Lew drove for Shelby in 1963, then opened Hi-Performance Motors with Shelby, Al Dowd, Tom Reese, and Peyton Cramer. When Lew officially became a Shelby American employee, he was hired as the Competition Sales Manager. “Part of it was getting rid of the cars that came back from team use in Europe. There was nothing more worthless than a year-old race car with no place to race. I laugh about that now because we had the six Daytona Coupes and had to beg people to buy them for $5,000! Competition Sales also assisted racers.

From 1966 through 1969, Lew served as Shelby’s Trans-Am manager. After a disastrous 1968 Trans-Am season and a mediocre 1969, Lew retired from racing after Ford pulled out in 1970. He concentrated on helping Shelby with his various non-racing businesses in food and clothing.