Dumicich Going Indoor Racing at Boardwalk Hall
You can usually find Frank Dumicich Jr. competing on the Mr. Rooter Pro Truck Series. The E. Quogue, NY driver is competing in a Slingshot this weekend along with his father. The cars are fielded by Hope Motorsports.
“They’re a whirlwind of difference,” Dumicich said. “(I) always wants to run Atlantic City indoor racing. I told my wife I said I want to go run Atlantic City. She’s like fine go ahead and do it if you want to. So we rented a Slingshot this weekend to have some fun and trying it. I talked my father into doing it and a lot different than running a truck. It’s like compared to my truck drives like a Cadillac compared to one of these things. It’s a lot of fun to wheel and we’ll see what we can get done to make the A main tonight.”
Dumicich finished the season with 2 poles, 2 wins, 9 top fives, and 13 top 10s. His 5.93 average finish and 90 laps led were among the best in the series.
“(I) couldn’t have done any of it without my sponsors and stuff like that for the entire season. Arenz, Tonino’s, East End Transmissions, Whitney’s Deli, Teddy Bear Graphics. Without my mother and my father behind me or my wife and my daughter, none of this, none of it would have been possible. (I) went out of the box with a brand-new truck at the beginning of the year, won the first feature out of the box (at Thompson) with it. Then started off the season that way and went to Waterford had a controversial win taken away from us. Then we went to Seekonk and won one. We went down to the championship weekend, left the champion at the racetrack, and then a couple of weeks later taken away but a stellar season.”
He was crowned the series champion at the World Series at Thompson last year. The series used a format similar to NASCAR’s playoffs, where the champion is the best finish in the season finale. A retroactive penalty demoted him to third in the standings.
“It has to do with the race director and had a deal what he wanted to do and it is what it is. You can’t judge it. Everybody knows who really won the race and the championship. You can’t really throw a guy that leading the race and the guy behind you decides you tries to wreck you and turn you and you can’t penalize the guy in front for saving it and the guy behind you can’t drive. He spun himself out. He wanted to take the rule as contact between two vehicles and they went by the contact of two vehicles and they went to taking it away from the guy in front. And I don’t know how they can do it but that’s how they did it.”
Dumicich is not racing with a touring season this season. Instead, he will focus on his local track Riverhead Raceway on Long Island. The 2013 Super Pro Truck champion is seeking his second track championship. His father Frank Dumicich, Sr. won in 1997 and his sister Erin lost the 2014 title by a tiebreaker. Dumichich estimates his family has competed at the asphalt quarter-mile for 30 years.
Dumicich’s family is involved in the sport. He met his wife at the racetrack and they have a 14-month-old daughter.
“It makes you a lot stronger doing it as a family effort. …. At home mostly me and dad in the garage building race cars and fixing them all weekend. We have a bunch of crew guys that come over and help us whenever they can. It’s a family effort and without my wife letting me do it and supporting me with racing and stuff like that I probably wouldn’t have been there.”
Dumicich’s long-term goal is to drive a Modified.
Dumicich has been competing in touring Truck series for years. He has wins at New London-Waterford, Riverhead, Seekonk, Star, and Thompson. His wins at Thompson include a pair of Icebreaker wins on the oval and one on the road course. He said the trucks have great racing.
“The first time we showed up at the road course, I had a really good run going with Roger Turbush and Roger’s motor expired. And then I started having clutch issues and Dad caught me. I’m like oh God here we go. Now I’ve gotta fight Dad for the win, and then get over the start-finish line, take the white flag, and alright where Dad go? Dad ran out of fuel. I’m like oh luck just played a big part of that race. I babied it back to win that one.”
The familiar black, blue and pink on Dumicich’s race cars is a tribute to his grandmother.
“I’ve had pink on the car since my grandmother died of cancer a long time ago and it just always stuck with me and then every time I’ve lettered a racecar it’s been pink and blue and with the white and then I just change it up here and there and that’s how you go with it.”
Sources: Nicholas Teto, YankeeRacer.com