Taste of Success is Fresh as Southard Motorsports heads to Barber Motorsports Park, Team Looks to Keep Momentum Going After Iowa
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (July 19, 2007) – One week ago at Iowa Speedway, the Southard Motorsports No. 3 Preformed Line Products Lexus-Riley fought a determined battle for a podium finish. Though a late race pit stop dropped the team to eighth in the final Grand-Am Daytona Prototype event standings, the hard earned run left the taste of success. Team driver Shane Lewis looks to savor that competitive flavor again this weekend at the Porsche 250 Presented By Bradley Arant at Barber Motorsports Park.
While the 2.3-mile, 16-turn permanent road course just outside of Birmingham, Alabama is a far cry from the short, tight infield road course at the new Iowa Speedway oval, the flowing Barber track has been a favorite of drivers and teams since it first became a fixture on the Grand-Am schedule in 2003. “We want to carry the momentum of the Iowa race on to this weekend at Barber," says Shane Lewis. "This is a beautiful track, probably the prettiest track we'll race on all season. We know that we can be competitive--Iowa showed that. The whole team was really excited by the results there. That was a great event; we had our strongest run since our podium finishes last year at Long Beach and Phoenix. I want to keep that going here at Birmingham and keep moving towards the front of the pack at every race. We know we can do it.”
The team’s momentum is strong as it heads into the final rounds of the 2007 Grand-Am season. Last weekend, the team was joined at Iowa Speedway by NASCAR Nextel Cup standout Mark Martin. Teammates Shane Lewis and Randy Ruhlman worked to set up the car in the practices before the race and Martin was scheduled fly in to start the car, but he arrived too late to qualify. Martin started from the rear of the field, quickly rocketing to a top-ten running position before handing the wheel over to Lewis. Lewis kept the surge going forward and posted as high as fourth, before a late race pit stop dropped the car back. Lewis battled forward and brought the car home in eighth place, earning the team the SunTrust Hard Charger Award for advancing the most places during the event. It is the second time that Southard Motorsports crew has taken that honor.
Lewis will be joined for the race this Sunday at Barber Motorsports Park by a soon to be announced second driver. Last-minute race schedule conflicts prevent regular driving partner Randy Ruhlman from joining the team this weekend. Ruhlman will return to the No. 3 Preformed Line Products Lexus Riley in two weeks, when the Grand-Am Series heads north for Rounds Eleven and Twelve of competition at Montreal and Watkins Glen.
Television coverage of the Porsche 250 Presented By Bradley Arant at Barber Motorsports Park will begin live on the SPEED Channel at 3 p.m. EDT on Sunday, July 22nd. Two days of practice will precede the Saturday's 10:25 a.m. qualifying session on the 2.3-mile road course in Birmingham, Alabama. This will be Round Ten of the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal.
The No. 3 Preformed Line Products Daytona Prototype is campaigned by Southard Motorsports of Powell, Ohio. The Riley chassis is powered by Lexus engines with technical expertise by TRD Engineering and carries sponsorship from Preformed Line Products from Mayfield Village, Ohio.
Shane Lewis is widely considered to be one of the sports leading development drivers and has competed in twenty-four 24 Hour Races--nine-times in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, three-times at Le Mans and twice at Nürburgring. An instructor at The Mid-Ohio School and always a fan favorite, Shane Lewis, resident of Florida, earned two Daytona Prototype podium finishes with Southard Motorsports in 2006, at the Long Beach Grand Prix and Phoenix. He has multiple wins in the Rolex Sports Car Series and Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series, as well as the IMSA Supercar Championship and the SCCA Pro Series World Challenge. Lewis was the 1998 Professional Sports Car Racing Rising Star award winner.
Randy Ruhlman, a veteran of the popular Trans-Am Series, has extensive racing experience. Ruhlman makes the record books as fourth in Top Ten finishes in Trans-Am history and was the top American driver in the 2005 Trans-Am Drivers' Championship, holding the points lead throughout the season and scoring a pair of wins--the season opener at the Long Beach Grand Prix and the Cleveland Grand Prix. He was named the 2005 BBS "Most Improved Driver of the Year". Concentrating most recently on road racing, Ruhlman spent many years driving the ovals and road courses of the ASA and the NASCAR short track series. In 2006, Ruhlman, a native of Greensboro, NC, drove the No. 40 Preformed Line Products Daytona Prototype for Derhaag Motorsports.
Southard Motorsports reflects the goals and dedication of its owners, Steve and Martha Southard, both former drivers themselves in Historic and Professional racing. One of only two teams to have competed in every Grand American Rolex Daytona Prototype Sports Car event since 2004, they have shown the continuity and commitment that are hallmark to all winning programs and the team was pivotal in winning the inaugural Jim Truman Driver's Award. Southard Motorsports' experience and knowledge was highlighted by last year's successful Daytona Prototype season, as they captured two podium finishes, a third at the prestigious Long Beach Grand Prix and another third at Phoenix. The team recently announced an alliance with the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption to increase visibility and awareness for the Foundation and its programs.
Preformed Line Products (PLP) is an international manufacturer and supplier of hardware and support systems for the communications and energy industries. Products include COYOTE® Fiber Optics and VORTEX® Vibration Dampers used in the telecommunications, cable and energy industries. Manufacturing facilities are located worldwide in the USA, Canada, China, Brazil, Mexico, England, Spain, South Africa, Australia and Thailand.
For further information about the drivers, sponsor, and team, visit the following links:
Southard Motorsports http://www.southardmotorsports.com
Preformed Line Products http://www.preformed.com
The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption http://www.davethomasfoundationforadoption.org
Shane Lewis http://www.shanelewis.com
Randy Ruhlman http://www.randyruhlman.com
Grand-Am Series http://www.grand-am.com
