SNOHOMISH, Washington ¬-Gary Lewis heads to this weekend’s ARCA West Late Model Challenge Series Wenatchee 200 as the current points leader and on the verge of setting a new single season record for most victories in one year should he prevail with his fifth win in ten attempts.
Not to be lost in the dynamics of the weekend is one small detail.
When the green flag flies and Lewis’ Mike Leary’s Shock Shop Chevrolet complete one-lap, he will become the 2007 series champion. While that will be a tremendous accomplishment for the 2-time NASCAR champion, how the car finishes this weekend is as important to the overall success of the season, he noted.
“The key for us this weekend is to just do what we have been doing all year long. They say we just have to take the green flag but that just doesn’t work for our team. We will practice hard and try to prepare the ARP Bodies Monte Carlo for another victory. That’s why we go to the races.”
Getting through the practice sessions and completing that first lap is an important goal along with winning the race, Lewis added.
“For sure you don’t want to take any extra chances and have something happen during practice but we also want to end the season the way we started and that’s with a win at Wenatchee Valley. It would put another ‘w’ in the win column for 2007.”
While this weekend’s event will be 75-laps longer than the season opening 125-lap affair, Lewis has had a great deal of success on the .250-mile oval owned by fellow competitor, Garrett Evans.
“We run very strong in Wenatchee and Garrett always puts on one of the best shows in the Northwest. It would be so cool if we ended this year with a win at that track. Closing out the championship in Wenatchee in front of their fans means more to the team then most people would ever know. This could be something very big for our team and their fans this weekend if we are able to earn the championship and another victory.”
In racing it is said that a team is only as good as their last performance and Lewis’ team heads to Wenatchee on the heels of their first finish outside of the top-10. That finish did come in another series on Labor Day weekend and should not be a distraction heading into the final Late Model Challenge Series event of the season, Lewis explained.
“We are not worried about that run at all and how it will impact us this weekend,” he said. “I have said all year long that our main focus is on our ARCA car and that our Tour car has just been sitting in the corner of the shop for most of the season. We had a problem in Yakima with that car and we believe we found the problem and can go forward with both cars in race winning condition.”
And when the checkered flag falls for the 2007 ARCA West season Lewis will be holding his second championship in a row, something that is not lost on the long-time driver of the Sign Factory USA entry.
“I don’t care what level of racing you’re at, a championship is something that takes so much time, luck, team work and effort that if you’re fortunate to win one it’s extremely special and this ARCA title is a special achievement for our team.”
To learn more about Gary Lewis Racing log onto www.garylewisracing.com For
more information regarding the Wenatchee 200 log onto
www.latemodelchallenge.com
