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Meet
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| Full Name: | Michael David Lewis, Jr. |  |
| Date of Birth: | December 7, 1978 | |
| Birthplace: | Indianapolis, Indiana | |
| Residence: | Noblesville, Indiana | |
| Parents: | Mike and Patti Lewis | |
| Brother: | Billy Lewis (DOB 7-16-87) | |
| Sister: | Mandi Lewis (DOB 7-8-90) | |
| Marital Status: | Single | |
| Age: | 26 | |
| Education: | Graduated from Noblesville High
School in 1997, was enrolled at Indiana University-Purdue University
at Indianapolis (IUPUI) and completed one semester. | |
Michael inherited the love of racing from his dad, Mike, who has always had a passion for racing. From 1967 to 1977, when Mike was a teenager, he traveled across the country racing go-carts. His family, the Bill Sanders family, and Mark Dismore, who was an accomplished professional race car driver in the Indy Racing League, traveled with him. He won many championships, including three national championships. Mike quit racing after his marriage in 1977, but became involved in quarter-midget racing with his then 7-year-old nephew, G.R. Hutton who raced about three years, then devoted himself to hockey. Mike took a break from active racing until Michael was 7 years old, when they both became involved in quarter-midgets.
Michael was hooked from the beginning and excelled at quarter-midget racing. He won the Region 4 "Rookie of the Year" title in 1986, his first year. He went on to win over 200 feature races, numerous track, state, and regional championships, as well as three national championships, two in his last year of quarter-midget racing in 1995. He was inducted into the Quarter-Midget Hall of Fame in 1996.
In late 1993, when Michael was racing quarter-midgets, he and his family met and became good friends with Bob and Janice East, and their children Bobby, Amy, and Alison. Bobby traveled with the Lewis family to races when his parents were at USAC races running the "big race cars". Bob East, who built the BEAST, is the premier midget chassis builder in the country. He also built quarter-midgets for Bobby and Michael. In fact, Michael's two 1995 National Quarter-Midget Championships were won in the Beast car.
It was also during this time that Bob gave Michael the opportunity to travel to some of the USAC races with the renowned Steve Lewis #9 racing team. This was like going to school, but a school he truly loved. From that point on, he went to every race with Bob that he could, including the Turkey Night and Copper World Classic (which his parents permitted him to miss "real" school to attend). Being able to work with and learn from Bob and the Lewis Racing Team has been an honor and a privilege, as well as an invaluable asset for Michael.
Michael became an excellent mechanic and loved learning to work on race cars. He also played hockey from the time he was 11 years old, but gave it up after his junior year to concentrate on racing.
In 1996, Michael decided that he definitely wanted to pursue a career in racing. With the help of his family and the East family, he took the big step from quarter-midgets to full-size midgets and competed in USAC's regional Speedrome series, where he won his first feature race at Anderson Speedway. He went on to win two more feature races that year at the Indianapolis Speedrome. He also won the USAC Midget Series "Rookie of the Year" title and finished in 3rd place overall in the USAC Midget Series Regional points championship. In addition, he was named the "1st Year Driver of the Year" by Hoosier Auto Racing Fan Club (HARF).
In 1997, Michael was invited to participate in the "Thunder In The Dome" race at the RCA Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana. He qualified for the championship feature race and was named "Rookie of the Race" for Team Indiana.
Michael graduated from Noblesville High School in June 1997, then continued his pursuit of racing knowledge by competing with NAMARS and ARCA to broaden his experience on different types of tracks.
He set a new track record and won the Perry Younce Memorial feature race at Owosso Speedway in Ovid, Michigan; and he won the Illinois State Championship 60-lap feature race at Grundy County Speedway in Morris, Illinois. He also won a 10-lap Australian Pursuit Race at Columbus, Ohio, and in his first race at Indianapolis Raceway Park, he made the Mel Kenyon Classic feature and won "Rookie of the Race" and "Hard Charge" awards. In thirteen races that year, he finished in the top-five six times, and in the top-ten ten times.
1998 brought another big step up to the USAC National Midget series, where Michael won the Rookie of the Year" title and finished 9th overall in National Midget point standings. Out of 12 national starts, he finished 12th or better eight times, with the best finish being 6th at the "Night Before the 500" race at Indianapolis Raceway Park. He also won ARCA's Perry Younce Memorial feature for the 2nd year in a row.
During 1999, Michael continued to learn and improve his performance. After a slow start, about mid-season everything seemed to fall into place, and he completed the year in 7th place in the USAC National Midget point standings, finishing fifth or better four times and in the top-10 nine times.
The year 2000 brought Michael his first USAC National feature victory on June 30 at Anderson Speedway where he beat Kasey Kahne to the line in the closest finish in USAC history. This was reported live on ESPN. He also finished 2nd behind Ryan Newman (who has already made his mark in ARCA and Nascar's Busch series and is doing the same in Nascar's Winston Cup series) at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Colorado. He ended up in 4th place overall in USAC National Midget point standings, finishing fifth or better seven times and in the top-10 fifteen times (in 20 starts). Michael also won the "Most Improved Driver of the Year" award from USAC.
