Kevin Rumley wasn’t surprised.

After open-wheel superstar Kyle Larson set the dirt-track world on fire by driving the K&L Rumley Enterprises No. 6 to a $15,000 victory in Saturday’s 50-lap Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series feature at Port Royal Speedway, Rumley simply recalled what his eyes had told him nine days earlier when the 28-year-old sensation from Elk Grove, Calif., first climbed into a Dirt Late Model. | RaceWire

“I knew the first lap at Cherokee (Speedway) that this was possible,” Rumley asserted, referring to Larson’s Aug. 20 test session at the Gaffney, S.C., track.

Rumley, a 43-year-old engineer from Lexington, N.C., who prepares the Longhorn Chassis owned by his 84-year-old father Lee Roy, has been around long enough to know driving talent when he sees it. With Larson, the sublime natural ability he possesses behind the wheel effectively burst forth right in Rumley’s face.

“He’s like the modern-day A.J. Foyt or Mario Andretti,” Rumley said, comparing Larson to two of the most famous and accomplished American race car drivers. “I think he could probably win in anything he gets in.”

Rumley paused for second and then amended his comment: “Well, he’s already proven that.”

Indeed, Larson’s triumph — coming just two days after his Dirt Late Model debut was capped by a fifth-place finish in Port Royal’s 30-lap Rumble by the River weekend opener — was his 35th of 2020 spread across World of Outlaws NOS Energy Sprint Car Series, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All-Star Circuit of Champions Series, USAC Midget, USAC Silver Crown and unsanctioned sprint car and midget competition. Since returning full-time to dirt action in the wake of being suspended from NASCAR and losing his Cup Series ride earlier this year after he uttered a racial slur during an online race, Larson has been so consistently fast that he’s now made 46 feature starts since May 30 without finishing worse than sixth.

Larson has been boggling minds on an almost nightly basis during his barnstorming tour of the country, but jumping into a Dirt Late Model and winning a national tour event in just his second career start in the division took his 2020 exploits to another level. He called it “probably one of my biggest wins ever of my career” — this from a driver whose accomplishments include six NASCAR Cup Series victories — and Rumley succinctly added even more perspective to Larson’s accomplishment.

“I think it’s very good for him … and history,” Rumley said while loading his pit box in a small “auxiliary” trailer that carried a variety of spare parts that couldn’t fit in his family team’s modest dually-pulled, fifth-wheel enclosed trailer. “I mean, I don’t know if anybody’s ever done that.”

In a sense, Larson had a hard time grasping the magnitude of what he had pulled off. He stood alongside the K&L Rumley machine in the pit area’s postrace tech area, a crowd building around him as he answered questions on camera from DirtonDirt.com pit reporter Dustin Jarrett, and searched for the right words to describe his spectacular Dirt Late Model breakout.

“I don’t know,” Larson said, shaking his head in amazement. “It doesn’t ever really seem real yet. I wasn’t expecting to do this.

“It’s just … really cool, and it just shows how good Kevin Rumley is and how good their equipment is.”

As well-prepared and engineered as Rumley’s machine was, though, Larson’s innate driving acumen played a major role, too. A Dirt Late Model newcomer doesn’t come off the outside pole to outgun the red-hot Brandon Sheppard of New Berlin, Ill., for the lead at the green flag and then stay there for the entire distance — with the reigning World of Outlaws Morton Buildings Late Model Series champion and runaway current points leader digging hard to run him down in the final laps — without being a special kind of chauffeur.

Larson adapted almost effortlessly to the latest of his racing disciplines. The manner in which he broke down how he won the race was evidence of his uncanny aptitude for dirt-track racing.

“That was a fun 50 laps,” Larson told Jarrett. “(The surface was) really slick, as slick as I’ve been here at Port Royal (where he has three 410 sprint car wins this season), so it was a lot of fun. (Turns) one and two is, you know, technical, with the big curb (on the outside), and then three and four was also technical just to try and keep it straight and keep your wheelspin down.

“I ran the bottom there early in three and four, and I seen Brandon Sheppard showed his nose into one (on lap 22) and so I figured he was doing something different than me in three and four. And we got a yellow (flag on lap 23) and they (his crew) let me know to move up (higher on the track), and from then on I didn’t really see anybody.

