Shane Lewis Celebrates Independence Day at Daytona

DAYTONA, Fla., June 30, 2004 � Shane Lewis will celebrate America's independence behind the wheel of the red, white and blue No. 7 PAP-Parts/ Southard Motorsports BMW-FABCAR Daytona Prototype in the Paul Revere 250 at Daytona. Thursday night's two hour and 45-minute endurance race is round-six of the 2004 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series season and marks the return of the Jupiter, Florida-resident to Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway (DIS). Lewis has enjoyed much success at DIS including several class victories and, in the 2003 Paul Revere 250, he drove the No. 6 Gunnar Racing Porsche GT1 G99 to second in GTS class with co-drivers Kyle Petty and Peter Barron. Lewis hopes that the continued efforts by the Southard crew will return him to the podium when the checkered flag falls over the cars on early Friday morning. Lewis, who carries the colors of the American flag on his helmet as he races throughout the world, will roll-out the No. 7 for practice at 2 pm (EDT) today. Qualifying for the Daytona Prototype class will take place at 6:20 pm. The event, which will take place on the infield road course of the DIS oval, will be run starting 10 minutes following the conclusion of Nextel Cup qualifying for the Firecracker 400 (approximately 11 pm) on Thursday. Live Timing and Scoring can be followed at www.grandamerican.com. The broadcast of the event can be seen on SPEED channel at noon on Sunday, July 4. Shane Lewis: “Racing at Daytona is always great but this race is even more special. There is so much history here with this event and to be celebrating the Fourth of July racing at Daytona really means a lot to me. The only reason that a kid with no money was able to go from a high school bull rider in Southern California to racing on one of the greatest racetracks in the world is because I live in the greatest country in the world. I'm a guy born in California, living in Florida, racing a red, white and blue car built in Indiana for a team based in Ohio in a race named for one of the great patriots of our country. How much better; how much more American can you get than this?” Shane Lewis has been racing since 1989 with multiple race wins in Grand-Am sanctioned events, in the IMSA Supercar and SCCA Pro Series and the Historic SportsCar Series. He has starts in ARCA stock car competition, at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb and is a former Daytona Endurance Champion and Formula Ford Festival winner. He has driven in six Rolex 24s and three 24 Hours of Le Mans- leading the race in GT class in 2003. He has two overall and one class-victory at the 24 Hours of Nelson Ledges. Lewis was honored as the 1998 Professional Sports Car Racing Rising Star award winner. Lewis also serves as a test driver and private coach. For more on Shane Lewis please see www.shanelewis.com. To learn more about Southard Motorsports, please visit www.pap-parts.com or www.autoassets.com. ###