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Racer Profile: Bill Lester

An Opinion



January 13, 2009

By Allen Madding

Allen Madding

Bill Lester was born Feb 6, 1961 in Washington, D.C. Lester earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 1984.

In 1985, Lester won the SCCA Series Northern California Region Rookie of the Year. In 1986, Lester won the SCCA GT-3 Regional Road Racing Championship. In 1989, Bill began racing in the International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) GTO Series and several other sports car series in the United States. From 1990-2001, He made four starts in the 24 Hours of Daytona and had several starts in the SCCA Trans AM Series.

In 1999, Lester made his first start in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series driving Robert Hayes’ No. 8 Dura Lube Chevrolet in the Lysol 200 at Watkins Glen, New York. He qualified 24th and finished the event 21st.

In 2000, Lester made his first start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series driving Tom Mazzuchi’s No. 23 Red Line Synthetic Oil Chevrolet in the Line-X 225 at Portland International Raceway’s 1.95-mile road course and finished the 24th.

In 2001, he made five starts for Bobby Hamilton Racing in the Truck Series driving the No. 4 31-W Insulation/Dodge Motorsports Dodge. He finished 36th in the Ram Tough 200 Presented by Pepsi at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois. He finished 20th in the Jelly Belly 200 at Pikes Peak International Raceway at Fountain, Colorado. He finished 30th in the Federated Auto Parts 200 at Nashville Superspeedway, 32nd in the NetZero 250 Presented by John Boy and Billy at South Boston Speedway, and 18th in the Chevy Silverado 150 at Phoenix International Raceway. Lester went on to race for BHR for the 2002 and 2003 seasons fulltime in the No. 8 Dodge Ram with Dodge Dealers as his primary sponsor.

In 2002, Lester finished runner-up in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year points and 17th in the championship points. His best finish of the season was a 12th place finish in the MBNA America 200 at Dover International Speedway.

In 2003, Lester captured his first pole position in the Hardee’s 200 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte in May. He scored a tenth place finish at Kansas in the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 and ended the season 14th in the points and led 17 laps during the year.

In January 2004, Lester signed on with Bill Davis Racing to drive the LidRock sponsored No. 22 Toyota Tundra in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He finished tenth in the Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois. He finished the season 22nd in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points and led 32 laps during the season.

In 2005, Lester qualified on the pole for the O’Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas and finished fifth in the No. 22 U.S. Army sponsored Bill Davis Racing Toyota. He grabbed the pole in the following event, the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, Kentucky but finished a disappointing 22nd. In the Toyota Tundra 200 at Nashville Superspeedway, Lester qualified second and finished seventh in the Bill Davis No. 22 Office Depot Toyota. He qualified second and finished fifth in the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He finished the season with two poles, two top fives, four top tens, and 17th in the points standings.

In 2006, Lester failed to chart a top ten finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and failed to qualify for the Quaker Steak and Lube 200 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte. In March 2006, Lester qualified and competed in the first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series event of his career in the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Lester finished 38th, six laps down to the leader driving Bill Davis Racing’s No. 23 Waste Management Dodge. He qualified 34th for the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series 3M Performance 400 at Michigan and finished 32nd. He failed to qualify for the Sony HD 500 at California Speedway.

Bill Lester and Bill Davis Racing parted company at the end of the 2006 season. Billy Ballew put Lester behind the wheel of the No. 15 Manheim Central Florida Auto/ Bowen Family Homes/ Red Top Auto Auction/ Gorilla Rack/ Christian Debt Consolidation/ Allstate Insurance Chevrolet for the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season. He charted one top ten finish in 15th starts, an eighth place finish in the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway. Ballew released Lester after the Toyota Tundra 200 at Nashville Superspeedway.

In 2008, Bill Lester returned to the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

In 8 years of competition in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Bill Lester recorded three poles, two top fives, and seven top tens. He made two NASCAR Nextel Cup Series starts and one NASCAR Busch Series start. Lester lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife Cheryl and their sons William and Austin.

You can contact Allen Madding at .. Insider Racing News
You Can Read Other Articles By Allen Madding

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.

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