15 minute read
Kevin Rumley
a main
FEATURE
Advertisement
LATE MODEL
LATE MODELS, LONGHORN AND LARSON: A CONVERSATION WITH KEVIN RUMLEY
By Ashley Zimmerman
Photo: Heath Lawson
WHILE COVID-19 TRIED many times Empire felt it was time to pin down the to deter our ability to race, the dirt track mastermind behind Longhorn Chassis. racing community was able to witness While a man of few words, we were able Kyle Larson write his place in history. to sit down with Kevin to talk about the The sentiment of “it takes a village” storied success, and the creation of the would best be applied to the plan that 6 car, as well as… you guessed it, Kyle was developed to allow Kyle the ability Larson. to jump from different forms of dirt track DIRT EMPIRE (DE): Originally the racing – sometimes all in the same race team was started by your father weekend. Kevin Rumley of Longhorn Lee Roy. What compelled him to Chassis would find himself a citizen in want to have a late model? the late model village of Kyle Larson, KEVIN RUMLEY (KR): My father grew and the combination would enable the up in a moderate size family with three pair to find near instant success. It was just a perfect brothers. While he grew up a
Kevin Rumley opportunity. Kyle called, high school isn’t a stranger to victory lane, and it came as no surprise we had about a five minute conversation and athlete and had chances to go to college, one of that the legendary 6 would give Larson his first trip to late he said, “Alright, I’ll get a seat up there and we’ll his brothers was in the service in Georgia and model victory lane. When Larson proved get a car together.” brought back a car. He watched again in January 2021 how deadly of his brothers try to repair the car or try a combination Rumley and he are, Dirt to do things with the car and could not accomplish them. My father jumped in and made repairs to the car and fixed it for his brothers. He was hooked ever since.
DE: Aside from growing up in a racing family, what was it that triggered you to decide to be a part of the racing industry?
KR: Well, growing up I thought I was the coolest kid in town because my dad had raced and was successful. A lot of people came over to the shop when I was younger and it made me think I was a part of something special. I spent a lot of time in the shop and got very close to him. I paid attention and started to understand the mechanical aspects, how the car handled, and how it worked. Then it just fit naturally. My dad tried to get me into sports, but the first day of football practice I had my helmet on backwards - that pretty much ended that! He said “you better be smart!”
DE: While we all have the recent success of Kyle Larson on our
minds, what are some of the other notable wins for yourself and your father?
KR: There are dozens, like the Lucas Late Model Championship or the World 100. Definitely the World 100 - it might sound cliché but that is our marquee event; the most prestigious.
DE: For quite some time, your father only raced locally with a part time schedule. What were the deciding factors in finally deciding to branch out, travel, and race full time?
KR: Well, when I entered college, I started to meet more people in the racing scene and started to work on more things. We didn’t really have a big budget, so we had to rely on building our own engines, making the cars get faster. I started to get exposed to more resources, and we found the opportunity that we could leave our little area and compete, getting better and better. So, in 1997, we built our first toter-home and that allowed us to get out and travel, and be successful.
DE: When the team did begin hauling and racing full time, Jonathan Davenport was brought on board to drive. What about Jonathan made him the best fit for the team?
KR: Well, Jonathan and myself, we’ve been very close since we met, he’s a one of a kind talent. When we got him
Kevin Rumley working under the hood of Tim McCreadie’s #39 at Eldora Speedway in 2019. Photo: Zach Yost.
to drive in 2014, it was on the emphasis of Longhorn Chassis. We had to develop the race car and the main thing that Jonathan has is a very open mind and vision. It was basically just talent, and his open-mindedness to how cars needed to evolve to make a lot more success for us.
Kevin Rumley tuning on Tim McCreadie’s ride at Eldora during the 2020 Intercontinental Classic at Eldora Speedway. Photo: Zach Yost.
DE: What was it about fabricating and engineering that made you not take the path of a driver?
KR: Well, basically I’ve never enjoyed driving. I’ve never found it interesting and always found the cars more interesting.
DE: You chose to go to college and pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. Do you feel that this degree still benefits your career the most? Would you still recommend the path you took?
KR: Well, the basic fundamental understanding of engineering helps me the most, whether it be vehicle dynamics, understanding the path behind shock absorbers, or meeting peers that have the same skill sets as you, it was all very big. It opens up resources that you never thought you could have. I would highly recommend if you’re pursuing a career in racing similar to mine, to get a mechanical engineering degree.”
