Shane Lewis Overcomes Hurricanes, Ready To Go Racing
Shane Lewis Overcomes Hurricanes, Ready To Go Racing Homestead, Fla., September 16, 2004 - As a Florida resident, Jupiter's Shane Lewis is just happy to have a weekend free of worrying about another hurricane making landfall near family and friends. Lewis, whose home and shop are just outside of West Palm Beach, went nearly a week without power after Hurricane Frances and was relieved it was no worse. To show his support and appreciation for what others did for him and his family, Lewis will assist Homestead-Miami Speedway (HMS), the City of Homestead and Farm Share in a special hurricane relief program on raceday, Sunday, September 19 at the track. Fans are asked to bring donations and supplies to the front gate for Sunday's Grand American Rolex Series Miami 250 at HMS. On the track, Lewis will again be driving two of the most popular cars in the Grand American competition. First, he will return to the cockpit of the No. 20 Nuzzo Motorsports MINI Cooper S for the Grand-Am Cup 250. The MINI is the same car Lewis set the ST class track record and won the pole position with on the Grand-Am Cup's March 27th appearance here at HMS. Lewis led that event before an electrical fire forced the car to retire. He will then drive the No. 7 PAP-Parts/ AutoAssets.com BMW-FABCAR in the Daytona Prototype class for Sunday's Miami 250 Rolex Series race, the premier event of the weekend. The white BMW V8-powered car will start the 250 mile race around the 2.3-mile, 11-turn South Florida track at 11 am (ET) with live SPEED Channel television. Shane Lewis quotes. (about the hurricanes): "We went without power for a week and lost some trees but, compared to what it could have been, I was relieved. We have friends that came to stay with us that just got their power back. What hit me the most was how the people of Florida came together. That was great to see and be a part of. The tough part was how the three storms in a row impacted everyone. No one was giving up but you look around and everything is standing still, waiting for the next one. That's tough to overcome. I really hope that the people of Florida get out here to watch the race. I think if they do, they'll find they can breathe a little easier. The race will be a great way to have fun and just be distracted from the day-to-day worries of the storms. I'm bringing down a lot of people from around Jupiter to just help them get away. That's a big part of moving on I think." (about assisting the Hurricane Relief effort): "One hurricane is tough no matter how big it is. Three in a row is almost impossible to imagine. What the people of Florida have been through is impossible for anyone that didn't go through it to understand. Emotionally and physically it is just takes so much out of you. This might not fill all the voids, but if it helps just one family take a deep breath, stand-up and get back at living life, then it is worth whatever I can put into helping. These are my family and friends. I am proud of Homestead-Miami Speedway and Grand American for doing this and proud to be a part of it. I challenge everyone that comes to the race to bring what you can because it helps your neighbors. And, you never know when it might help you." (about the No. 7 PAP-Parts/ Southard Motorsports BMW-FABCAR): "The Southard guys are just working so hard on this. But, it is so tough to close a moving gap. We keep improving but the frontrunners aren't waiting on us. So, development at this point in the season is very tough. You reach a point where you aren't going to get any further but you don't stop trying. No one on this team has stopped and I am proud of them for that. At the same time we're smart enough to know where we are at. We are going to go into the last few races with a goal of doing our best but we're also looking at 2005 and preparing for that. To get to the top step you have to start now for the Rolex 24 in January." (about the No. 20 Nuzzo Mini Cooper S) : "We won the pole and set a new track record here earlier in the year. That was a great race for us. We were so close; I think we had a half-lap lead by the end of the first lap. Who expected that out of a MINI? The Nuzzo crew has made a lot of changes over the season and certain tracks really lend themselves to the MINI's strong points. Homestead is one of them, VIR is another. We are still fighting mechanical gremlins, like the one that started the fire in March. If we can get those things in check, we can win one this season." For more on Shane Lewis please see <outbind://12/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/homestead/ww w.shanelewis.com> www.shanelewis.com. To learn more about Southard Motorsports, please visit <outbind://12/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/homestead/ww w.pap-parts.com> www.pap-parts.com or <outbind://12/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/homestead/ww w.autoassets.com> www.autoassets.com.