Michael was off to a tremendous start in 2001. He won the season-opening race for the USAC Midget division at the Copper World Classic at Phoenix International Raceway on March 17. He drove the #11 Beast midget with an Ed Pink Ford motor owned by Phil and Mike Reed of Electronic Chrome & Grinding (Santa Fe Springs, California) and co-sponsored by A.J. Foyt Racing. He also made the big move up to the Coors Light Silver Bullet Series, where he ran the yellow #85 for Team 6-R Racing. He also finished 8th in the Championship Feature in Thunder In The Dome XVII invitational midget race held at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana on March 10; he won the Team Indiana qualifying race and finished 2nd in the Team Indiana feature. Then he missed several weeks after suffering a concussion during a midget race at Eldora Speedway but came back to finish fifth at Indianapolis Raceway Park in the Silver Bullet feature on August 2, and he finished 4th at the 61st Annual Turkey Night Grand Prix on November 22 at Irwindale (CA) Speedway.
At Phoenix International Raceway in March 2002, Michael sustained a concussion after a crash in hot laps. Again, he came back from that with two victories in USAC National Midget races. The first was at Nazareth (PA) Speedway on April 21 and the second was three weeks later at Kentucky Speedway. He also placed fifth at Hawkeye Downs, in Cedar Rapids, IA, and sixth during the "Night Before the 500" at Indianapolis Raceway Park on May 25. Then he was injured again when a wheel broke during Silver Crown qualifying at the Terre Haute (IN) Action Track. This time he broke his collar bone, which sidelined him for most of the remaining season. He did come back for the first ever "Indianapolis Twin 25's" monza-style event at Indianapolis Raceway Park, where he won his qualifying race and finished seventh and eighth in the main events. And he finished out the year with a spectacular victory at the 62nd Annual "Turkey Night Grand Prix" Midget Car race on November 28, 2002 at Irwindale (CA) Speedway driving the #11 ECG Midget.
Michael enjoyed his best USAC racing season ever in 2003, winning the Western Sprint Car title and National and Western Sprint Car “Rookie of the Year” honors and adding victories in USAC’s National and Western Midget Car Series and National Sprint Car Series. His wins while driving for BDF Racing in the “Rich Vogler Classic” at the Winchester (Ind.) Speedway and the “Joe James/Pat O’Connor Classic” at Salem came in his first-ever Sprint starts at those two historic ovals, and he also triumphed in the sprint cars at Cedar Rapids. In National Midget racing he had a victory and two seconds at Irwindale, Calif. and in the Weld Racing Silver Crown cars he had 10th-place finishes at Phoenix, Ariz. and Indianapolis Raceway Park. But it was the Western Sprint Cars where he excelled, scoring six feature wins in five different states on his way to the title driving for Western Speed Racing. He ended up sixth in the Western Midget points, 15th in National Sprint Cars and 19th in National Midgets. He also made his first start in the Nascar Busch Series at Memphis Motorsports Park on October 18, driving for Richard Childress Racing.
Michael was unable to successfully defend his USAC Valvoline Western Sprint Car Series title in 2004 but still managed to represent himself in triumphant fashion. He won six times over 15 starts with the Western Speed team, set seven event fast times, and led the points on four different occasions before settling for the second-place ranking. He only finished outside the top 10 on two occasions. Michael showed his muscles in other USAC divisions as well. In the Valvoline National Sprint Car Series, he made seven starts and posted thirds at Hawkeye Downs Speedway in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colorado. He also set quick time at Salem, Ind. His Weld Racing Silver Crown Series endeavors produced five pavement starts and two top 10s. In the National Midget Car Series, he started five races and finished third at Fountain. Aside from National/Western Midget shows, Michael also won twice in five Western-only shows, notching victories at Madera, California. In addition, he tested a Nextel Cup car for Roger Penske in October.
He's off to a great start in 2005. On May 28, he won the 60th "Night Before the 500" at Indianapolis Raceway Park after a thrilling charge through the field after he restarted on the tail (19th) due to a tire change with 22 laps to go. He subsequently won the "Rocky Mountain Classic" Midget Race at Pikes Peak International Raceway in Fountain, Colorado on July 3 and he also scored his best career finish in USAC's Silver Crown division with a 2nd at the same event. He also had two podium finishes the week before at Richmond (VA) International Raceway with a 2nd in USAC's National Sprint Car race and a 3rd in the Silver Crown race. The next weekend at Toledo Speedway, July 8, he won his fourth USAC Valvoline National Sprint Car race.
In the little spare time Michael has, he enjoys ice skating, water sports, and racing go-karts with his brother and dad.
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