SNOHOMISH, Washington — The last time Gary Lewis ran a race at Montana Raceway Park his victory went down as a race for the ages en route to his third consecutive Coors Light Montana 200 victory.
This weekend the driver of the SEFNCO Communications Chevrolet returns to run his first-ever “Best of the West” 100-lap event and on Saturday makes his first career start on the ARCA West Mac’s Series.
With the potential to haul over $10,000 back to the team’s Snohomish, Wash. race shop the prize money is an allure but not the primary reason for a third trip to Big Sky country in the 2009 season.
“(This weekend’s events) will be a first for us and we take pride in doing new things and having success when we run a new series or race,” Lewis said.
“The prize money is something we do think about when we plan out a season schedule because the initial cost to run these races is very expensive. We know we’ll need to finish with a top-3 in order to break even at just about any race we go to now when you run on a limited budget like we have for so long.
“It’s crucial for us to prepare that way in order to keep racing but once we get to the track I don’t think about that at all as we have to be sure we’re focused on what we came to do and that is win.”
Mark Owens and Corey Wolfe made Lewis work for his $12,000 winner’s check at July’s Montana 200 but with recent changes made to The Sign Factory USA Impala the three-time late model touring champion is confident things will be in tip-top shape for two days of racing.
“I made some set-up changes that led us off track from what we normally do and when I realized it we were already way to far down the road to go back (at the Montana 200). We made it work that day but some recent adjustments will have our car much better this time around I believe,” Lewis said.
Lewis has traveled all over the Northwest in recent weeks with runs in Idaho, Montana and his home track in Monroe, Wash. Next weekend the ASA Northwest Late Model Tour, where he leads the point standings with three races remaining in 2009–heads to Roseburg, Ore.
All of the travel can challenge an all-volunteer crew and limited resources, Lewis explained.
“We all have full-time jobs so the travel schedule does create a challenge for us to get the car ready in time for our race in Roseburg. Hopefully the car comes out of this weekend’s event without too much damage because it’s a full week of work to turn it around for the ASA race even without any damage. If we have a problem it will make the upcoming week that much more of a challenge.”
Some in the Northwest racing community have said that to beat the No. 73 ARP Bodies crew and driver purchasing the race car itself may be the only way.
The driver doesn’t agree with that statement.
“When you’re racing at this level it takes a combination of many things to win the races we have in the last few years,” Lewis said. “You must have a good car of course but driver and a great team with some good luck go a long way as well. You always have to make the correct chassis adjustments and make good decisions on the race track.
“As for whether it’s time for someone else to have this car and we build a new one–all I can say is we’ll talk about that this winter.”
Before winter hits Lewis has at least a few more goals to accomplish in 2009. Having already won a third straight Idaho and Montana 200, only the Yakima Speedway Fall Classic is left to conquer this season, he noted.
“We will be working very hard on our program at Yakima this Labor Day weekend (site of the ASA NWLMT second to last race of the year). The Fall Classic would be a huge win if we could pull it off. We’ve been close in the past but that doesn’t count in racing and we aim to win this year.”
This weekend’s two-day Bill Clark Can-Am Memorial at Montana Raceway Park kicks off Friday night with a 100-lap main event paying $5,000 to the winner with the ARCA West Mac’s Series set to take the green flag on Saturday. Live audio and video is available on the track’s website at www.montanaracewaypark.com
For more information on Gary Lewis Racing check out the teams website at www.garylewisracing.com or Gary Lewis Racing LLC on Facebook.