DE: One of your first successful designs was a cam hub assembly. When you were creating this design, did you realize how much of an innovation this would become?
KR: Well, the design came about for my father’s racing. We had to assemble our own engines, we had to pick the components and therefore we had some very good engines because we were able to have freedom then and could use all of our resources. I had the idea to design this piece, it was a very ambitious design, and one that simplified the engines and helped the performance considerably. So, Xceldyne, where I was working, the NASCAR Cup teams
we worked with started to notice this design, and they actually built the new RO7 Chevrolet and FR9 Fords around this cam hub mount simply because it simplified the design of everything. We were on a time limit to develop, and it was very difficult, but very gratifying once we learned enough to produce it.
DE: What are some other things you have designed over the course of your career?
KR: In the beginning of the 2015 season, we were planning to run the Lucas Oil National Series. We had an enormous amount of data that we recorded from various places and various races. There was this underlying problem that I found, a fundamental problem with the cars. I devoted pretty much the whole winter of 2014 to solving this problem. This problem ended up producing a very unique suspension device that looks far more complicated than it should be, but it solved the problem. We went on to have a very successful year as a result. The device we developed went on to be outlawed
A very happy Lee Roy Rumley, Kevin Rumley and Tim McCreadie holding the winning check at the Firecracker 100 at Lernerville Speedway Photo: Paul Arch
and probably created about four pages in the rule book.
DE: Eventually the Labontes would approach you to offer you a position at Longhorn Chassis. Was this a decision that took much time to decide on? Or did you immediately know this was an opportunity you needed to seize?
KR: So, basically, they were trying to build a chassis business and needed to look at some creative routes to do so. This was in the time that my dad retired from his public job, which meant that our racing budget was pretty much gone. So, we had to get very creative on how we were going to continue racing. The partnership with the Labonte Brothers enabled us to do so and I think it worked out great for both parties.
DE: When did you begin traveling with the #6 full time? When the schedule was light and more part time, how did you go about deciding where to race?
KR: Well, basically, we never really ran full time until 2014 with Jonathan, right? So, we kind of always had an outlaw schedule that we would hit. We went to races or racetracks we knew we were good at and followed a true outlaw schedule until deciding to run full time.
DE: Let’s talk about your move to Longhorn, how do you think this decision affected your career?
KR: Well, when I was able to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together and have an avenue to manufacture what was in my head, it pretty much revolutionized the late model industry, and every chassis manufacturer had to play catch up, and I think they’re still playing catch up at this moment. We had a huge opportunity to start with a clean sheet of paper. In other words, we didn’t add to it, we didn’t try to refine it. We started with a clean sheet of paper, and there was a huge advantage for us in the Labontes, they provided their expertise and racing from their asphalt background, and it made a very beautiful product.
DE: In the winter of 2012 you integrated the #6 into the Longhorn Chassis operation. How did that benefit your ability to create and design? Do you feel it was beneficial for you to be able to have your own car to make changes to and be trackside to see how those changes translated on race day versus someone relaying the messages back to you?
KR: They provided a budget, and avenue for manufacturing the things I wanted to do, and it was extremely beneficial to be able to make those changes on my own car.
DE: While everyone knows about Longhorn Chassis, not many know of Rumley Engineering. What does that side of your business entail?
KR: So that was a brand created by my wife, so I could have a placeholder for all things racing. She can sell t-shirts and
promote me as a brand. It works out very well, and she’s very good at what she does. She has an insight to know what people are going to ask and to provide that information for them.
DE: How did your father being able to be involved in your career as a fabricator/engineer influence or teach you?
KR: My father was a perfectionist and had extreme discipline. So, to be a good engineer, you have to have a vision for what you want to do, you have to learn how you need to do it and then you have to have the discipline to apply it to the real world. So, I think my greatest strength is being able to apply what I learned to the real world. I think he laid the foundation for that with his discipline, perfectionism, and hard work. I think that’s probably the thing he taught me the most. Also, at some point in time you have to load up and go race, race cars will never be finished, but you have to load it on the trailer once and awhile.
DE: What brought the 6 car back to the track in 2019?
