Shane Lewis Bookends Strong Endurance Season with Petit Le Mans, Races for Special Charity

Shane Lewis Bookends Strong Endurance Season with Petit Le Mans, 
Races for Special Charity

BRASELTON, Ga., October 15, 2003 – Endurance and development specialist
Shane Lewis enters the final weekend of the 2003 American Le Mans Series
(ALMS) season the way he entered it, with a grueling endurance race. The
Jupiter, Fla resident will close-out his fifth season of ALMS
competition with the 10 hour/1,000 mile Petit Le Mans. The Road Atlanta
race acts as a bookend to the season-opening 12 Hours of Sebring and the
mid-season 24 Hours of Le Mans. The triad creates three of the most
important and widely recognized sports car events in the world. Lewis,
who drove the No. 63 ACEMCO Automotive/ Yokohama Tires Ferrari 360 GT
Modena into the lead at Le Mans before an engine failure took his team
from that position two hours later, was recruited by the ACEMCO team at
Sebring and helped give the team its two highest ALMS GT class finishes
to-date with a fifth at the June “sprint” race at Road Atlanta and a
fourth at Canada’s Trois-Rivières street course. Lewis will again be
joined by Phoenix, Arizona’s Terry Borcheller. Darren Law, of Phoenix,
also joins the driving staff for Saturday’s 11:30 am (EDT) start.

“To be honest, we know we aren’t going to outrun the Porsches or the
Risi Ferrari on outright speed,” said Lewis while at the 2.54 mile
facility testing. “Road Atlanta is too fast for that. So, just like we
did at Le Mans, we’re going to rely on the Ferrari to run consistently
for the full 1,000 miles and on the ACEMCO guys to make the right moves
in pit lane. The drivers will get all we can out of it on the track.
This Ferrari is a great car, a very reliable car. It’s hard to wear down
the Porsches but, that is what we are going to try and do. We want to
take this ACEMCO Ferrari out on a high note.”

Beyond his duties in the ACEMCO Ferrari for this weekend’s ninth-round
of the ALMS season, Lewis will compete for the second time in the STRANA
Tonka Super Truck Series. He will race in Friday’s Tonka Super Truck
Celebrity Challenge event at 4:40 pm. The 30-minute race for charity
will utilize race-built semi-truck style vehicles, designed to compete
in a full schedule of events in 2004. The 17-time 24 hour race
participant will compete in the name of the Children’s Mobility Fund.
The Children's Mobility Fund helps to buy wheelchairs and walkers as
well as provide other opportunities to give children who have been
bedridden the chance to add mobility to their lives. The charity is dear
to Lewis who recently auctioned off a specially painted helmet for the
charity.

"If you would have told me two years ago that they'd be racing big
trucks at Road Atlanta I would have probably just laughed and said it'll
never happen. But, since they announced the STRANA series, I've wanted
to drive one of these… bad. Driving this truck down through the 'Esses'
should be unbelievable. The crowd is going to get a great show. I'm also
especially excited about being able to race for The Children's Mobility
Fund. I've been blessed my entire life with being very mobile, and I
came face-to-face with losing my leg a few years ago. Helping kids get
mobility, a little freedom, in their lives is important to me."



Shane Lewis is the 1998 Professional Sports Car Racing Rising Star award
winner and is a multiple race winner in IMSA, SCCA Pro and Grand-Am
sanctioned events. He has raced in three 24 Hours of Le Mans, six 24
Hours of Daytona, seven 12 Hours of Sebring and four Petit Le Mans.
Lewis, a regular top-five finisher in ALMS competition, has earned ALMS
podium finishes at Silverstone, the Nurburgring and Portland and is one
of the few drivers with experience in the four major classes of
international sports car racing (LMP 900, LMP 675, GTS and GT). He
drives the ACEMCO Motorsports Ferrari 360 GT Modena in the ALMS and the
Nuzzo Motorsports Mini Cooper S in Grand-Am Cup.