LEWIS EAGER TO RETURN TO EVERGREEN SPEEDWAY AND ASA NW TOUR

This weekend the series kicks off its season after a one-year hiatus from Evergreen. The 125-lap event is set to take the green flag at 7 PM this Saturday night.

In past series events on the .650-mile paved oval, Lewis and his Sign Factory USA race team have been the ones to beat in the season-opener. How the team has been able to figure the facility out so early in the year is a mystery, according to the Snohomish, WA native.

“We’re not totally sure why we have had so much success in the early parts of a season but we’ve always run good at the Monroe opener. I guess we just work hard all winter and never lose focus on where we left off from the previous year,” he said.

Coming off two straight championships has given Lewis a solid approach to the 2008 season.

“My race car is my happy chair; when I strap in all my problems go away. I get serious about the race and how to drive the car and the way it needs to be as the race begins.”

That focus will continue as the Leary Shock Shop pit crew and Lewis look to build towards a third consecutive late model title and capture wins in new events.

“We just have to focus on how we could possibly do better than we did last year. Our Nutter Racing Engine has a little more in it than last year. The shock package from Mike Leary has improved and we have a new body package from last year. All of this coupled with some new Longacre Racing Products and the power from our Total Power Racing Batteries to crank the motor will help us to be even more accurate on our set-ups and provide great starting power to our motor program.”

Goals for the race team are coming in finer detail heading into 2008, Lewis noted.

“We are just trying to do everything at the best possible level heading into this season. This will help us to stay on top of our game,” he explained. “The guys on the team can get frustrated with me because I have gotten picky on all the little stuff. I tell them that if all the little stuff comes together and we can gain an extra .05-second faster on the competition then it could make the difference this season. We have changed the AP Brake package a little to make them even better and that has been some work this winter.

“This winter we also hung a new ARP Chevrolet Impala SS body on our Victory Circle chassis. The change should give us some stronger performance with the aero package as ARP’s body looked to have the best package, Changes like that are what you need to do to get every little advantage you can if possible.”

Some subtle changes have also come to the look of the new Impala.

“To keep our car looking cool we have made some minor changes to the graphics. I have to thank everyone at the Sign Factory USA for their support heading into another great season for our team.”

With Evergreen Speedway being a track that likes aero-strength Lewis will get to test out the recent changes this weekend, he pointed out.

“I love racing on Evergreen’s 5/8th. For one it’s my home track and two we get some pretty good speed at this facility. I have wanted to get back onto some bigger race tracks for awhile now and this weekend gets us going on that goal,” Lewis said.

With such strong early season runs in Monroe one would think it’s the spring conquests that standout for Lewis. Not so as the two-time NASCAR champion has fond memories of the summer 200-lap affairs just as much as the March opener, he added.

“We have so many great memories from Monroe with some of the best coming in the two 200-lap races I won there back-to-back after some tough battles with Pete Harding and others.”

Gary Lewis Racing will be busy in coming weeks as the team will be preparing for Yakima Speedway’s annual Apple Cup event, something that Lewis has never won, and a return to road course racing in June, something that has been successful for the team in the past including a win on the tricky Portland International Raceway road course.

“Probably one of the biggest races for me this season will be the road course race at Pacific Raceways in Kent, WA. The challenge of a road race in a powerful stock car is something that is hard to beat. That track is very fast with speeds the last time we were there approaching 187 mph at the end of the front stretch. They have done some things to slow the track down a little now but it’s still by far one of the fastest tracks we’ll run here in the Northwest.”

Lewis and team also plan to defend their wins in the prestigious Montana 200 and Idaho 200 and look to score a victory in their first-ever trip to Mission Valley Raceway in Polson, MT.

For more information on Gary Lewis Racing LLC log onto www.garylewisracing.com

See Also .:

News Index | E-mail to a Friend