For immediate release, Gary Lewis Racing LLC (Sept. 10, 2009)
SNOHOMISH, Wash. — When the ASA Northwest Late Model Tour opened its 2009 campaign at Wenatchee Valley Super Oval back in May, three-time late model touring champion and current points leader Gary Lewis was bested in a late lap showdown by four-time champion Garrett Evans for the victory on Evans’ hometrack.
Lewis is anxious for a return visit to the North Central Washington quarter-mile and the chance to challenge Brent Harris — who also calls WVSO home and trails Lewis by just 12 points — and Evans’ who will be out to make it two straight Tour wins at the facility he has been a part of for over three decades.
“WVSO is just a beautiful facility with a very fast race track that Garrett and his staff work very hard to keep as nice as possible for the fans and the racers,” Lewis said. “With all that being said it makes for some great racing coming up this weekend that’s for sure.”
Holding the lead for the majority of the season opening event, Lewis checked up for a lapped car with two laps to go allowing Evans to sneak by on the outside for the victory. For this weekend the Sign Factory USA team is ready for the challenge no matter what obstacles they may face.
“You need a great handling car and the more horsepower you can have the better off you are (in setting up for 125-laps),” Lewis noted.
Weather has been a factor in several of the ASA races this season with a rain out in Monroe to start the year and last weekend’s event postponed due to rain. With the forecast set for great temperatures and conditions this weekend, Lewis does not expect to have to worry about being forced home or having to make major changes to the ARP Bodies Impala, he said.
“One of the cool things about Wenatchee Valley is that the track doesn’t change that much with the weather and usually maintains a high level of grip throughout the day so we’re able to work on dialing in this Shocked by Mike Leary Racing Products Chevrolet right off the trailer.”
The ARP Brakes pit crew was only able to work with Lewis for an hour and a half of practice last weekend. With the goal of using last Sunday’s ASA race as a test for the upcoming 22nd Annual Fall Classic then heading to Wenatchee for what was to be a 200-lap event, having a limited amount of
track time in the last few weeks has still provided plenty of opportunity to fine tune the race car, Lewis said.
“We learned in Yakima last week that you can only put so many heat cycles on these tires and that they only last so long as we were using a set that started with 74 laps on them for that little bit of practice,” he
explained. “The car was pretty close in the first session but then we ran out tire life just about the time the rain came so we’ll have to wait until the 19th (the reschedule date) to continue testing for the Classic.”
The rain provided the team a chance to jump right into preparations for what was to be a 200 lap race but has since been changed to 125 circuits around the East Wenatchee high banked facility. Changes to the distance does not change the focus or approach for the weekend, Lewis said.
“The amount of laps doesn’t really change anything that we do to prepare for this race. We’re going to win like we always do and not concentrate on points or the lap count. We still prepare the car the best we can and this week we were able to go over everything with a fine tooth comb to be ready for two races in the next two weekends.”
The Wenatchee Valley 125 is set to take the green flag at 9 p.m. on Saturday night. For more information log onto www.wvso.com To learn more about Gary Lewis Racing check out the team on Facebook or on the Internet at www.garylewisracing.com
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