Lewis and LaJoie Team Again in Mexico
Lewis and LaJoie Team Again in Mexico MEXICO CITY, Mexico, March 2, 2006 - Shane Lewis (Jupiter, Fla.) and Randy LaJoie (Kannapolis, NC) will pair together behind the wheel of the No. 3 Whelen/ TrueChoice Motorsports BMW-Riley in the second round of the Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Special Reserve. The event, at the 2.518-mile, eight turn Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, marks the second time that the Rolex Series Daytona Prototype (DP) regular will team with the two-time NASCAR Busch Series Champion. While the Rolex 24 At Daytona was originally scheduled as LaJoie's only appearance in the Southard Motorsports BMW-powered Riley, car owner Steve Southard (Powell, Ohio), Lewis, LaJoie and sponsor Whelen Engineering were so pleased with the potential of the combination that they extended the relationship. "I'm looking forward to driving with Randy again in the Whelen-TrueChoice BMW this weekend in Mexico," said Lewis. "We really got along well at Daytona and I was very impressed with Randy and his approach to Rolex Series racing. If Randy didn't have Busch [Grand National Series] commitments, it would be great to have him in with us the full season. While we're looking for a sponsor and a co-driver for the rest of the season, it is great that Randy will be able to be back with us at Mexico City. I'm looking forward to sharing the seat with him." The opportunity for Lewis to partner with LaJoie for a second event was made possible because the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series is also scheduled to compete at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez this weekend. The Rolex Series event is scheduled for Saturday, March 4 at 3:15 PM local time and the Busch Series event is scheduled for the following day. LaJoie will compete in both. He has asked Lewis to take his No. 0 RaceGirl International Chevrolet Busch Grand National entry out on course for the "Rookie" practice session scheduled for Friday morning. The laps in LaJoie's Busch entry will not be Lewis's first in a stock car. Having gotten his racing start on a local California dirt track, Lewis would go years before finding his way back behind the wheel of the 3500 pound stock cars. Once he returned, he took to it immediately. Initially competing on road courses in the Historic SportsCar Racing Series' Historic Stock Car division, Lewis won several events. He would get his first chance to race on an oval in the ARCA series at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 2001 finishing the race despite engine problems. He would follow that in 2002 in a one-off attempt to make the Nextel Cup event at Watkins Glen International with Otto Motorsports. "Randy and I have spoken a lot since Daytona and he offered me the chance to turn a few laps in his Busch car on Friday," continued Lewis. "That is a great opportunity. I have really enjoyed the few times I have driven a NASCAR stock car and this will be my first time in a full-out Busch car. So, I am looking forward to it." The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez-round of the Rolex Series can be seen on a tape delay basis at 8 PM (ET), March 4th on SPEED Channel. Live timing and scoring of all sessions and the race can be found at <http://www.grandamerican.com/> www.GrandAmerican.com. For more on Shane Lewis please see www.ShaneLewis.com <http://www.shanelewis.com/> . Southard Motorsports can be found at www.SouthardMotorsports.com <http://www.southardmotorsports.com/> . To learn more on Randy LaJoie, please visit www.Randy-LaJoie.com <http://www.randy-lajoie.com/> .