Reakes’ Lucky Week Winds Up Town Mechanical 30 Sportsman Victory

Syracuse, NY – October 7, 2007 – By Chris Dolack, DIRTcar Racing PR

There’s always a little luck needed to wind up in victory lane, and for Sammy Reakes IV it came in the form of a four-leaf clover he found after his first practice session during Super DIRT Week festivities this week at the New York State Fairgrounds.

Reakes went from being one of the slowest cars in practice to winning the pole and dominating the Town Mechanical 30 Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship feature on the 1-mile high-speed oval after picking up the lucky charm and keeping it safely in his driver’s suit the rest of the weekend.

Reakes’ victory makes him the ninth different winner in nine Super DIRT Week Sportsman events.

“This is awesome,” said Reakes, of Fulton, N.Y., who turned 20 on Friday when he won the pole for Sunday’s main event. “Coming into this weekend I was just hoping we were going to qualify for the race. I wasn’t expecting this at all. This is a dream come true.

“I was sitting there Friday before qualifying and I found this four-leaf clover and I had it in my pocket the entire weekend. I wasn’t looking for it, I just found it. I was slow car in practice. I found this and we’ve been phenomenal ever since. It’s been in my pocket falling apart. I made sure it was there before I went out.”

A fourth generation driver, Reakes is the first from his family to find victory lane at Syracuse. His crew includes dad and uncle.

“It’s so awesome,” Reakes said. “My uncle Sam, he was always so close. Qualifying on the pole I thought was a good enough present for this weekend. To finally get my name in the books, the way this year was going, I was ready to chalk it up as a loss. This is an awesome way to end it.”

After winning the pole, Reakes jumped out fast time and again during the 30-mile race. Seven cautions bunched the field with runner-up Chris Higgins trying to push to the front each restart. One the final restart with five to go, Reakes blocked Higgins and powered down the frontstretch.

“It seemed like we were never going to get it over with the cautions out there,” Reakes said. “I had a couple of close restarts with Chris. He kept jumping me there and I just gave him a nerf bar on the last one. I was kind of getting sick of it towards the end. I just gave him the nerf bar, moved him up out of the groove and said, ‘I’ll see you later.’”

Reakes didn’t look back until he crossed the scales and started the celebration in front of the massive New York State Fairgrounds grandstands.

Chris Hile wound up third with Kyle Weiss and John McClelland rounding out the top five.

Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series leader Joe Williams, a two-time winner during Super DIRT Week this year at Can-Am Motorsports Park and Rolling Wheels Raceway, finished 26th in the 35-car field.

Weiss, of Hambury, Pa., was the Camping World Rookie of the Race while Glenn Hiski captured the P&M Fabrication Hard Charger Award after starting 28th and finishing 8th. Reakes, who led all 30 laps, grabbed the Dig Safely New York Halfway Leader award.

Hoosier Tire-Sunoco Race Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series Race #12 –New York State Fairgrounds, Oct. 7, 2007 “Town Mechanical Inc. Super DIRT Week Sportsman Championship” Event Summary

FIN      STR    CAR# DRIVER                                                         LAPS  $WON$         

1          1          17K     Sammy Reakes IV / Fulton,NY                 30        4,000 

2          3          19H     Chris Higgins / Syracuse,NY                     30        2,000 

3          8          5J        Chris Hile / Syracuse,NY                           30        1,000 

4          13        16X     Kyle Weiss / Hambury,PA®                       30        700    

5          2          44        John McClelland / Martinsville,NJ                        30        500    

6          6          79        Michael Storms / Wantage,NJ                   30        400    

7          14        18H     Todd Henderson / Canandaigua,NY       30        350    

8          28        02        Glenn Hiski / Bridgewater,NJ®                 30        300    

9          17        0          Jipp Ortiz / Ransomville,NY                       30        275    

10        19        17T     Todd Town / Jordan,NY®                           30        250    

11        27        280     Justin Holland / Kauneonga Lake,NY     30        240    

12        16        58        Scott Schrader / Shortsville,NY                 30        230    

13        21        35        Matt Harrell / Elmer,NJ®                             30        220    

14        34        6J        Alan Fink / Central Square,NY®             30        210    

15        20        18V     Danny Varin / Sharon Springs,NY®        30        200    

16        30        99        Larry Wight / Phoenix,NY®                        30        200    

17        36        2p        John Juhl / Auburn,NY                              30        200    

18        29        1/64    Andy Miller / Schuylkill Haven,PA                        30        200    

19        26        2K       Rob Knapp / St.Catharines,ONT®            30        200    

20        11        22        Jeremy Wilder / Fort Plain,NY®                30        200    

21        31        777     Tyler McPherson / St.Catharines,ONT®  30        200    

22        9          20X     Kevin Ridley / Geneva,NY®                      27        200    

