Why Lance Dewease Is Joining Forces With The Shearer Family
Why Lance Dewease Is Joining Forces With The Shearer Family
Lance Dewease explains his decision to join forces with the Shearer family No. 12 Sprint Car for the rest of 2023 and the '24 season.
Lance Dewease knows a suitable deal when he’s presented one. The National Sprint Car Hall of Famer announced on Tuesday that he’s joining forces with Barry and Brent Shearer of Manheim, Pennsylvania to drive their No. 12 machine for the few races that remain this season and ultimately ready a 40-race operation in 2024.
Of the options the Fayetteville, Pennsylvania native had to pick from in terms of where he’ll spend some of, if not, the last years of his prolific racing career, why the Shearers?
“First off, they seem like a really good family and all,” said the 57-year-old Dewease, who plans to debut with the team this Saturday at Lincoln Speedway live on FloRacing. “Their stuff seems pretty quick. They’ve had some speed in it at times this year.”
The central reason, however, revolves around an all too familiar feeling that takes Dewease back to the tenure that set him on a Hall of Fame trajectory.
“It kind of reminds me a little bit of going to the (Walter) Dyer (Brickmobile No. 461) deal when I first went there,” Dewease said. “It just seems like a good fit for me right now. We’ve had other options. But this one right now just seems like a good fit for me.”
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Dewease was a fresh-faced 25-year-old when he merged with Dyer in 1991. Together the two racked up a laundry list of feats: more than 100 feature wins, four Port Royal Speedway titles, two Williams Grove Speedway titles, the 1993 Knoxville Nationals Rookie of the Year, the 1994 Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal, the 1996 Williams Grove National Open, and 1997 Pennsylvania Speedweek championship among the accolades.
Of course, Dewease wouldn’t sign onto something if he didn’t believe he could win more Crown Jewels, much less features in general. He also wouldn’t take part in something that’d limit time with family, namely son Cole as he moves forward with a racing career.
Actually it was Dewease’s son that essentially paired his father up with the Shearers, a relationship that developed as Micro Sprint competitors across Central Pennsylvania.
“Him and Brent get along,” Dewease said. “It just kind of happened. That’s just how the Dyer kind of came about. It happened. It just kind of happened. Between my son and Brent, they kind of went back and forth about me … telling me this, telling me that. It just kind of happened. I met with Barry (Brent’s father) and finalized it (on Monday).”
WATCH: Lance Dewease reacts to stepping in the Macri Motorsports No. 39M for July's Eldora Million.
These talks began toward the end of August, “a little bit before the Grove National Open,” Dewease said, but really accelerated over the weekend following Shearer’s impressive fourth-place run and pole start in last Thursday’s Tuscarora 50 at Port Royal.
“Everything just kind of kept moving forward to the end decision,” Dewease said.
Dewease failed to qualify for the 56th running of the $62,000-to-win event, but it wasn’t for naught because he helped Shearer with adjustments and coaching at the race’s halfway red-flag break.
“We helped him with some things on the car to allow him to maintain a little better, which he did,” said Dewease, who’s now trying to understand the nuances of Shearer’s Eagle Chassis.
Kreitz Racing fielded Maxim Chassis for Dewease in their partnership from 2016 through this summer.
“They seem to work,” Dewease said of how Shearer’s Eagle Chassis reacted to the adjustments. “Under the red it responded to the changes we did. Brent seemed he had a pretty good car.”
As far as a schedule goes, Dewease said expect “something similar” to his days with the No. 69K revolving around touring and important races in Central Pennsylvania.
“It’s going kind of duplicate the 69K schedule that we ran for the last seven and a half years, give or take some,” Dewease said. “They’re not interested in racing every week. He has a family and grandkids he wants to spend time with. That works fine with me. We will not be racing every week, no.
“It really depends how the schedules come out, whatever happens with the High Limit Series, All Stars, and the Outlaws. Once all the rumor mills get done as to what’s going to happen, we’ll see how the schedules are. This year we actually raced a little more because the Outlaws came in early, something that they’ve never did before. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.”
Dewease further added that his newest and what most possibly is his final Sprint Car ride “just seemed like something that was meant to be.” When Dewease was, from what he described, abruptly let go from the Kreitz Racing No. 69K on July 23, there was no telling where he might go next.
Three days after the Dream Team’s breakup, Macri Motorsports, which was also in limbo after Anthony Macri stepped away from the team on July 12, lent Dewease a second No. 39M car to drive with Ryan Hand — Greg Hodnett's former crew chief — as the ride's overseer starting with July 26’s High Limit Sprint Car Series race at Pennsylvania’s Grandview Speedway.
It led to 17 total races since and 21 overall when counting Dewease in the No. 39M on July 12-13’s Eldora Million and July 14-15’s Kings Royal.
It was the most perfect interim partnership and stopgap possible as Macri announced his return to his family’s ride on Monday, the same evening Dewease solidified his future plans.
With the Macri team, Dewease recorded five podiums and a Sept. 22 victory at Williams Grove.
“I appreciate everything Nick (Macri) did, and Joe (Mooney) … Ryan (Hand), too, everybody there and what they did for me,” Dewease said. “It’s kind of like we both needed each other at the moment. It worked out.
“I told everyone from day one when I was at Eldora, nothing would make me happier to get a call saying he’s on the way out to Eldora and he’s back in it. To me, I’ve known Anthony since he’s started racing these things. I’ve gotten along good with everybody in the family. It’s where he should be. I’m just happy they could work it out and figure it out. Sometimes working with family can be really tough. At the end of the day, you’re still family, and hopefully they have it ironed out and figured out, and things move forward.”
Dewease plans to log three races with the Shearers to end the season, starting with this Saturday’s Weldon Sterner Memorial at Lincoln (Sunday serves as the rain date) and a pair of races on Oct. 21 and Nov. 11 at BAPS Motor Speedway. Breaking in the new ride and discovering what to prioritize this winter are atop the list of goals.
“Just feeling everything out, see how the motor runs and how the car reacts,” Dewease said. “All the little things to get comfortable in it and see what we need to work on for next year. … We’re looking forward to working with Barry and Brent, trying to build a strong team that can compete for wins in the big shows.”