photo courtesy of M.E.Wright
ARCA
WEST CHAMPION LEWIS NOT READY TO STOP IN 2007
With a
second consecutive late model championship in hand, Gary Lewis and
the Sign Factory USA race team now prepare for runs in the
season-ending specialty races across the West Coast including the
Sept. 28 Yakima Speedway Fall Classic.
With a dominant
performance on the ARCA West Late Model Challenge Series in his
first season behind the wheel of a Victory Circle straight-rail
chassis, Lewis would like to build upon his four-win ARCA total and
wins in the Montana and Idaho 200’s, he noted.
“I know with the roll we’ve had this season our Mike Leary’s Shock
Shop crew is not ready to stop. We’ve been talking about running the
Fall Classic in Yakima for a few weeks and may head to Las Vegas for
their Fall Classic in November.”
The post-season schedule gives the team a chance to reflect on their
overall accomplishments the last two seasons including the final
NASCAR Elite Division Northwest Series championship, done running a
perimeter-type chassis.
“The ARCA championship was especially difficult just in the fact
that it was done in a totally different race car and engine package
from Nutter Racing Engines,” Lewis said. “This just goes to show how
hard work from everybody on the team can pay off. I have worked real
hard with Mike Leary in regards to chassis set-ups throughout the
year for the ARCA car and that paid off with the great runs we’ve
had. Plus, you have to admit that we’ve had some good luck on our
side this season.”
Lewis’ luck includes finishes inside the top-5 running order in nine
out of ten ARCA events and a season-leading four victories. The team
also captured a win in the ASA Northwest Tour and a top-15 finish in
their second start on that series. A stronger testament to the
Snohomish native’s pit crew is the fact that their ARP Bodies Monte
Carlo was running on the lead lap in all but two events out of 12
they entered.
The mastery of new race tracks continued for Lewis in 2007. With
wins in Spokane, WA, Post Falls ID and Vernon, BC in his first
visits to those facilities Lewis proved again that his team can
adapt quickly to new venues.
How they are able to succeed in the new environments is a mystery to
Lewis, he explained.
“I have no clue how we’re able to do that so often over my career.
Maybe it’s the fact that we love the challenge of winning on a new
track and we’re always looking forward to racing those in a year. It
takes so much work to be consistent week after week when you’re
always running different tracks. We have been able to establish a
good balanced set-up that works at most of the tracks we run. Once
we arrive coming off the trailer we have that good package to begin
with and then I just log some laps to get familiar with the track
and fine tune our chassis from there.
“Again, a little luck never hurts either.”
Outstanding runs in four states and Canada have left lasting
memories this season, Lewis added.
“We had some great runs for sure this season but some of the best
memories were those of the team hanging out and socializing after
the races, especially when Lynn (Moore) cooks up her big seafood
feast.”
Other members of Gary Lewis Racing include Jeremiah Moore, Chuck
Pickens, Rodeo Dave, Jaelen Pace, Steve Curtis and Ralph and Leslie
Lewis.
All have of contributed hard work and volunteer time to bring about
Lewis’ success this season, he noted.
Not having the financial support to take time away from work to test
new tracks, state-of-the-art technology and the new car Lewis Racing
has instead focused thier efforts to capture their second
championship in two seasons during race day.
“It just takes more hard work and you have to be on top of your game
every week with no margin for error. They have some real nice low
drag parts out these days that many teams use and when you don’t
have that stuff the rest of your program better be the best it can
to keep up.”
Running for a third straight championship in 2008 is a plan the team
would like to undertake, but, only time will tell what the future
may bring, according to Lewis.
“We don’t really know for sure at this time what our plans are going
to be for 2008. So many things have to come together in order to
make a run for another championship including sponsorship and rules
that when we get all of it together it will be awesome. Stay tuned
is all we can say at this point.”
To learn more about Gary Lewis Racing log onto
www.garylewisracing.com
