Carl Moyer, Karl Chevrolet Founder & Icon, Passes Away at Age 83
Carl Moyer, the founder of Karl Chevrolet and Karl Performance, passed away on September 28, 2024, at the age of 83. Moyer was a visionary in the automotive industry, launching Karl Chevrolet in Ankeny, Iowa, in 1978. Under his leadership, the dealership grew into the Karl Auto Group, which now includes 10 companies and employs over 800 people. He was well-known for his philanthropic efforts and longstanding support of racing.
Drag Illustrated Founder and Editorial Director Wes Buck penned a tribute to Moyer.
“Rest in peace, Carl. Carl Moyer, perhaps best known for Karl Chevrolet in Ankeny, Iowa, arguably the greatest Chevrolet dealership in the history of the world, gave me a chance when I didn’t deserve one. He gave me my first job in drag racing in the winter of 2004 and, honestly, nothing was ever the same after that. Prior to that moment, I’d worked at my dad’s repair shop, hauled lumber, started a U-Haul dealership, enrolled in junior college to pursue a degree in criminal justice, dropped out of college, sold auto and home insurance, painted industrial trailers, hauled pharmaceuticals, and had just re-enrolled in a different junior college to pursue a career in computer systems networking and taken a job at Menards before Carl rang my phone. He offered me the proverbial keys to the castle and my dream job of being the general manager of a drag strip. I was 21-years old. Way in over my head. But he told me one afternoon while I was standing outside of a classroom at Indian Hills Community College that he’d owned a drag strip for better than a decade and always lost his ass, and if he was going to lose his ass he’d just as soon do it with someone who loved drag racing the way he did. He gave me a house to live in, a brand new truck to drive, a poverty-level salary and the opportunity to make something happen at Eddyville Raceway Park in Iowa. We put on the track’s first heads up drag racing series (five races) and had more fun than should be legal. I made friends that season that will last a lifetime. I’d likely never have known Aaron Van Heel, Brian Carpenter, Mark Micke, Zach Barklage, Cody Barklage, Mark Barklage, John DeFlorian, Terry Murphy, Bruce Micetich, Jared Micetich, Mark Werdehausen, Mark Woodruff, Rock Carzoli, who has become one of my closest lifelong friends, and so many others without those five weekends in 2005. We hosted the inaugural Quick Performance World Fuel Altered Nationals that summer with Scott Galter at Nitro Madness Magazine, too. We did a drive-in movie night that weekend. It was lit. I made friends with junior dragster racers that I still talk to today – Robbie Massey, Chad Bacon, Kyle Kramer…I’m looking at you. We also hosted a half-dozen Midnight Madness events that year. I wish we had photos of this. The first one was our opening event of 2005 and I knew in my heart of hearts that it was going to be huge, but no one else on the staff liked the idea at all. About 10PM that opening night, we had traffic backed up the interstate for miles – all young folks that wanted to come run heads up, instant green, with no scoreboards. We’d managed to capture the interest of the local street racing contingent and we ran until 3 in the morning that fateful April night. It was epic. After that Carl was on board with whatever I wanted to do. I’d come up to the Des Moines area about once a month to meet with Carl for a “check up from the neck up” and he was always so insightful. He was an incredible mentor and friend and I’ll always be appreciative of the chance he took on me way back when. Plus, he had the first Pro Mod car that I ever laid eyes on and I’m still pretty fired up about that. For those wondering, yes, I immediately dropped out of college again, quit my job and went to work for Carl.”
This story was originally published on October 2, 2024.
The post Carl Moyer, Karl Chevrolet Founder & Icon, Passes Away at Age 83 first appeared on Drag Illustrated.
