RPW Column: Ryan Rumsey Moving Up The Racing Ladder, Now Chief Mechanic For Davie Franek

Column By: MIKE TRAVERSE / RPW – SUSSEX, NJ – Racing has long been a staple in the life of the just turned 19 year old Ryan Rumsey.

His grandfather Paul Hyde, was a vital crew member during Richie Eurich’s championship seasons. His father, A.J. Rumsey, has fielded cars for many years, first a Sportsman and for the last few years, a 305 Sprint Car, both teams with Ryan’s brother Christian doing the driving.

In his young years, Ryan was a successful go kart racer, getting his start at the age of 5. He once had aspirations to move further up in racing. As Christian started racing the family sportsman car, Ryan put aside his own racing to concentrate on working with his father and brother doing much of the mechanical work on the #1R.

Ryan became an excellent mechanic. It inspired him to take automotive courses in school. He exceled in the courses, well enough to place high up in regional competition and advance to statewide competition.

As the Rumsey team moved into the 305 Sprint cars, running the CRSA circuit, Ryan’s mechanical skills continued to improve. And when Davie Franek’s chief mechanic left for another opportunity in racing after the 2020 season, it worked out for Ryan that he now has the position as the chief mechanic and crew chief for Davie Franek Racing.

“I’m very excited. I’ve been working for Davie since November,” Ryan said. “It’s a big step up. It will be much more responsibility than I’ve had in the past. I’m going from working on our 305 to working on 360’s and a 410. And it’s definitely going to be much more racing than I’m used to. There’s approximately 70 or so races that we are planning this year. We aren’t running any specific series, but there’s plenty of races that Davie will be racing.”

And the road trips get underway pretty soon.

“As we go down to Florida for the racing at Hendry County Motorsports Park, Davie is going to be flying back and forth from the track to home to tend to the family business. It will be my duty to make sure the cars are ready.”

And going from a one car team to multiple cars is a challenge the young man is looking forward to.

“We have 3 new cars done and a 4th in the works,” Rumsey said. “But when you enjoy your work, it hardly feels like work.”

The Rumsey/Franek connection goes way back to when Davie’s dad Dave was friends with Ryan’s grandfather and Eurich. Richie once drove Dave’s #28 Small Block to a Syracuse Small Block qualifier win at OCFS.

One of the things that helped Ryan is that he paid attention to detail and would listen intently to what one of the veteran drivers on the CRSA circuit would tell him.

“John Matrafailo is a 2 time CRSA Champion and would always answer any questions we had as we got started in the series,” Ryan said. “He was a great teacher for our team.”

As for the Rumsey Racing team’s plan to replace Ryan, team owner AJ Rumsey will promote one already on the team.

“I am very proud of Ryan, he will be living his dream being on the road wrenching for Davie Franek Racing. He is focused and he has his goals and he is driven to be the best,” AJ said. “We will fill the void that Ryan leaves with Jesse Hedges. Jesse and Ryan have worked well together the past 3 seasons and the 1R team will roll on in 2021.”

It certainly appears that both Davie Franek and Christian Rumsey are set up to have successful seasons in 2021. Good luck to both teams in 2021 and to Ryan Rumsey with his full time racing position. Your hard work and dedication to your family team has paid off with this excellent opportunity. Wishing you success!!