SHANE LEWIS TO DO SPORTS CAR WEEKEND DOUBLE

JUPITER, Fla., Monday, June 24, 2002 – Following the great American
tradition of playing two baseball games back-to-back, Shane Lewis, of
Jupiter, Florida, will attempt his own sort of amazing motorsports’
double-header this weekend, June 29-30. Lewis will race the #43 Orison
Marketing - Planet Earth Motorsports Corvette Z06 on Saturday, June 29 at
Virginia International Raceway (VIR) and then pilot the #45 American
Viperacing Dodge Viper GTS-R around the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
(Mid-Ohio) the following day. Lewis is one of a handful of drivers who
competes in both the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and the Grand-Am Cup
Street Stock Series (Grand-Am Cup) but the only driver known to be
attempting to race in both events on this first conflicting weekend.

“We are pretty close on points in both series so there was just no way to
decide,” remarked Lewis on his choice to compete in both events. “The Orison
Marketing-Planet Earth Motorsports’ team and the American Viperacing guys
have committed a lot to me this season and I couldn’t let either of them
down. There is no doubt this will be tough but well worth it at the end of
the weekend. I feel like I am in the best physical shape of my life and I am
driving better than I ever have. If you are ever going to pull something
like this off, now is the time to do it.”

The Lancaster, California-born driver is currently seventh in driver’s
points in the GTS-class of the ALMS and in the top-15 of the Grand-Am Cup
standings. Lewis raced to a top-five finish in-class at both the ALMS events
this season and won the Grand-Am Cup event at Phoenix International Raceway
in dominating fashion.

When asked what the most difficult part of the weekend will be, Lewis paused
before answering, then said; “To me it will be the mental toughness this
will require. People always look at the physical demands of doing something
like this and ignore the mental. You have to have complete concentration
inside the car the whole time. You can’t slip up even a little bit when you
are racing in two events that are so competitive. You have to keep your
concentration at 110% the whole time. I have logged a lot of hours in race
cars so I think I am mentally prepared for it but I see that as being the
toughest part of driving the two events. Of course, the logistics are pretty
tough as well. One hick-up in our travel plans and it could mean trouble. We
’ll be driving each leg of the trip so this might be the longest-known
racing road trip back-and-forth between two tracks in one weekend.”

To run both races Lewis will have to cover the nearly 1,000-mile round-trip
from Alton, Virginia to Lexington, Ohio twice over the four-day period. The
1998 Professional Sportscar Rising Star Award-winner will begin the weekend
on Thursday at VIR in open testing from 4-6 pm (EDT). Immediately following
that session he will travel to Mid-Ohio where he will take part on Friday’s
opening day of activities for the ALMS race with a practice from 1:30 - 3 pm
(EDT). Saturday and Sunday’s schedules are much more compressed and heated
for Lewis. He will return to Virginia on Friday evening in preparation for a
day of activity in the Orison Marketing Vette. A 10 am practice is quickly
followed-up by GSI-class qualifying at 10:45 with the start of the
three-hour/ 250-mile Grand Sport race at 3 pm, Saturday. Immediately
following the post-race activities, Lewis will start the trek back to
Mid-Ohio where he plans to make an 8 am Sunday morning warm-up in the
American Viperacing entry to ready for the 2 pm start of the American Le
Mans Series at Mid-Ohio 2 hour and 45-minute event.

Television viewers can follow Lewis’ exploits on his web site,
www.ShaneLewis.com, and via live timing and scoring on the Grand-Am Cup web
site, www.grand-am.com/grandamcup, and the ALMS site at
www.americanlemans.com. The American Le Mans Series at Mid-Ohio will be
broadcast live while the Grand-Am Cup race will air on September 14 at 5 pm
(EDT). Each will show on the SPEED Channel.

Shane Lewis has been racing since 1989. He is the 1998 Professional Sports
Car Rising Star award winner and has multiple race wins in the IMSA Supercar
and SCCA Pro series. Lewis has American Le Mans Series (ALMS) podium
finishes at Silverstone, Nurburgring and last season at Portland. This
former Daytona Endurance Champion has driven in 16 24-hour races including
two 24 Hours of Le Mans, six 24 Hours of Daytona and six 12 Hours of
Sebring. In 2002, he is competing as the lead driver for the #43 Orison
Marketing – Planet Earth Corvette Z06 in the GSI-class of the Grand-Am Cup
Street Stock Series and as lead pilot of the #45 American Viperacing Dodge
Viper in the ALMS GTS-class.