Hall of Fame to Honor DIRT TV Director Patrick Donnelly
By Brian Spaid
“The one thing about Pat Donnelly is that his dedication to excellent television production is equaled by his dedication to having a great time!”
That quote by former DIRT Motorsports television producer Tery Rumsey best sums up the life of Patrick Donnelly, who will receive the 2023 Andrew S. Fusco Award for Media Excellence from the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame on Thursday, July 13 in Weedsport, NY.
“It’s a big deal to receive this award from the Hall of Fame,” noted Donnelly, whose father Glenn, founder of DIRT Motorsports, introduced live television broadcasts of dirt Modified racing from the 1980s into the new millennium. “To be in the Hall of Fame with my father, who built this museum [in 1992], means so much.”
The older Donnelly received the Leonard J. Sammons Jr. Award for Outstanding Contributions to Auto Racing in 1994. Reflecting on being one of the few father-son duos to be honored by the Hall of Fame, the younger Donnelly recalled his dad’s quest to immortalize racing’s heroes and stars.
“Dad played college football at North Dakota State. He was a big NFL fan. He knew how important a Hall of Fame was for football, and he wanted to give the dirt track Modified guys something where they could be enshrined and honored. It’s amazing his vision has lasted this long, and I am honored and proud to be a part of this. I have been congratulated all over, and it really means a lot.”
Donnelly, 56, lived with his mother and sisters in a house located on the Weedsport Speedway grounds for many years. When the weekly program “This Week on DIRT” launched in 1979, he wanted to be involved, but he had to go to school to learn the basics. After graduating high school in 1984, he attended broadcast tech school, learning the essentials from instructor Tery Rumsey, a former Syracuse-area TV producer. With his father’s backing, Donnelly convinced Rumsey to join DIRT’s TV team full-time in 1987. With Rumsey producing and marketing the show to regional and local television markets and stations, and Donnelly focused on directing, editing and all the camera work, the two formed a powerhouse for motorsports television. It justified the investment Donnelly’s father made in top-line camera and sound equipment, editing suites and remote trucks.
“Rumsey did live television work his entire life, and we teamed together to become my father’s television production company. We did commercials, radio spots, the works—you name it. In a single week, we might be filming hydroplanes, monster trucks, and all the motorsports stuff. We would also help promote all of my father’s concert events.”
Working in tandem, Rumsey and Donnelly formed plotlines for major events and season-long championship battles. They worked with their on-air talent to formulate compelling and emotional stories that almost seemed prophetic as each race developed, from behind-the-scenes coverage all the way to the checkered flag. To this day, Donnelly’s prediction that Alan Johnson, his favorite driver as a kid, would win the 1989 Super DIRT Week classic from dead last still stands out.
“We were small, but we were huge,” said Donnelly. “Guys like Larry Nuber, Doug Logan, Mike Joy, Dick Berggren—all of them loved our programs and wanted them to succeed, to expose our sport to more and more people. We developed Shane Andrews, ‘Cowboy’ Paul Szmal, and our first driver-turned-pit-reporter Mark Kenyon. We were able to evolve ‘This Week on DIRT’ into the ‘Empire DIRT Series,’ featuring live races from Weedsport. We had DIRT Modifieds on Empire Sports Network across all of New York State, and then ran it tape-delayed on Speed Network, receiving national exposure.”
The live coverage from the New York State Fairgrounds each October was the backbone of the entire season for DIRT Television. It involved leasing a huge broadcast production truck, gathering all the equipment including 10-12 cameras, and pulling together a crew of 50 to work the entire week. Donnelly focused his attention on directing the entire show from start to finish.
“It would take weeks to prep for that race and to run the production. I worked on camera angles, storylines, the spotters and those monitoring race team scanners. You name it! We were there for many years, and then, when Boundless took over [in 2004], their focus turned more toward the World of Outlaws. By 2007, that forced us to change our focus as well.”
Reflecting back, Donnelly is most proud of the impact his and Rumsey’s work had on the drivers and race teams.
“Putting the races on live TV like NASCAR attracted major sponsors to dirt track Modified racing. We made our drivers stars and the sponsors loved the fact that our races were live. Look what we did with Bob McCreadie and Brett Hearn: we succeeded in making them household names. Then, sponsors like Budweiser, Miller Beer, Auto Palace, Wheels, Advance Auto Parts, Nice N Easy, Kinney Drugs, Fay’s and more came on board with our drivers and races. Being on live TV was the key.”
Donnelly also is humbled to receive an award named after his father’s business attorney and good friend, the late Andy Fusco, who watched Donnelly grow into the successful television director and producer he is today.
“Andy was part of our team with Logan. His heart was totally into racing and he loved it, especially the television piece. Andy was like a part of my family,” Donnelly informed.
Nowadays, Donnelly operates his own business, Emergency Media Inc. in Weedsport, which produces hunting and fishing shows for cable networks. He also handles television production for the NASCAR Racing Experience, which is owned by his brother, Bob Lutz, and currently directs the weekly FloRacing broadcasts from Oswego Speedway.
Over the years, Donnelly may have earned his reputation as a fan of a good party while spending time with friends and fans. But his bigger reputation in the world of broadcasting—television, video and now streaming—reflects a career worthy of the Hall of Fame.
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