Sammy Reakes
| Sammy Reakes | |
|---|---|
| Born | Samuel H.Reakes November 6, 1930 Nanticoke, Pennsylvania |
| Died | March 25, 2000 (aged 69) |
| Motorsport career | |
| Debut season | 1952 |
| Championships | 11 |
| Wins | 400+ |
| Championship titles | |
| 1974 NASCAR Ilinois Late Model Sportsman Champion | |
Samuel "Sammy" Reakes (November 16, 1930 – March 5, 2000) was an American Modified racing driver. Equally adept on both dirt and asphalt surfaces, officials have estimated that he captured over 400 feature wins in a career that spanned three decades.[1]
Racing career
[edit]Sammy Reakes was introduced to racing by his cousin Ed Spencer, father of NASCAR Cup Series standout Jimmy Spencer, at Bowman's Creek Speedway PA. In 1953 Reakes relocated to Central New York, and became a regular at Fulton Speedway, Lafayette Speedway, and Rolling Wheels Raceway (Elbridge).[2][3][4] He captured track championships at Brewerton Speedway, Canandaigua Speedway, Maple Grove Speedway (Waterloo), Monroe County Fairgrounds, Orange County Fair Speedway, and Weedsport Speedway.[1][5]
A job transfer required relocating to northern Illinois, where Reakes won the Late Model Sportsman championship at Rockville Speedway in 1973, and captured the state championship a year later.[1] He was inducted into the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame in 1994, and his wife Zelda received the Hall's 2008 Outstanding Women in Auto Racing award for her behind the scenes support.[6][7]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Hill, John (May 13, 1994). "Screamin' Sammy leads racin' Reakes". Inside Track. The Post-Standard. p. IT 19. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ "Reakes is favorite at Lafayette". The Post-Standard. September 16, 1961. p. 34. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ "Clean sweep by Sammy Reakes at MilRay Speedway". The Palladium-Times. June 23, 1962. p. 5. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ "Sammy Reakes wins at Rolling Wheels". The Citizen. June 16, 1970. p. 5. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ "3000 see Reakes take feature race". The Post-Standard. May 5, 1965. p. 17. Retrieved April 18, 2024 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ Boggie, Tom (June 3, 1994). "Around the tracks". The Daily Gazette. p. D6. Retrieved April 16, 2024 – via Google Books.
- ^ Spaid, Gary (May 23, 2008). "Zelda Reakes Earns Northeast HoF Outstanding Achievement Award". DIRTcar. Retrieved April 16, 2024.