Was Reeves sore about the decision to skip the California races? Probably. Was he weary from making trips to Wisconsin? That didn‘t help either. The bottom line was that he quit.
It so happened there was a good seat available. Steve Lewis was interested in winning a championship, but knew that Stan Fox had no interest in running all of the races. Steve‘s main man, Bob East, realized this too, but he certainly wanted to keep Fox on the squad.
“No one really understands how good Stan was,” East said. “When you could get in an Indy car back in those days without one lap and put it in the race, that‘s ice water veins. If he was at Belleville, if it was a big purse — or Sleepy Tripp, Kevin Olson, or guys like that were there — he was tough to beat. If you went to a normal Saturday night show, it was miserable because he had somewhere else he wanted to be.”
East had been impressed by what he saw at the Copper World in 1991, and Stan Fox was equally impressed after Reeves bested him at the Hut Hundred.
Clearly landing on his feet, he was now assigned to a team that could win and was committed to the entire USAC slate. It didn‘t start out well, a reality both men acknowledged. Reeves remembered that they were decent on pavement but really struggled on dirt.
East even pondered if the team should make a switch but was cautious about making a hasty decision. Then he had an epiphany.
“I was lying in bed one night,” he said, “and I got to thinking. I know Reeves is good, but he doesn‘t say much. I remember that the Wilkes had a coil-over car. So, I called Steve (Lewis) and said I want to build a coil-over car. Then, after that, I think he won four or five in a row. I really learned there that every driver is so much different and you have to attend to them.”
They rebounded in time for Stevie to win the national driver‘s championship but, because Fox was still involved with the team, East occasionally had Reeves compete in one of his customers‘ cars. That decision cost Lewis the entrant‘s title.
In a poignant moment, in the year-ending USAC banquet, Stevie invited his grandparents to the stage where he presented his grandfather with the championship ring and offered his grandmother a specially-designed pendant that reflected his title year. It had been a long, hard trip to the top.
He wasn‘t done. In 1993 Reeves again demonstrated he could win on both dirt and pavement, and in the end he was back on top of the podium and had also delivered Lewis his first-ever owner‘s title.
On one hand, racing goals had been reached. However, he was still a long way from making racing a viable career. He had kept a close eye on trends in the sport and, like Jeff Gordon, he turned his eyes to the south. He didn‘t realize it at the time, but the televised USAC shows on ESPN had truly captured a whole new audience.
This would soon prove to be a big help to him. Chris Paulsen, who served as Stevie‘s Silver Crown crew chief, was anxious to expand his C&R Radiator business into NASCAR. To push matters along, he decided to throw a party at his shop in conjunction with an upcoming tire test at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Thinking ahead of the game, Reeves outfitted all the bartenders with his racing shirts. This immediately drew the interest of Dale Earnhardt‘s crew, including Danny “Chocolate” Myers. They sought out Reeves and asked him if they could take a close look at his race cars.
Soon they were all gathered around Stevie‘s car and, before long, he had an invitation to visit Earnhardt the next day.
True to his word, Meyers ushered Reeves into the garage where Dale was reading the newspaper.
Earnhardt looked up as formal introductions were made and said, “I‘ve seen you on television.” Showing plenty of pluck, Reeves retorted, “I‘ve seen you on television too.”
Earnhardt took an immediate liking to him, particularly when Reeves said he was interested in stock cars. Dale had a Busch Series (now Xfinity) car for sale and wondered if Stevie would be able to secure some help. Not missing a beat, Reeves drew upon his connections and reported to Earnhardt that he could come up with an engine
package and tire deal.
Unfortunately, in the interim, Earnhardt had sold the car to Hank Parker, but Reeves wasn‘t going to give up. He decided that he should make a trip to Bristol and contacted John Bickford for help. It turns out Jeff Gordon needed help getting an apparel trailer to the race, so an opportunity had just dropped in his lap.
Reeves went to Bloomington on Friday night and won, then made a beeline to Bristol.
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