SHANE LEWIS AND MINI COOPER CHRISTEN
BIRMINGHAM RACE COURSE

JUPITER, Fla., May 14, 2003 – A group of firsts will take place at Barber Motorsports Park in suburban Birmingham, Alabama on Sunday, May 18. The weekend marks the new facility’s first professional automobile race and the first professional race in the state of Alabama for both the new Mini Cooper S and Shane Lewis. Following the success of the #20 Lava Records/ Nuzzo Motorsports operation in practice and qualifying at Miami-Homestead Speedway— the most recent event in which Lewis competed— and a top-ten finish at the season opener in Daytona, Lewis is eager to show the Mini Cooper S to the Barber fans.

“Barber Motorsports Park and the Mini Cooper S were made for one-another,” offered Lewis. “We showed that the Lava Records’ car could be quick at Homestead. We just had some misfortune to be at the wrong place at the wrong time in the opening laps of that race. So we never got a chance to show what the car could do in a race. Barber is a lot like Homestead in its basic layout. Barber has some long straightaways but some tight turns too. This should be a good track for the Mini Cooper. I’m really looking forward to racing my first race in Alabama. Of all the places I have run, I can’t believe this will be my first pro event in the state. It should be a great weekend.”

The Barber Park Twin 200 Grand-Am Cup race for the ST I class will be Sunday morning at 8:15 local time. The 200 mile/ two-and-a-half hour race will be broadcast on tape-delay on SPEED, May 31 at noon (EDT). Practice begins on Friday, May 16, qualifications on Saturday, May 17.

Shane Lewis is the 1998 Professional Sports Car Racing Rising Star award winner and is a multiple race winner in IMSA, SCCA Pro and Grand-Am sanctioned events. In 2002, he competed in the GS I and GS II classes of the Grand-Am Cup winning overall at Phoenix and in-class twice, including at the Daytona season-finale. The popular Lewis recently signed to race for ACEMCO Motorsports in a Ferrari 360 Modena in the American Le Mans Series and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, his third visit to the classic race.

For more on Shane Lewis please see www.ShaneLewis.com. For more on Nuzzo Motorsports visit www.NuzzoMotorsports.com.