Lewis Motorsports hires former Roush man as GM.

Lewis Motorsports, which fields the No. 46 NASCAR Busch Series entry driven by Ashton Lewis Jr is pleased to announce that Bob Rinaldi has joined their operation as General Manager effective immediately.

Rinaldi joins Lewis Motorsports with an impressive resume in hand. The Rhode Island native first stepped onto the NASCAR radar in 1985 as the engine builder for Moroso Racing. When Jack Roush bought Moroso Racing, Rinaldi was part of the package. He has remained with Roush since. Prior to his departure, Rinaldi was responsible for overseeing Roush Racing's Busch Series operation (since 1997) and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (2003) operations.

As an engine builder, Rinaldi has three NASCAR Busch Series championships to his name including 1989 with Rob Moroso, 2000 with Jeff Green, and 2002 with Greg Biffle.

Team owner, Ashton Lewis, Sr., couldn't be happier with the addition of Rinaldi to his team and feels that his extensive experience could help take Lewis Motorsports to the next level.

"I have known Bob for over 15 years and I have always recognized him as a proven winner," said Lewis. "Bob is the total package. He understands everything needed to make a race team compete consistently at a very high level. He is exactly what this team needs. We have excellent people who I feel will respond well to Bob's proven management skills. His systems and procedures have helped produce multiple championships and we hope that one day in the near future he will be able to add at least one more to that list."

Rinaldi is looking forward to his new endeavour with Lewis Motorsports.

"I started in this business with a family-operated race team and it is my plan to end my career in this sport with a family-operated team," said Rinaldi. "I have known Ashton Lewis for many years and have watched the amount of work he and his sons (driver, Ashton, Jr. and crew chief, Charlie) have put into building this team from the ground up. They deserve to have success and it is my goal to help them attain it.

Our long-term goals are cantered around winning races and championships," added Rinaldi. "However, the first step in getting there is consistency. My focus with this team begins with helping them become more consistent and competitive on a regular basis. I see a lot of success in this team's future and I am excited that I will be a part of that success."

Driver Lewis Jr currently sits 12th in the 2003 NASCAR Busch Series drivers standings with nine top ten finishes so far this season while the #46 team, sponsored by the Civil Air Patrol, is 16th in the Owner's standings.