Shane Lewis Uses Local Knowledge To Earn Top-10 Mid-Ohio Rolex Run

LEXINGTON, Oh., August 28, 2005 � Shane Lewis overcame a broken power steering pump to fight his way to a tenth-place finish at this weekend's EMCO Gears Classic at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Despite being a resident of Jupiter, Fla., Lewis called on his �local' knowledge of the 2.258-mile track to fine-tune his driving style to get the most out of the BMW-powered PAP-Parts/ OZEXE Daytona Prototype (DP). Southard Motorsports owner Steve Southard (Powell, Oh.) also used his local knowledge of the track- which is less than an hour from the team's shop- to make a daring call on fuel strategy. The combination brought the No. 3 from its 14th-place start position into the top-10 in the 400 kilometer Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series event.“The power steering started going out on Darius [Grala, Poland, co-driver] in his stint and got worse after I got in the car,” commented Lewis, who led the Rolex Series event at California Speedway this year. “The team had a great call on the pit strategy. We made a gamble on the fuel and it paid off. It was so close we ran out of fuel on the cool down lap. It's good to get the guys a strong run here at their home track. This was like a victory for us right now. Where we are in the development of the car, a top-ten is a like a win.” The race will be broadcast on SPEED Channel at Noon today. For more on Shane Lewis please see www.ShaneLewis.com. Southard Motorsports can be found at www.SouthardMotorsports.com.###