MICHAEL LEWIS TOOK A DISTANT ROUTE TO USAC SUCCESS
By: Richie Murray – USAC Media
Speedway, Indiana………Many drivers who’ve made their name in sprint car and midget racing are known for making the move from the west to the east as they advance up the ladder, but for Noblesville, Indiana’s Michael Lewis, it was the opposite road that led to the most successful years of his career and even a shot in a NASCAR Busch (now Xfinity) series ride.
Lewis is this week’s guest on episode 12 of USAC’s Thunder Relived, this Thursday night, April 30 at 8pm Eastern on FloRacing at https://bit.ly/3dzkF8Y.
At the conclusion of a highly successful two-year run behind the wheel of Phil Reed’s No. 11 in the USAC National Midget division, which included a Copper World Classic victory at Phoenix International Raceway in 2001, plus wins at Nazareth, Pa. and Sparta, Ky. before culminating with a win in the prestigious Turkey Night Grand Prix at Irwindale, Calif., Reed went out on a high note, selling the car, but unfortunately, leaving Lewis without a ride entering the 2003 season.
“I found out about a month before Phoenix (in 2003) that I didn’t have a ride,” Lewis recalled. “I found out Western Speed Racing bought it, so I begged them, ‘Hey, let’s put this car together and go run Phoenix.’ (They said) ‘No, we don’t have time, we don’t have time. So, it’s like, look, bring me out there; I know the car; I built it; we can make it there. I couldn’t talk them into it, so I got a ride with Gary Hansen for Phoenix. We didn’t qualify well, I think we started 8th or 9th, and I think in 10 laps we were leading and ended up crashing out of the lead.”
“Rick Gerhardt and Larry Trigueiro (owners of Western Speed Racing) met me at the infield care center and offered me a ride moving forward with Western Speed,” Lewis continued. “That’s how that deal all started.”
Lewis, a five-time USAC National Midget winner at this point entering 2003 with triumphs in some of the biggest races on the schedule on his burgeoning resume, decided to split his time between California and Indiana, earning 2003 USAC National Sprint Car Rookie of the Year and three wins with the series and car owner Jeff Walker at Winchester, Hawkeye Downs and Salem.
Meanwhile, at the same time, he was tearing it up in USAC’s Western Sprint Car series in the Western Speed cars, winning six feature races, capturing Rookie of the Year, and ultimately, the season championship in his first try. He also won another USAC Western States Midget race for good measure with Hansen.
Based on his performance, and a connection through his car owners, Lewis earned a shot at NASCAR’s Busch Series in 2003 with owner Richard Childress.
In 2004, it was more of the same story with Lewis adding two Western States Midget wins for Western Speedway, then seven more in the Western Sprint Car where he finished second in the standings behind teammate Tony Hunt, and for the second consecutive year, winning the Turkey Night Sprint Car race after capturing a Turkey Night Midget win in 2002.
Now synonymous with the “orange cars” of Western Speed, Lewis and the team competed on the National trail with the Silver Crown car, the Sprint and the Midget in 2005. He added another biggie to his Midget resume by winning the Night Before the 500 at Indianapolis Raceway Park, then added another on Independence Day Weekend at Pikes Peak International Raceway, then his final USAC victory, a Sprint Car win at Toledo Speedway a week later.
On Thursday’s Thunder Relived, Lewis, an owner of 12 total USAC National Sprint Car and Midget feature victories between 2000 and 2005, will be in studio with show hosts Richie Murray and Kirk Spridgeon to review his standout racing career and recount his first visit to USAC National victory lane, which just so happened to be the closest finish in USAC National Midget history – a near dead-heat at the line between he and Kasey Kahne at Indiana’s racy quarter-mile bullring of Anderson Speedway.
Thursday's Thunder Relived episode featuring Lewis will precede the fifth round of the 2020 AMSOIL USAC iRacing Challenge presented by NOS Energy Drink, a Midget race from Eldora Speedway, at 9pm ET on FloRacing. The event will feature the stars of USAC Racing competing against one another in the world’s leading motorsports simulation.
Thunder Relived will take you under the helmet and in-depth with USAC personalities past and present as we revisit all the thrills, spills and the greatest moments from USAC’s vast Sprint, Midget and Silver Crown video vault. Stay tuned for more information regarding Thunder Relived on USAC’s website at www.usacracing.com, our social media channels at www.facebook.com/usacracing, www.twitter.com/usacnation and on Instagram @usacnation.