They call it the “Road to Indy” and, for Shane Lewis, that is exactly what it is. The Jupiter, Florida-resident has a map that charts his course to the biggest race of his career, the 91st Running of the Indianapolis 500, and to date, Lewis has paid all the tolls. The 24- time, 24 Hour race starter has joined Michael Crawford Motorsports and together the two are working, step-by-step, to field a competitive entry for Indianapolis this “Month of May”. The native of Lancaster, Calif. continued his “Road to Indy” this past weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway by making his open wheel, oval debut in the Indy Pro Series Miami 100. There, the sports car ace immediately showed he is also a top-performer on the high-speed ovals.
Lewis left little doubt in the minds of even the most jaded oval racing aficionado that he could wheel a formula-style car around an oval. His Indy Pro Series test, held at Homestead-Miami on February 22, gave Indy Racing League officials a clear sign that he had the skill and was not only comfortable at speed but a natural. Once clear of the first hurdle, Lewis and team owner Michael Crawford (Indianapolis, Ind. ) had hoped to get the three-time 24 Hours of Le Mans starter quickly through his IndyCar Series rookie test. Fate would intervene though in that the team does not yet have available a 2007-spec GForce chassis. Therefore, they opted to get valuable seat time in the No. 8 Michael Crawford Motorsports Indy Pro Series Dallara. Lewis got off to an inspiring start running fifth quickest in his group at the first practice session of the weekend. As if to show it was no fluke, the former high school bull riding champion in tthe state of California took the bit in his teeth and turned a qualifying time that would place him second-quickest for much of the qualifying session. It was not until later in the session, as track conditions improved, did Lewis slip from second to seventh on the grid of 28 cars. However, the team was ecstatic with the remarkable performance and set-about preparing the car for the race.
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