The Foley Lewis Top Fuel team revealed in a statement that longtime team partner Tim Lewis has passed.
“It is with a very heavy heart that we announce the passing of our longtime team leader and, more importantly, our friend, Tim Lewis,” Top Fuel racer Doug Foley said. “Tim was a successful businessman who, in the Late 1990s, attended my drag racing school. It was there that we formed an almost 30-year relationship.”
Foley and Lewis entered the Top Alcohol Dragster ranks in the late 1990s before they graduated to Top Fuel in 2004.
“This was an unattainable dream that Tim made happen,” Foley said. “We traveled the country in our motorhome like we belonged in this class. We won, we lost, but most importantly, we always laughed. Tim had a great personality and didn’t take life too seriously. He taught me to dream big and he literally changed mine, Shelagh’s and the boys’ lives in so many ways, and for that we will always be grateful. No matter my crazy ideas, he was always encouraging and enthusiastic about tackling my vision, whether it was for the team, my business, or my family.”
Foley said Lewis hadn’t been at the races this season, and competing without him there has been tough.
“Now to lose him, knowing he will never be at the track with us again after 25+ years is truly heartbreaking,” Foley said. “The last race he attended was Charlotte in the fall, where we went to the finals, which now I look at as a gift from God on what would be our last race weekend together. The team and I will race this season in his honor, and we will miss him dearly.”