“I wanted some longer green-flag runs. I felt like I was getting better the longer we went. I just wanted to get in a rhythm. I didn’t really want any cautions. The first restart (on lap 10) I think it was just still slick, so I just spun my tires a little bit, probably turned down the hill (off turn four) too much. And then the next restarts (four more between laps 23 and 29) I kept it up just a little bit taking off and stayed in the cleaner part of the racetrack and had better grip.

“After the first night (Thursday’s debut) I felt like if I could start on the front row I could win, so I had a lot of confidence,” he added. “It worked out where I got quick time (in Saturday’s second qualifying group) and won that heat to line up on the front row, and I felt like if I could just beat (Sheppard) on that first lap to get out in the lead and kind of set my own pace I’d be all right.”

Rumley didn’t even have to provide Larson much guidance on where to position himself on the racetrack.

“When Brandon was running him down (late in the race), he looked over (to the infield),” Rumley said of Larson. “I was a little nervous because he’s so good, you don’t want to really tell him what to do. But I knew the crew was telling us that when Brandon moved up he was two-tenths faster. So luckily, he looked over, and when he looked over I gave him the right signal (to counter Sheppard’s charge).”

Rumley offered unqualified praise for Larson.

“He was unbelievable all night,” Rumley said. “He knew when to get in the car. He wasn’t nervous. He didn’t even go watch qualifying … he knew where he was gonna go (on the racetrack).

“His throttle control is amazing. His corner speed is incredible. And like I said, he drives a lot like J.D. (former K&L Rumley driver Jonathan Davenport of Blairsville, Ga.) so I kind of know what to expect.

“And he’s very calming to be around,” he added. “His confidence just makes everybody calm.”

Larson maintained an even keel despite certainly understanding the challenge of competing under a microscope. The breezy self-assurance that mega-talents like Larson in any sport display was clear all weekend — there was no doubt he was the guy everyone at the track had their eye on — but he admitted that wanted to live up to the hype and intense discussion surrounding his Dirt Late Model attempt.

“There’s no doubt about it, these guys are the best there is (in Dirt Late Model racing), especially this weekend,” Larson said. “With the Outlaws being off, you (WoO regular) Brandon Sheppard and (Lucas Oil points leader) Jimmy Owens here, and myself … that’s a lot of wins between three people this year.

“I felt a lot of pressure. I put a lot of pressure on myself, and I just felt a lot of pressure, just from the Late Model fan base, you know, talking a little bit, saying that I wasn’t gonna do good. And I didn’t know if I’d do good either, but it just feels good to not necessarily make a statement about sprint car drivers, but just to make them proud and show that we are really good drivers.”

Larson saw his appearance — and success — as a conduit to bringing the open-wheel and full-fender sides of the dirt-track community together.

“And hopefully me coming to run Late Models will get some of these fans to cross over and pay attention to what’s going on in the sprint car world, too,” he said. “Because it’s all really exciting racing, that’s for sure.”

Rumley recognized the significance of Larson’s Dirt Late Model foray as well.

“This is big. It’s big for us, but it’s bigger for the sport,” Rumley said. “I mean, him being here put at least a couple more thousand people in the stands. The publicity is gonna be amazing. It’s positives everywhere.

“And he deserves it. He’s very humble and just a great racer. I would say Kyle’s having the time of his life right now, so … it’s pretty neat to see. It’s pretty neat to be a part of it.”

Both Larson and Rumley indicated that the weekend was “definitely not a one-and-done” deal. Rumley declined to mention any possible future outings (“We’re quiet about everything so nobody has any expectations,” he said), but he seemed confident they will make something happen.

And Rumley pointed out that there was someone back in North Carolina who is anxious for Larson to again climb in the No. 6: Rumley’s father Lee Roy, the venerable car owner who has six decades in the racing game. The elder Rumley didn’t make the trip to Pennsylvania because his age and health — a lung condition makes him oxygen-dependent — puts him in a high-risk category if he would contract Covid-19, but he watched the live stream of the action and spoke with Kevin and Larson shortly after the race.

“We just Facetimed him,” Rumley said of his father. “He was so happy. He looked 20 years younger.”