KR: Basically, I had a year where I consulted for Lance Landers Motorsports with Jonathan Davenport. The logistics made it very hard for me to add value to the team. I needed a car of my own to be able to have design freedom that’s needed to evolve a product. I was fortunate enough to meet David Fritts. He provided a shop in 2017 for me to be creative and do whatever I needed to do, so when all of the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, it was only right to bring the car back. Bringing the car back was basically through design freedom and tracking, see if we could evolve the product any further.
DE: Essentially you needed the ability to put your hands on the car you were testing and tuning, as well as witness what happened when you made changes?
KR: Yes, so I could have maybe ten ideas, and maybe only one of them will work well. But, having my own car, no one gets to see the nine ideas that didn’t work.
DE: Now that we’ve worked our way to the 2020 race season, let’s talk about the subject that has made so many headlines. How did the opportunity for Kyle Larson to drive the 6 car come about?
KR: A mutual friend of Donald Bradsher, who is the owner of Tim McCreadie’s car that we’re very close with, came up to the shop one day and was expressing that his friend, Kyle, would want to drive a late model sometime and the opportunity just worked out great. We just want to race, and we want to be fast so we’re not going to take advantage of him. It was just a perfect opportunity. Kyle called, we had about a five minute conversation, he said, “alright, I’ll get a seat up there and we’ll get a car together.”
DE: Kyle experienced immediate success. This shocked some fans, and others say they expected it. Where do you land on the spectrum? Was this the level of success you anticipated when the ride came together?
KR: Well, yeah, I mean, I was taught to never leave the race shop unless you feel like you can win. So, I mean, I wasn’t surprised, but it also was a surprise, if
that makes sense. In the back of my mind, I knew we were going to win. Kyle and I make a very good team. Being in a team, you understand each other’s weaknesses and you try to help balance them out, and that’s what makes us a good team.
DE: To be able to jump from a sprint car, to a midget, to a late model, Kyle must be a very good communicator with his team?
KR: Yes, he’s very easy to work with, that’s one of his greatest strengths. It enables him to work with all of these different people. When he’s put with someone that he’s going to be very successful with, the conversation kind of goes like this; “I’m just not doing a good enough job.” Me, I’m like, “No, don’t think too hard, it’s good enough right now.” He has a very high IQ, and he is very focused. It’s a great opportunity to race with him, I’m very fortunate to be able to work with someone like him. ``
DE: Kyle has already shared most of his racing schedule for 2021, and has alluded that he will be spending time racing the 6. Aside from Kyle, will we see anyone else piloting the car?
DE: While the 2020 race season was one for the record books and enabled you to check a lot of things off of your bucket list, maybe even things you didn’t know were on your bucket list, but is there anything about the upcoming race season that has you excited?
KR: We’re going to enter the Bristol race. The track is a little bit different, as far as bigger and faster than anything. So, that’s my attention, we’re going to build a product that can give Kyle all the tools he needs to win. That has me pretty excited right now.
DE: Do you think it’s a good sign for the dirt track racing community to see us returning to places like Bristol?
KR: Yeah, it’s great! It’s great for the sport and great for the motorsports industry. It’s pretty exciting times we’re going through right now. So, soak them all in.
Photo: Richard Barnes
Lee Roy Rumley, 84, died Sunday, November 22, 2020, following a hard and courageous battle with pulmonary fibrosis.
According to the obituary, “Lee Roy will be remembered for his integrity, strong work ethic, determination and loyalty. He was a wonderful husband, father and grandfather and was a role model to many. Most notably, however, Lee Roy will be remembered by the public as the racecar owner of the iconic #6.The iconic #6 dates back to the 1950’s when Lee Roy and his brothers began racing at local tracks around Greensboro, where their first win was at Bowman Gray Stadium. Eventually, Lee Roy formed K & L Rumley Enterprises with his son, Kevin, and began venturing outside his locality. They have chalked up hundreds of victories with a long list of drivers. The 2016 National Dirt Late
Photo: Scott Swenson
Model Hall of Fame inductee’s career was highlighted in 2015 with driver Jonathan Davenport as the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series Champion, winning several races, including the World 100 and the Dream. Lee Roy was able to witness the latest victory of the #6 piloted by successful open-wheel and Nascar driver Kyle Larson. Kevin will proudly continue his father’s legacy of racing.”