23        35        10        Tim Currier / Auburn,NY                            27        200    

24        5          14        Jeremy Pitcher / Fulton,NY                                    24        200    

25        18        44Z     Jessica Zemken / Sprakers,NY                 21        200    

26        23        19        Joe Williams / Scotia,NY                            21        200    

27        15        4SL     Bobby Hentschel / Pine Bush,NY®         21        200    

28        12        23        John McAuliffe / Ballston Lake, NY         20        200    

29        7          87        Shawn Donath / South Onondaga,NY    19        200    

30        25        7A       Allan Blanchard / Fenwick,ONT               13        200    

31        22        66        Dan Wiesner / Geneva,NY®                     12        200    

32        10        08        Mark D'Ilario / Smithville,ONT                    9          200    

33        4          220     John Ferrier / Middletown,NY                    9          200    

34        24        5          Dave Dykstra / Pt.Colborne,ONT®           7          200    

35        33        99P     Greg Panunte / Port Colborne,ONT         6          200    

DNS   32        71        Mike Bowman / St.Catharines,ONT®      ---       ---      

LAP LEADER:   Reakes (1-30).                                                                

CAUTIONS:  7 (lap 8, lap 9, lap 10, lap 17, lap 20, lap 21, lap 26).                            

ELAPSED TIME:  41 mins. 27 secs.                                                                    

AVERAGE SPEED:   43.434 mph.                                                                      

MARGIN OF VICTORY:   3.859 secs.                                                                  

CAMPING WORLD ROOKIE OF THE RACE:   Kyle Weiss.                           

DIG SAFELY NEW YORK HALFWAY LEADER:   Sammy Reakes IV.                    

P&M FABRICATION HARD CHARGER:   Glenn Hiski.                                              

GATER RACING NEWS BEST APPEARING CAR:   #35 - Matt Harrell.                  

NYSSCA 'TOP MEMBER' AWARD:   Danny Varin.                                                     

MAGNUM FORCE PEST ELIMINATION HARD LUCK AWARD:   Jeremy Pitcher.        

P&M FABRICATION POLE WINNER:   Sammy Reakes IV (32.467 sec/110.882 mph).  

MOTORSPORTS SAFETY SYSTEMS OUTSIDE POLE WINNER:   John McClelland (32.918 sec/109.363 mph).                                                              

DIG SAFELY NEW YORK LAST CHANCE QUALIFIERS:   Allan Blanchard, Rob Knapp.  

RACE ROOKIES®:   15.                                                                

CARS ENTERED:   57.                                                                  

UPCOMING EVENTS

Action during the 18^th Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Series continues in October with Black Rock Speedway hosting round  number 13 this coming Saturday, Oct. 13. The season finale for teams contending for the overall Hoosier Tire-Sunoco Race Fuels Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship is slated for Oct. 20 at Orange County Fair Speedway in Middletown, N.Y.

2007 Mr. DIRTcar Sportsman Championship Series Schedule

DAY-DATE    LAPS  TRACK                                  LOCATION/WINNER

Fri-Jul 6           30      Brewerton Speedway          Alan Fink

Mon-Sep 3      30      Rolling Wheels Raceway   Todd Henderson

Fri-Sep 7          50      Ransomville Speedway     Joe Williams

Sat-Sep 8        50      Merrittville Speedway          Joe Williams

Fri-Sep 14       30      Can-Am Motorsports Park  Joe Williams

Sat-Sep 15      44      Canandaigua Speedway   Joe Williams

Sat-Sep 22      30      Rolling Wheels Raceway   Chris Higgins

Fri-Sep 28       30      Fulton Speedway                Joe Williams

Sat-Sep 29      50      Humberstone Speedway   Mike Bowman

Wed-Oct 3       30      Can-Am Motorsports Park  Joe Williams

Fri-Oct 5           30      Rolling Wheels Raceway   Joe Williams

Sat-Oct 6          30      New York State Fairgrnds  Sammy Reakes IV

Sat-Oct 13       55      Black Rock Speedway        Dundee, NY

Sat-Oct 20       50      Orange Co Fair SpeedwayMiddletown,NY

*All events subject to change.

The Advance Auto Parts Super DIRTcar Series for Big-Block Modifieds is brought to fans across the Northeast by several sponsors and partners, including series sponsors Advance Auto Parts, Hoosier Racing Tire and Sunoco Race Fuels. Promotional partners include AMB i.t., F.X. Caprara Car Companies, Rite Aid Corporation and the University of Northwestern Ohio and the contingency sponsors are Bert Transmission, Bicknell Racing Products, Bilstein Shocks, Brodix Cylinder Heads, Integra Shocks, MSD Ignitions, Miller Electric Manufacturing Company, Motorsports Safety Systems, Penske Shocks and Wrisco Industries.