Bill Lester

Bill Lester was born on February 6, 1961 in Washington D.C. Since 1992, he has served as a racing instructor at Sears Point. He now lives in Atlanta, Georgia with wife Cheryl and their son William Alexander IV or Alex.

Lester is the driver of the #22 Toyota Tundra in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and the #23 Waste Management, Inc. Dodge Charger in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series for Bill Davis Racing. He is the only African-American presently competing full time in a NASCAR circuit. In 1984, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in EECS (Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences) from the University of California, Berkeley. Fresh out of college, he worked at Hewlett-Packard for a few years before deciding he wanted to focus on auto racing.

Racing Career:

Lester began racing in the road course circuits, running in the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) and IMSA (International Motor Sports Association) series. He made his IMSA debut in 1989 at Sears Point International Raceway, qualifying 9^th and finishing 12th in a Chevrolet Camaro. He also picked up a victory that same year in an endurance race at Sears Point. In 1990, he began running the SCCA, running an Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme for RocketSports Racing at Portland, and one race for Tom Gloy at Mid-Ohio Speedway. He did not race professionally again until 1996, running SCCA events at Watkins Glen, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Sears Point, and Reno, Nevada. He competed in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona in 1998 and 1999, finishing 5th and 10th, respectively.

NASCAR:

In 1999, he became the first African-American to run a Busch Series (stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR. It is NASCAR’s second division and is proving ground drivers who wish to step up to the organization’s top level, the Nextel Cup) race, when he ran at Watkins Glen in the #8 Dura Lube Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned by Bobby Hillin, Jr. He started 24th and ran near a top-ten most of the day before an accident relegated him back to the 21st. The next season, Lester made his Craftsman Truck debut at Portland, starting 31st and finishing 24th in the #23 Red Line Oil truck owned by Team 23 Racing. He also competed against Bobby Norfleet in that race, marking the only time in NASCAR that 2 African-Americans have competed in the same race. He ran 5 races the next season in the #4 for Bobby Hamilton Racing, his best finish at 18th at Phoenix International Raceway.

In 2002, he ran in the Craftsman Truck series full-time for Hamilton. While he did not finish in the Top 10, he had 16 finishes between 11th-18th, leading to a 17th place points finish and runner-up to Brendan Gaughan for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year.

He switched over to Bill Davis Racing in 2004, where he has been ever since. In 2005, he won 2 consecutive poles, and had his first top-five finishes.

Lester raced in his first Nextel Cup race in the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, driving the #23 Waste Management Dodge Charger for Davis in 2006. The race was supposed to be run on March 19, but was postponed for a day due to rain. He qualified 19th, becoming the first African-American to make a Cup race since 1986, and the 6th in series history. He finished 38th, six laps down. He is scheduled to race in 2 more events this season and may be preparing for full time in 2007.