Shane Lewis Races Top-Class In-Front of Local Fans at Homestead

Shane Lewis Races Top-Class In-Front Local Fans at Homestead
 
HOMESTEAD, Fla., February 26, 2004 - Sportscar racing standout and local
South Florida resident Shane Lewis will lead the No. 7 PAP Parts/
Southard Motorsports BMW-FABCAR Daytona Prototype entry into Saturday's
Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series' Grand Prix of Miami. Lewis, who
lives just north of Miami in Jupiter, Florida, enters the
Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS) event with a large contingent of local
fans and miles at the track on his side. He has competed in 19
professional sports car races in Florida in his career including five in
South Florida. Among his Homestead-Miami highlights, Lewis raced to a
podium finish in the 1999 FIA SportsCar World Championship round here in
a BMW M3. He has countless laps around the Homestead-Miami Speedway in
several of its configurations both competitively and as a driving
instructor and was one of the first to take to the new, higher-banked
track in a Daytona Prototype (DP). The Grand Prix of Miami marks the
second Rolex Series DP race of the season. Lewis started tenth and
worked his way up at the first race, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, before a
mid-race mechanical problem forced the car's retirement. The Southard
Motorsports' BMW FABCAR finished tenth in class. The Grand Prix of Miami
will air on SPEED on March 7th at 4 pm (EST). 
 
Shane Lewis:
about racing in South Florida: "Living in Jupiter, the Grand Prix of
Miami is my home event and I think that gives me a little edge. I train
in this weather, I know the best restaurants, I can ride my motorcycle
down to the circuit. It's like owning your own track. Because we race
all over the world, we don't get to race in front of our friends and
neighbors from here in Florida too often. That makes this real special.
All the guys from the Shane Lewis Fan Club will be coming down too so
we'll have a real big following. This race is definitely one of my
favorites on the circuit."
 
about living in South Florida: "South Florida is where it's all
happening. Where else can you get the blend of cultures, the ocean, the
beach, the food, the cars, the racing...  the beautiful women? When you
think about sports car racing a lot of things jump into your mind and we
have them all right here. Miami is THE sports car town."
 
 Shane Lewis has been racing since 1989 with multiple race wins in
Grand-Am sanctioned events, in the IMSA Supercar and SCCA Pro Series and
the Historic SportsCar Series. He has starts in ARCA stock car
competition, at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb and is a former Daytona
Endurance Champion and Formula Ford Festival winner. He has driven in
six Rolex 24s and three 24 Hours of Le Mans- leading the race in GT
class in 2003. He has two overall and one class-victory at the 24 Hours
of Nelson Ledges. Lewis was honored as the 1998 Professional Sports Car
Racing Rising Star award winner. Lewis also serves as a test driver and
private coach.
 
For more on Shane Lewis please see www.shanelewis.com. To learn more
about Southard Motorsports, please visit www.pap-parts.com or
www.autoassets.com. 
 
### 
Digital images and bio available upon request.
Editors, please do not publish any contact information other than web
sites.  Thank you.
 
Contact: Tom Moore, Shane Lewis Racing: 615-599-7034 (office),
404-229-3703 (cell), tom@darkhorsecom.com