Ashton Lewis Jr.

Last updated
Ashton Lewis Jr.
Ashton Lewis 2005 (cropped).jpg
Lewis in 2005
Born (1972-01-22) January 22, 1972 (age 52)
Chesapeake, Virginia, U.S.
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
226 races run over 11 years
Best finish8th (2004)
First race 1993 Fay's 150 (Watkins Glen)
Last race 2006 Ford 300 (Homestead)
WinsTop tens Poles
0371
Statistics current as of May 10, 2010.

Ashton Lewis Jr. (born January 22, 1972) [1] is an American former stock car racing driver who competed in 226 races over 11 seasons. Lewis earned a degree in mechanical engineering from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia. After his racing career, he earned his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. As of March 2013, he is chief operating officer for First Team Automotive Group in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Contents

Busch Series career

Lewis was a driver who was especially good on road courses. He started out in the Barber Saab Pro Series for the 1992 season. After success in that series, he was offered a scholarship to race in the British Formula Ford championship.

Lewis made his Busch debut in 1993, long before he became known to most Busch fans. Driving the No. 36 Parkway Pontiac at Watkins Glen, Lewis started the race in 29th place. The team had mechanical issues partway through the race, but Lewis got back on track and finished the race in 27th place.

Lewis returned once again to the series in 1994. This time, Lewis drove the No. 80 Commerce Bank Chevy at Milwaukee Mile. Lewis was able to top his debut with a 24th-place effort despite a 38th-place start.

Lewis again made a one-off start in 1995. He had his best weekend at that point in his career, this time back at Watkins Glen. He started the race solidly in the 22nd position and stayed on the lead lap with a 13th-place finishing result.

Lewis raced in eight races in 1996 and earned a 3rd-place finish at Watkins Glen. He led three laps during the race, the first laps led of his Busch Series career.

Lewis did not compete in 1999 but came back in 2000, with a new family owned No. 46 Chevy. He completed an 11-race schedule with a best finish of 17th at Michigan.

With a decent first year under their belt, Lewis Motorsports ran all but one race in 2001, leading to a 20th-place standing in points. Lewis earned three top-10s in 2001: A pair of fifths at Kentucky and Charlotte and a ninth at Memphis, an impressive feat without a full-time sponsor. Lewis earned his best start of 2001 at Las Vegas, with a 5th place starting position. However, Lewis struggled to finish races and had nine DNFs.

Yet, the team was optimistic. The team would run 2002 with new sponsor Civil Air Patrol. Lewis only had one top-5, but it was a solid one. Lewis started 24th at his home track of Richmond International Raceway but certainly ran well, moving to a 2nd-place finish. In addition, Lewis earned a triplet of 8th and another triplet of 9th. Lewis was also qualifying well, with 5 top-10 starts, the best being a 3rd at IRP. The only reason that Lewis finished a lowly 17th was simple: a series-high 12 DNFs.

Lewis set out to better his season in 2003 and did it well. Cutting down his DNFs to five led to a 12th-place finish in points. The highlight of his season came at Gateway. He won the pole and led forty-four laps and was running fifth when Randy Lajoie crashed in front of him and led to a 33rd-place finish. However, Ashton did have better overall finishes. He had two top-5s with a 3rd at Nashville and a 5th at Homestead-Miami. Lewis also tacked on eight other top-10 finishes, to have ten top-10 finishes in 2003.

The team lost CAP after 2003, however, and the team could not attract a sponsor for 2004. The team would end up running the whole season, but Lewis' family team had to shut down following the season. Yet, Lewis made one great swan song at the end of the season. A late-season surge put Lewis in position to win races. That was apparent at Darlington, where Lewis ran a specially painted tribute car to a second-place finish, barely losing to Jamie McMurray. Even though there was some sadness in the team's hearts, Lewis finished 8th place in points, his first career top-10

Lewis would drive the No. 25 Marines Ford in 2005 and 2006 for Ed Rensi. Lewis finished the 2005 campaign 14th in points. The 2006 season yielded a disappointing 15th-place finish in points. Lewis ended his NASCAR career after the 2006 season having competed in 226 Busch Series races over 11 different seasons.

