Northeast Dirt Mod Hall Of Fame To Honor TV Producer Tery Rumsey With Award Of Media Excellence

Story By: BRIAN SPAID / NORTHEAST DIRT MODIFIED HALL OF FAME – WEEDSPORT, NY – This year, a behind-the-scenes influencer responsible for documenting dirt Modified racing will be recognized by the sport that he brought into living rooms across America.

Former DIRT Motorsports television producer Tery Rumsey will receive the 2020 Andrew S. Fusco Award for Media Excellence from the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame on July 23rd in Weedsport, NY.

“Andy did so much for the sport, and to be honored with the award in his name is just incredibly satisfying because he was such a great friend to me,” Rumsey said of Fusco, who played a big role at DIRT Motorsports before his passing in 2015. “He taught me an awful lot about dirt racing.”

Rumsey, 75, grew up in Central New York and started his career path after a stint in the military. He attended a local community college, taking an educational television course that included an internship at WCNY-TV, the PBS affiliate in Syracuse. Rumsey landed on the production crew, which catapulted him to a 49-year career in broadcast television.

“I worked in public television for nine years before moving to the local ABC affiliate. I also did a lot of freelance work for networks like ESPN,” Tery recounted. “Then I got tired of working for other people and took over teaching the television production courses at Cayuga Community College in Auburn in 1985.”

As fate would have it, one of his students, Patrick Donnelly, had a famous father that just happened to be in need of a new television production leader in 1987.

“I received a call from Andy,” recalled Rumsey. “I didn’t know who he was. He told me he was calling for [DIRT Motorsports president] Glenn Donnelly, and that they’d like to talk to me about possibly producing their show. So I went in and talked to Glenn and Andy. And I was there for 21 years.”

Upon Rumsey’s arrival, the fledgling “This Week on DIRT” — a magazine-style recap of weekly racing at DIRT member tracks — transitioned into one of the most well-known and successful nationally syndicated auto racing productions of the era. Working on a limited budget with Patrick Donnelly, various home-grown cameramen and a team of young racing enthusiasts, DIRT-TV was a hit.

“Through my freelance connections, I knew a lot of people at regional sports networks, and I would call them and ask them to run the show,” Rumsey detailed. “Within a couple of years, ‘This Week on DIRT’ became available in Southern California, Hawaii, Texas, Florida, Maryland, most of New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania, and all of New England. We were on over-the-air stations throughout all the major markets in New York State, as well.”

The show reached 45 million households across the United States, and Donnelly parlayed that exposure into sponsorship agreements for the television show, the Super DIRT Series, and Super DIRT Week. It also provided area racers opportunities to gain major deals with sponsors.

“People loved those shows. When FOX Network purchased many of the regional sports channels in the 1990s and the Speed Network came about, we expanded to 90 million households,” Rumsey proclaimed.

With the success of “This Week on DIRT,” additional programming was created: “Rush Hour on DIRT,” featuring live race coverage of regional events, was added to the lineup.

Those broadcasts “allowed us to create a legacy of dirt track television that people still talk about today on social media,” Rumsey said, praising his production team. “Our work helped the company and racers financially.”

Rumsey’s desire to seek the heart of the racers, the crew and the fans was the one attribute that made his work stand out from the rest in the crowded field of motorsports television.

“To me, races will always either be lousy, fair or great. What is important is the people — the faces, the individuals, the drivers, the crews, and those who go way above and beyond to work on the cars,” he stated. “You work on a car for 24 hours in a row without sleep to get some guy a chance to go out and run at Syracuse. That is amazing stuff to hear! Racing is not just a hobby, it’s a way of life. So to meet these people, to see their joy in accomplishing what they were trying to do and tell their stories — it was special.”

That passion shined through Rumsey’s work at DIRT-TV for over two decades. The production meetings before every Super DIRT Week event were always focused on finding those moments when a story could be told about the toil, the tears and the glory that a big race like Syracuse could bring. Rumsey and his team developed a trust with the racers that was clearly conveyed on camera.

“We could shove a microphone in somebody’s face, and we would essentially get the truth,” Tery said. “One of the things about NASCAR that I always disliked was this ‘mayonnaise’ question-and-answer. We got the truth. We weren’t there to hurt anybody or embarrass anybody. We were there to bring them closer to the fans, and they knew that. I think we achieved great success with that level of reporting and producing, and I am real proud of that.”

Although he worked on racing productions at Rolling Wheels Raceway and Myrtle Beach Speedway in the recent past, Rumsey has branched out after moving to New Hampshire in 2007. Nowadays he spends his time behind the camera, filming NFL and college football games and other national sporting events.

Popular Syracuse sportscaster Doug Logan served as host of “This Week on DIRT,” working closely with Rumsey, Fusco, Donnelly and the team. He acknowledged the legacy created, in no small part, by Rumsey.

“Tery Rumsey always was and always will be the heartbeat of DIRT Motorsports Television. To every ‘This Week on DIRT’ and ‘Rush Hour’ telecast, Tery brought a unique perspective for the present day importance, and a passionate sensitivity for the historical significance of the event we were about to present to our many great viewers,” Logan asserted.

“Tery forever set himself apart from the field with his remarkable ability to capture the true essence of DIRT Motorsports.”