GARY LEWIS OVERCOMES QUALIFYING CRASH

Source: ThorGroup
Date: 07/13/2005

BOTHELL, Washington -- On a night that was projected to have rain off and on, Gary Lewis of the NASCAR AutoZone Elite Division NW Series put on quite a show. Not only was their clear sky's, it was clear that Lewis was a man on a mission to win his 8th series race in the last 19 starts at Evergreen Speedway, in Monroe, Washington.

In the first three races on the NW Series, Gary has had a car that could win. With the exception of the first Yakima race, where Lewis broke a rod bolt after taking the lead, he has been a contender for every race. It looked as if everything was falling into place to contend for his second championship. The night at Evergreen Speedway was no different. After the first practice session Lewis knew he had a good ride.

'The Victory Circle car has been very strong lately thanks to my teams hard work and dedication. With the new sponsor World Gym of Everett, WA we wanted to put on a great performance."

Lewis was listed as the third car to qualify at his home track. His first lap he made contact with the wall coming out of turn 4, and things went wrong after that. Coming into turn one on his second qualifying lap, the car went straight into the wall. A flashback of what happened at Mesa Marin earlier in the year. With substantial front end damage and some rear end damage, the Lewis crew had an extreme amount of work to do before race time. Gary's first lap was good enough to give him an 8th fastest qualifying time.

The Gary Lewis Racing team brought with them a new sponsor to Evergreen Speedway with them. World Gym of Everett came on board for the first time for this race. It would have been a disappointment if Lewis couldn't continue on to the race. So, the Lewis crew worked frantically to get his ride back together. Just as at Mesa Marin earlier in the year, they got the car back together just before race time.

'That's what you would call driver error; I had a pole run going on and was trying to hang it out just a little too far. My team worked very hard to get the car back into shape. I would like to thank the following people for their support at the track, Joe Benedetti, Brandon Riehl, Travis Bennett and many other teams and crew members."

At the start of the race Gary Lewis and his #73 Victory Circle Chassis/Nutter Racing Engine/World Gym Monte Carlo was lined up in 8th position due to a 10-car invert and ready to go. As they came around on their warm up laps, Lewis dropped back to the end of the pack. Since the cars were impounded after qualifying, if any work was done on the cars, they had to start at the back of the field. A big task was at hand, starting in the back of a 28-car field.

It was apparent at the start of the race that it was going to be a tough one. With a crash at the start in front of Lewis, people were antsy to get the race going. Then another crash happened by lap 6. In the first 10 laps Lewis had moved up 8 positions. Gary was on the move after that. Passing cars at will on the outside of the 5/8th's mile track, he made it look easy. By lap 20 Lewis had moved up to 10th place. As the race went on his car just seemed to fly around the track with grace and speed. By lap 55, Gary Lewis had gone from the back of the pack into a top 5 car. What a spectacular site to watch one of the NW best drivers ever, to do his magic.

'The race started off a little crazy with all the wrecks going on. When Rick Suran hit the wall I was very worried that he might be hurt. I called him the next morning to see how he was doing and he was very sore but will recover. After working my way up to the front and passing all those cars in the second groove I felt like I had won the race."

Soon, Lewis would move up to 3rd place on the track. As the race was coming to closer to the end, Gary tried to catch the leaders, but to no avail, his car was spent. With the determination of his crew, and his driving ability and knowledge of the track, Gary Lewis reminded us why his is third all time in the win category. With his 3rd place finish, and his 3rd top 5 of the year, Lewis moves up to 5th place in the standings. Gary is now only 26 points away from second place in the standings and 85 points away from the leader, Jeff Jefferson.

Gary Lewis Racing would like to thank all of his fans and Victory Circle Chassis/Nutter Racing Engines/Sign Factory USA/World Gym and all of his sponsors for the tremendous support that they have given this season. Look for the #73 of Gary Lewis on July 23rd at Yakima Speedway looking to redeem himself with his first win of the season.

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