Charles Lewandoski Is Pursuing Opportunities for Success In 2007

In 2006, Charles Lewandoski was the feel-good story of the NASCAR Busch East Series. He competed in his first full-time season on the tour and saw success that few outside of his own family-operated race team had expected. Five top-10 finishes, including a career-best, third-place result at Thompson International Speedway, proved that Lewandoski was a threat each and every time his #01 Chevrolet hit the racetrack.

His success in 2006 earned him the Busch East Series’ “Most Improved Driver Award” at the year-end banquet. The award and a strong campaign left Lewandoski pumped up for an even bigger 2007 season.

But as the series expanded its wings to new parts of the country and welcomed the influence from the NASCAR Cup, Busch and Truck world, as well as a crop of new, young drivers in top-tier rides, that left Lewandoski and his team at a crossroads before the 2007 season opened.

At just 21 years old, Lewandoski is one of the series’ “young guns,” but as the 2007 BES season hits its stride, the Stafford Springs, CT native is hunting the right opportunity that he can bring into victory lane.

“When the series changed directions, we were excited about where it was going and what NASCAR was trying to do,” said Lewandoski. “It was just going to help young drivers like me that had the same goals as me. My dad and I decided that it wasn’t going to be possible to run the whole tour with the schedule as it was this year, going all over the Eastern part of the country.

“Losing Waterford to go to Iowa is a huge improvement for the series, but that increases the financial burden of running the series. We decided we weren’t going to do that. I was pursuing driving opportunities with existing teams in the series and new teams that were looking to get into it. Due to the fact that we had a successful year last year and we worked hard at it last year. We realistically should’ve won at least one race, but it just didn’t work out for us. We were in contention to win several in my opinion.”

Lewandoski spent the off-season negotiating with potential teams in the Busch East Series, as well as looking at opportunities in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series and ARCA RE/MAX Series. Some discussions got farther than others, but nothing has yet solidified.

“We’ve been working on putting something together with a new team, and it was looking like it was going to be a full-time effort. Now we’ve missed a race, so it can’t be a full schedule, but hopefully something will still get finalized where we can go after some wins this year with that team.

“I kept pursuing and got a couple offers that have yet to materialize, but we’ll keep working on it. We’ve still got our own team that we’re constantly pursuing options on with. I have a lot of my own equipment, and we haven’t ruled out running a handful of races with that, but that’s all depending on a few other situations. My team is still very strong, and we’ve got great people involved in it, but we’re just sitting idle right now trying to find out what’s best.”

Lewandoski began his NASCAR Busch East (then Busch North) Series career in 2004 with a limited schedule with his family-run Charles Lewandoski Racing team. Another partial season in 2005 set Lewandoski up for a run at the full BES schedule in 2006 that paid off with a 10th-place finish in series points and the series’ “Most Improved Driver” title.

The young driver did it all with the help of his family and friends, including his Crew Chief from the start of 2006, Paul Wolfe, who has since become a top-level NASCAR Busch Series Crew Chief. He had no Cup-sized budget and no Cup-qualified pit crew. Lewandoski did everything himself, and it’s the knowledge of the racecars and how to make them go fast, both in the shop and in the driver’s seat, that make Lewandoski a rare, young talent.

“I’ve been hands-on with the cars. I know pretty much every aspect of what makes these cars work and go fast. I’m obviously no Chad Knaus, but I’m hands-on and I know how they operate. I’ve learned from the best in the business, in my opinion. I will not go to the racetrack without going through the car and making sure they’re the way I want them.

“There are a lot of qualified crew chiefs that I can be 110-percent confident in the way that they can set up a car, but I like to be hands-on. I don’t just show up to the track and drive. I proved last year, when it’s time to get up on the wheel, I can get that done too. I’ve done the sponsorship end of stuff, the mechanical and the driving end. I’ve got a lot of people that want to see me do well; I just need that one opportunity to show it.”

What Lewandoski would like the most is a chance to prove that his success in 2006 was legit and he can be a week-in and week-out contender in the NASCAR Busch East Series, starting with this weekend’s double header event at Elko Speedway (MN) and Iowa Speedway.

“I want to be out there. I can’t put it into words how badly I want to be back in the seat. Iowa looks pretty cool from what I’ve seen there, and I’ve talked to some buddies that have run there in ARCA and Pro Cup. I honestly believe that if I went out there, I’d be in contention for the pole and the victory. Elko is a short track that you need a little bit of luck, but I know I could be good there.

“Given the right opportunity, there’s no doubt I can be a contender for the championship in this series. Hopefully by the end of the year I can prove that, but as of right now I’m just kind of sitting idle, waiting for the one shot that I need to get into victory lane.”

For more information on a marketing partnership or driving opportunities with Charles Lewandoski, contact him at (860) 930-5642.