Although Phil Fenton does not consider himself usually “lucky”, Wednesday morning he met Big Brothers Big Sister’s Executive Director Shane Blackshear and Rick Newton of Bruner Auto Group to claim his Wheels & Deals prize, a 2011 Chevy Equinox.

The fundraiser, called “Wheels and Deals,” was a reverse raffle, and the person holding the last of the possible 775 tickets drawn at the event Oct. 9 at the Brownwood Country Club, would receive a brand new car or truck. The winner had the choices of selecting a 2010 Ford Mustang, 2011 Chevrolet Equinox or 2010 Dodge Ram quad-cab truck.  550 of those 775 tickets were sold and one by one they were drawn out until Fenton’s ticket was selected as the winner.

Fenton explained that although he won, it was the fact that the raffle was in reverse that helped his odds, stating that his ticket was the last ticket drawn and if this had been a regular raffle he would have been the last drawn and lost.

Although some supporters bought multiple tickets, one stated to have bought as many as 17 tickets, the Fentons bought just the one ticket from Ray Garza at Texas Bank.

Fenton stated that he and Mrs. Fenton did not worry about being present during the whole event because he never wins and they had decided they would play it to the end. They never planned to sell the ticket at the auction portion of the event.

Blackshear explained that Bruner ordered the Equinox specifically for the event including colors and feature package that the BBBS selected.

As Fenton took the keys he told Blackshear, “Thanks again and have another lottery next year!”

The success of the event was evident and Blackshear noted that selling the 550 tickets was a huge fundraiser for BBBS.

Pictured above and below (left to right) is Fenton with Newton and Blackshear.

“We will do this again,” stated Blackshear.  “775 was a good number and selling 550 gives us something to grow on for next year.”