Good morning. It sounds like you have a gas dryer and not an electric dryer. Update (07/18/2021): The other responder jayeff asked for the model number. That is most likely around the door of the dryer. That would help us to search for the information.
The control is probably 180 degrees off. You will have to find a way to turn it with the knob out since it is keyed. I have had to do that before with my own dryer.
Opening the housing ... it felt like there was still some hardware holding the top part together. I found two slots in the split line, in the area where the top handle was. A gentle twist of a screwdriver was all that was needed. Work slowly as there are two cables that have to be disconnected. See step 5.