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Shane Lewis will have James Finch's car owner points as a backup in qualifying on Friday at The Glen.
Lewis, other specialists take shot at WGI
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive August 7, 2002
3:11 PM EDT (1911 GMT)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Sports car racer Shane Lewis has a special mission in Sunday's NASCAR Winston Cup Sirius Satellite at The Glen, but he also has the same goal as the other eight road racing specialists.
A victory on the 2.45-mile road course is the obvious target, and Edgar Otto Jr. has arranged a deal with NASCAR owner James Finch to borrow Finch's Phoenix Racing No. 09 as a tribute to his father, who was a cohort of NASCAR founder William H.G. France.
The elder Otto will be inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame at the end of the this month when the series moves to Darlington Raceway. The elder Otto, NASCAR's first vice president, promoted the inaugural Winston Cup race at The Glen 45 years ago.
While the modern Winston Cup Series has been racing at the facility since 1986, the practice of putting road racers into special cars or replacing regular drivers is an annual occurrence.
Thus, joining Lewis will be Tom Hubert, Boris Said, Austin Cameron, Joe Varde, P.J. Jones, Scott Pruett and Justin Bell. In addition, Jerry Nadeau's near-miss at the series' other road course, Infineon Raceway, weighed heavily on Petty Enterprises' mind when it recently put Nadeau into its No. 44 Georgia Pacific Dodge.
Lewis has 16 starts in 24-hour sports car races and actually made one oval track start in an ARCA event.
While he has battled Englishman Justin Bell in a variety of sports car disciplines over the last decade, Lewis will share the distinction of attempting his Winston Cup debut with the son of sports car legend Derek Bell. Justin Bell, of Rustingham, Sussex, will drive Jon Perroton's No. 46 Ettore Squeeges Ford.
Said, who has a Busch Series Bud Pole and a Craftsman Truck Series road course victory, will reprise his second fiddle role to Jasper Motorsports lead driver Dave Blaney in a No. 67 Jasper Ford. Said ran in the top-10 at Infineon Raceway but crashed out of the Dodge/Save Mart 350.
"I think you'll see the same sort of thing this weekend out of the Jasper cars that you did at Sears Point," Said said. "Dave's been a fast learner on the road courses for a guy who never ran them before a few years ago -- he enjoys it and is open about having fun, and that's a big part of going fast on a road course.
"I've run really good and won in almost every kind of car I've had at The Glen, but I've had really bad luck with things breaking in the NASCAR races I've run there. Maybe this weekend will be different."
Jones has a career best Winston Cup finish of ninth and was the overall track record holder in a Toyota GTP sports car. Team owner A.J. Foyt decided to give him a legitimate shot at a Winston Cup race in his No. 14 Conseco Pontiac after entering Jones at the last minute for the Brickyard 400 in a second car from his team.
Hubert is a California short track racer who had experience at Infineon Raceway in the Featherlite Southwest Series, NASCAR Touring and made a splash in a Winston Cup race there in the mid-1990s, earning him a mistaken tag as a "road racer." Hubert, however, has continually displayed good road racing talent.
Pruett is another road racing champion who left Indy cars for an ill-fated short stint with Cal Wells III's team in 2000. Chip Ganassi has entered him in a third Dodge from his stable in the No. 41 Target Intrepid normally driven by Jimmy Spencer.
Varde is an IMSA champion in a couple different classes and more recently has worked with BACE Motorsports' NASCAR Busch Series teams. He is driving the No. 74 Chevrolet with which Tony Raines has made two Winston Cup starts this season.
Cameron had a successful first outing for owner Michael Gaughan's NAPA Chevrolet team at Infineon and is making an East Coast stab at The Glen.
Lewis is the 1998 Professional Sports Car Rising Star award winner and has multiple race wins in the IMSA Supercar and SCCA Pro showroom stock series. He has driven in 16 24-hour races including two 24 Hours of Le Mans, six Rolex 24 At Daytona races and six 12 Hours of Sebring.
In 2002, he is competing in both the Grand-Am Cup Street Stock Series and in the American Le Mans Series.
"Even though this will be my first Winston Cup race, my experience in sports car racing and many events at Watkins Glen will be of great help," Lewis said. "I still have a lot to learn about how NASCAR does things. My advantage is that I'm not a sports car driver in a NASCAR Winston Cup car -- I'm a racer. If it has wheels and a checkered flag, I'm there."
