JOLIET, Ill. — Plenty of focus has been placed on David Gravel’s pursuit of his first World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car championship, but there’s another member of the Big Game Motorsports team on a similar path toward a first title.
Both Gravel and car chief on the No. 2, Stephen Hamm-Reilly, come from the northeast. And while one drives and the other wrenches, both worked their way through the ranks to earn a spot with one of sprint car racing’s premier organizations.
Hamm-Reilly is originally from New York, but a move to Pennsylvania early in life ignited his interest in Sprint Cars. He cites watching Greg Hodnett winning the 2009 National Open aboard Jim and Sandy Kline’s No. 22 as the moment that caused his passion for the sport to take off.
His involvement began by helping friends at the racetrack, and the desire to do more grew and grew.
“What really got me going and wanting to do it for a job was I helped Aaron Ott with my buddy Jake,” Hamm-Reilly said. “And we started running good and being more competitive, and it was a higher level of racing than what I was used to. We would do good when the Outlaws came to town and just be competitive. I had friends of mine like my buddy at the time Derek Miller, we both helped Ryan Wilson, and then he went on the road a little bit before me. And I was like, ‘Well, if he could do it, then it’s something that I’d really like to do.’ And at the time I had a really good job, but I always wanted to go racing. I just took the plunge of going racing full-time.”
That plunge led to his first chance with a nationally touring team as he joined CJB Motorsports midway through 2015. It also brought his first trip to World of Outlaws Victory Lane when Paul McMahan grabbed a Lawrenceburg Speedway win late that year.
But it wasn’t exactly the experience Hamm-Reilly had anticipated, and he chose to head home and get a little more experience.
“My first race was the Kings Royal because they had somebody leave or needed somebody, so that was my first opportunity really,” Hamm-Reilly recalled. “I will say it was a massive eye-opener at the end of the year. It was a struggle at times. I was probably not as well-prepared as I thought I was. At the end of 2015, realizing that, I actually decided to come back to PA and race locally a little more.”
The time in Pennsylvania that followed allowed him to better prepare himself. Along with adding more knowledge, Hamm-Reilly acquired his CDL to be a more valuable asset when he decided to return to the road. And in 2019, that time came.
Hamm-Reilly hit the highway with Rudeen Racing as the first stop of what would become a stretch of working for some of the sport’s powerhouses. After the year with Rudeen, he spent time working at Roth Motorsports, Stenhouse Jr.-Marshall Racing, and CMS Racing before making his way to Tod Quiring’s South Dakota-based operation. It was a step that brought his career to new heights.
The team, consisting of himself, Gravel, Cody Jacobs and Zach Patterson lead the nation with 15 sprint car victories. Among those is a Kings Royal crown worth $175,000. They lead the World of Outlaws standings by 72 points with seven races remaining.
“Part of the reason why I came here is having the chance to win those races and do those things,” Hamm-Reilly said. “To be honest with you, I was pretty well set on not racing anymore at the end of 2023. And then I talked to Cody a little bit, and he said he’d like to have me and this and that. That’s probably the biggest reason I came here is the fact that we could be in position, I felt like, to win these big races, win big events, and have a shot night in and night out.”
The season has been a rejuvenating one for Hamm-Reilly. At the end of last year, he wasn’t certain if he wanted to continue racing across the country. The 2023 season didn’t go the way he’d hoped, and he wasn’t sure what the future held. Then, a talk with Cody Jacobs persuaded him, and an unforgettable season followed. Now, he’s positioned himself to potentially be a part of a World of Outlaws championship team.
“It’s definitely worked out to be a good decision,” Hamm-Reilly said of joining Big Game Motorsports. “Everything is working really good. I really enjoy working with David, Cody, and Zach. I feel like we all really work well together. It’s like a well-oiled machine at this point.”