway (16.98 seconds) and Dayton Speedway (16.85), both in 1968.
“Growing up as a daughter of a race car builder, designer, operator in the 1940s and 1950s was very unusual because everyone else’s fathers went off to work every day,” Gerhard said. “He worked around the house. I thought everyone lived the way we lived. It was the other way around.”
Perhaps more impressive than Meyer’s mechanical skills is the list of drivers who piloted his rides, which reads like a Who’s Who of Racing. Among them were Sonny Ates, Don Branson, Duke Dinsmore, Jud Larson, Bill Mackey, Johnny Parsons and Bobby Unser.
The last car Meyer owned — the No. 93 Iddings Spl. built in 1959 — ran its final race in 1973 and is on permanent display in the Garst Museum in Greenville.
“He persevered, he worked hard and he loved what he was doing,” Gerhard said. “He thought it was almost like playing because this is what he’s always wanted to do. He was a free spirit.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2400, ext. 6991, or gbilling@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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