Paul Lewis (born September 28, 1932) is a retired

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...

Grand National Series The name NASCAR Grand National Series refers to former names of the following NASCAR series: *National-level stock car series: **NASCAR Cup Series (known as NASCAR Grand National Series between 1950 to 1970, then the NASCAR Winston Cup Grand Nation ...

race car driver whose career spanned from 1960 to 1968''Paul Lewis''
racing information at Racing Reference while primarily driving a #2

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

vehicle owned by

Bobby Allison Robert Arthur Allison (born December 3, 1937) is a former American professional stock car racing driver and owner. Allison was the founder of the Alabama Gang, a group of drivers based in Hueytown, Alabama, where there were abundant short track ...

Career

Driver

Lewis made his debut into top-level professional stock car racing in 1960 at the age of 27. He originally drove a

Chevrolet Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...

. but also raced Ford, Dodge, and Plymouth cars. During his 10 season career, Lewis made 114 Grand National starts, with 1 career pole in a May 1965 event at North Carolina's Harris Speedway, and scored his only career win at the 1966 Smoky Mountain 200 in Maryville, Tennessee. He led a total of 71 laps in his career as well. During his career, Lewis never ran a full season, and his best season points finish was 14th in 1965 after competing in just under half that year's events. He started his career at the age of 27 and ended it at 35 years of age; a latecomer compared today's to NASCAR drivers who generally start their career at the top level between the ages of 18 and 21. Lewis has managed to earn a grand total of $52,867 from all the racing events that he participated in ($ when adjusted for inflation). Dirt tracks helped to contribute to Lewis' best career finishes; with him finishing an average of tenth place. His shortcoming would be

restrictor plate A restrictor plate or air restrictor is a device installed at the intake of an engine to limit its power. This kind of system is occasionally used in road vehicles (e.g., motorcycles) for insurance purposes, but mainly in automobile racing, to li ...

tracks; where Lewis would finish a mediocre 30th place on average.

Owner

Like many NASCAR drivers of his time, Lewis also drove his own car during some his career; his ownership career spanned from

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

. In addition to himself,

Buddy Arrington Buddy Rogers Arrington (July 26, 1938 – August 2, 2022) was an American NASCAR Winston Cup Series driver and owner. Racing career Arrington has the second-most starts without a win, and finished in the top 10 of NASCAR points twice; in 1 ...

and

Tiny Lund DeWayne Louis "Tiny" Lund (November 14, 1929 – August 17, 1975) was an American stock car racer. He was a journeyman racer-for-hire in the top level NASCAR Grand National Series, running partial seasons for a number of years, including a vict ...

also each drove 1 race apiece for Lewis. Total earnings as a NASCAR owner for Lewis was $29,060 ($ when adjusted for inflation).

Post-NASCAR career

Lewis still offers advice to stock car racers who live in the vicinity of

Johnson City, Tennessee Johnson City is a city in Washington, Carter, and Sullivan counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee, mostly in Washington County. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 71,046, making it the eighth largest city in Tennessee. John ...

.''Paul Lewis remembers the first BMS race''
at TriCities

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Paul 1932 births NASCAR drivers NASCAR team owners People from Johnson City, Tennessee Living people Racing drivers from Tennessee