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results
YearTeamNo.Make1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435NBSCPtsRef
1993 36 Pontiac DAY CAR RCH DAR BRI HCY ROU MAR NZH CLT DOV MYB GLN
27
MLW TAL IRP MCH NHA BRI DAR RCH DOV ROU CLT MAR CAR HCY ATL 97th82 [2]
1994 Lewis Motorsports 80 Chevy DAY CAR RCH ATL MAR DAR HCY BRI ROU NHA NZH
DNQ
CLT DOV MYB GLN MLW
24
SBO
DNQ
TAL HCY IRP
DNQ
MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT MAR
DNQ
CAR 85th91 [3]
1995 DAY CAR RCH ATL NSV DAR BRI HCY NHA NZH CLT DOV MYB GLN
13
MLW TAL SBO
DNQ
IRP MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV CLT CAR HOM 84th124 [4]
1998 Lewis Motorsports 9 Ford DAY CAR LVS NSV DAR BRI TEX HCY TAL NHA NZH CLT DOV RCH PPR GLN
3
MLW MYB CAL 53rd609 [5]
NorthStar Motorsports 98 Ford SBO
DNQ
IRP MCH
39
BRI
42
DAR
23
RCH
41
DOV
25
CLT
DNQ
GTY
28
CAR
36
ATL HOM
2000 Lewis Motorsports 46 Chevy DAY
DNQ
CAR LVS ATL DAR
38
BRI TEX NSV
DNQ
TAL CAL RCH
29
NHA
DNQ
CLT
DNQ
DOV
42
SBO MYB GLN
23
MLW
DNQ
NZH
28
PPR
29
GTY IRP
23
MCH
17
BRI
DNQ
DAR
30
RCH
DNQ
DOV
25
CLT
DNQ
CAR
31
MEM
DNQ
PHO
DNQ
HOM
DNQ
51st848 [6]
2001 DAY
31
CAR
33
LVS
30
ATL
39
DAR
19
BRI
27
TEX
11
NSH
42
TAL
31
CAL
22
RCH
32
NHA
29
NZH
14
CLT
13
DOV
40
KEN
5
MLW
32
GLN
37
CHI
43
GTY PPR
11
IRP
16
MCH
20
BRI
19
DAR
26
RCH
37
DOV
16
KAN
20
CLT
5
MEM
9
PHO
24
CAR
27
HOM
16
20th2904 [7]
2002 DAY
33
CAR
8
LVS
15
DAR
25
BRI
18
TEX
39
NSH
37
TAL
23
CAL
16
RCH
2
NHA
20
NZH
8
CLT
20
DOV
19
NSH
37
KEN
11
MLW
38
DAY
19
CHI
11
GTY
40
PPR
9
IRP
37
MCH
38
BRI
39
DAR
23
RCH
35
DOV
12
KAN
19
CLT
33
MEM
32
ATL
9
CAR
25
PHO
8
HOM
9
17th3279 [8]
2003 DAY
25
CAR
16
LVS
27
DAR
25
BRI
18
TEX
27
TAL
20
NSH
3
CAL
12
RCH
30
GTY
33
NZH
35
CLT
8
DOV
22
NSH
6
KEN
7
MLW
12
DAY
12
CHI
42
NHA
11
PPR
9
IRP
34
MCH
36
BRI
10
DAR
20
RCH
19
DOV
7
KAN
6
CLT
16
MEM
10
ATL
11
PHO
12
CAR
12
HOM
5
12th3804 [9]
2004 DAY
14
CAR
15
LVS
29
DAR
20
BRI
31
TEX
33
NSH
21
TAL
17
CAL
14
GTY
15
RCH
15
NZH
23
CLT
10
DOV
25
NSH
9
KEN
8
MLW
13
DAY
14
CHI
5
NHA
17
PPR
18
IRP
14
MCH
13
BRI
26
CAL
23
RCH
20
DOV
21
KAN
4
CLT
35
MEM
9
ATL
12
PHO
9
DAR
2
HOM
14
8th3892 [10]
2005 Team Rensi Motorsports 25 Ford DAY
13
CAL
11
MXC
9
LVS
22
ATL
14
NSH
19
BRI
8
TEX
32
PHO
17
TAL
4
DAR
14
RCH
16
CLT
10
DOV
14
NSH
25
KEN
25
MLW
18
DAY
26
CHI
11
NHA
28
PPR
15
GTY
36
IRP
15
GLN
31
MCH
26
BRI
31
CAL
31
RCH
30
DOV
14
KAN
28
CLT
8
MEM
31
TEX
21
PHO
21
HOM
43
14th3587 [11]
2006 DAY
12
CAL
29
MXC
13
LVS
13
ATL
17
BRI
30
TEX
38
NSH
11
PHO
20
TAL
33
RCH
26
DAR
20
CLT
28
DOV
42
NSH
9
KEN
5
MLW
16
DAY
17
CHI
35
NHA
24
MAR
27
GTY
16
IRP
22
GLN
33
MCH
39
BRI
18
CAL
5
RCH
31
DOV
25
KAN
14
CLT
11
MEM
37
TEX
25
PHO
24
HOM
20
15th3376 [12]

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References

  1. Ashton Lewis Career Statistics
  2. "Ashton Lewis – 1993 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  3. "Ashton Lewis – 1994 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  4. "Ashton Lewis – 1995 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  5. "Ashton Lewis – 1998 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  6. "Ashton Lewis – 2000 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  7. "Ashton Lewis – 2001 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  8. "Ashton Lewis – 2002 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  9. "Ashton Lewis – 2003 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  10. "Ashton Lewis – 2004 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  11. "Ashton Lewis – 2005 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  12. "Ashton Lewis – 2006 NASCAR Busch Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved December 12, 2018.