Sussex County man ranked No. 1 sprint car driver in U.S.

Sussex County native Davie Franek has been making a name for himself in the racing world, reaching No. 1 nationally in the 2023 Rod End Supply Winged 360 Sprint Car Power Rankings.

He did not become No. 1 overnight, but from the start, his talent for driving was displayed on the dirt track.

Franek started his racing career about 25 years ago, when he was 7 years old and racing go-karts competitively.

“After that first season of racing, I knew I was going to be involved in racing for the rest of my life,” he said. “There was always something about the competitiveness of racing that I liked so much.”

He worked his way up to micro sprint cars, then to full-sized sprint cars.

His sprint car driving career started in amazing fashion as he captured Rookie of the Year in 2003.

The race car driving life is a busy one. During the first couple months of the year, Franek hits the road with his team to compete in the United Sprint Car Series (USCS), which takes place in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Georgia.

He has won the past two USCS Winternational Championships, which has helped solidify his rank at the top.

“Over the past two or three years, I’ve noticed a lot more of that paying attention to the stuff that we’re winning. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve appreciated all of these big races that we have won in the past because you don’t realize it in the moment - it takes awhile for this stuff to set in.”

Franek and his team have had a lot of success in the past couple years. Last year, he won three championships, including the Patriot Sprint Tour, CNY Speedweek and USCS Winter Heat Series.

He credits his success to the people around him and emphasized that his team sacrifices a lot of time and energy throughout the year. He is grateful that he has had many people that he can trust and rely on.

“I want to thank my father, my crew chief Ryan, my car chief Brian (and) my girlfriend Lauren, who does the behind the scenes stuff. I also wanted to thank my sponsors, Rapid Tire, Atlantic Battery, Rider Race Engines and Madison Race Chassis. Without any of them, it would be hard,” he said.

Dave Franek Sr. was his son’s first manager.

As time went on, Franek began to add other people who loved the sport to his team. He chose the number 28 to honor his father’s racing career because he started racing at 28 and stopped when he was 35.

“Until you actually go there and witness these cars go around the track, it really doesn’t give it justice,” he said. “When you go and actually see these things go around the race track and see how talented these guys are, it really blows your mind.”

He will be racing Saturday June 3 at Orange County Fair Speedway in the ESS Tour Race.

CORRECTION: The date of the ESS Tour Race was incorrect in an earlier version of this article. We regret the error.