Lewis, other specialists take shot at WGI
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive August 7, 2002
3:11 PM EDT (1911 GMT)
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Sports car racer Shane Lewis has a special mission in Sunday's NASCAR Winston Cup Sirius Satellite at The Glen, but he also has the same goal as the other eight road racing specialists.
A victory on the 2.45-mile road course is the obvious target, and Edgar Otto Jr. has arranged a deal with NASCAR owner James Finch to borrow Finch's Phoenix Racing No. 09 as a tribute to his father, who was a cohort of NASCAR founder William H.G. France.
The elder Otto will be inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame at the end of the this month when the series moves to Darlington Raceway. The elder Otto, NASCAR's first vice president, promoted the inaugural Winston Cup race at The Glen 45 years ago.
While the modern Winston Cup Series has been racing at the facility since 1986, the practice of putting road racers into special cars or replacing regular drivers is an annual occurrence.
Thus, joining Lewis will be Tom Hubert, Boris Said, Austin Cameron, Joe Varde, P.J. Jones, Scott Pruett and Justin Bell. In addition, Jerry Nadeau's near-miss at the series' other road course, Infineon Raceway, weighed heavily on Petty Enterprises' mind when it recently put Nadeau into its No. 44 Georgia Pacific Dodge.
Lewis has 16 starts in 24-hour sports car races and actually made one oval track start in an ARCA event.
While he has battled Englishman Justin Bell in a variety of sports car disciplines over the last decade, Lewis will share the distinction of attempting his Winston Cup debut with the son of sports car legend Derek Bell. Justin Bell, of Rustingham, Sussex, will drive Jon Perroton's No. 46 Ettore Squeeges Ford.
Said, who has a Busch Series Bud Pole and a Craftsman Truck Series road course victory, will reprise his second fiddle role to Jasper Motorsports lead driver Dave Blaney in a No. 67 Jasper Ford. Said ran in the top-10 at Infineon Raceway but crashed out of the Dodge/Save Mart 350.
"I think you'll see the same sort of thing this weekend out of the Jasper cars that you did at Sears Point," Said said. "Dave's been a fast learner on the road courses for a guy who never ran them before a few years ago -- he enjoys it and is open about having fun, and that's a big part of going fast on a road course.
"I've run really good and won in almost every kind of car I've had at The Glen, but I've had really bad luck with things breaking in the NASCAR races I've run there. Maybe this weekend will be different."
Jones has a career best Winston Cup finish of ninth and was the overall track record holder in a Toyota GTP sports car. Team owner A.J. Foyt decided to give him a legitimate shot at a Winston Cup race in his No. 14 Conseco Pontiac after entering Jones at the last minute for the Brickyard 400 in a second car from his team.
Hubert is a California short track racer who had experience at Infineon Raceway in the Featherlite Southwest Series, NASCAR Touring and made a splash in a Winston Cup race there in the mid-1990s, earning him a mistaken tag as a "road racer." Hubert, however, has continually displayed good road racing talent.
Pruett is another road racing champion who left Indy cars for an ill-fated short stint with Cal Wells III's team in 2000. Chip Ganassi has entered him in a third Dodge from his stable in the No. 41 Target Intrepid normally driven by Jimmy Spencer.
Varde is an IMSA champion in a couple different classes and more recently has worked with BACE Motorsports' NASCAR Busch Series teams. He is driving the No. 74 Chevrolet with which Tony Raines has made two Winston Cup starts this season.
Cameron had a successful first outing for owner Michael Gaughan's NAPA Chevrolet team at Infineon and is making an East Coast stab at The Glen.
Lewis is the 1998 Professional Sports Car Rising Star award winner and has multiple race wins in the IMSA Supercar and SCCA Pro showroom stock series. He has driven in 16 24-hour races including two 24 Hours of Le Mans, six Rolex 24 At Daytona races and six 12 Hours of Sebring.
In 2002, he is competing in both the Grand-Am Cup Street Stock Series and in the American Le Mans Series.
"Even though this will be my first Winston Cup race, my experience in sports car racing and many events at Watkins Glen will be of great help," Lewis said. "I still have a lot to learn about how NASCAR does things. My advantage is that I'm not a sports car driver in a NASCAR Winston Cup car -- I'm a racer. If it has wheels and a checkered flag, I'm there."
