Moyer turning page on his racing career

Arkansas dirt track fans may get to see Batesville's Billy Moyer on the track again after this weekend, but it doesn't seem likely.

Moyer, who was inducted into the Dirt Late Model Hall of Fame in 2002 and has 847 career main event victories, plans to compete in the 29th annual Comp Cams Topless 100 tonight, Friday and Saturday at Batesville Motor Speedway in Locust Grove. But he has entered into a business partnership in Arizona and has placed his Batesville home, race shop and entire racing operation for sale.

Once those are sold, Moyer said, his days behind the wheel of a race car are most likely over.

"This year, I've kind of been running when I want," Moyer, 63, said this week. "I plan to race at a $50,000-to-win deal in Texas in September, and the same guy is putting on a race at Vegas in November. Those are the only plans I have solid."

A Facebook post listed the asking price for the home, race shop and contents, a hauler and two fully-equipped race cars with extra components at $2.4 million.

Moyer is now part owner of a business that sells RVs, boats, ATVs and golf carts in Lake Havasu City, Ariz., and plans to live there fulltime once his properties in Batesville are sold.

"I had been looking for something that I could get into for awhile," he said. "This came available and I have a couple partners who got into it with me."

A native of Iowa, Moyer began racing dirt late models in 1977. In 1982, he moved to Batesville to drive for budding race car manufacturer Larry Shaw -- a partnership that both dominated and revolutionized the dirt late model racing sport and industry.

Between 1983 and Moyer's departure from the team in 1996, Moyer and Shaw averaged 31.5 feature victories per season.

During his career, Moyer has been a consistent winner in all of the sport's major events. In 2005, he became the first four-time winner of the Topless 100 and he is the only six-time winner of dirt late model racing's most prestigious event, the World 100 at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

Typically, Moyer has raced in the biggest race that week and has rarely followed series consistently enough to contend for points championships. Still, he has won series championships in the National Championship Racing Association (1985), the USAC Late Model Series (1986-87), the Hav-A-Tampa Dirt Racing Series (1997) and the World of Outlaws Late Model Series (1988-89, 2005).

This season, Moyer raced mostly full-time until June, when he started the process of purchasing the business in Arizona. He has made 28 starts, winning a Comp Cams Super Dirt Series event April 2 at Poplar Bluff, Mo., and again in a Midwest Latemodel Racing Series event April 15 at Davenport, Iowa. He returned to the track for the first time last weekend, finishing second in an MLRA event at Eldon, Mo.

Moyer said his sport has improved in many ways during his career. However, he also said those advances have not always improved things for the drivers.

"I mean, it's been good to me," he said. "I've raised my kids and made a good living. But back in the day, a promoter was more worried about putting on a good race than he was about putting money in his pocket.

"Nowadays, there are too many hands in the till with all the TV and everything else. Everything about racing gets more expensive every day, but the purses have pretty much stayed the same. The top drivers have sponsors or guys with money who just like racing who are backing them."