Bill Lester

Bill Lester (born February 6, 1961) is the driver of the #07 Chevrolet Silverado 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 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. February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... Aerial photo (looking NW) of the Washington Monument and the White House in Washington, DC. Washington, D.C., officially the District of Columbia (also known as D.C.; Washington; the Nations Capital; the District; and, historically, the Federal City) is the capital city and administrative district of the United... The 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season started at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 12 with the Bud Shootout and will end on Sunday, November 19 with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. ... The 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season started at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 12 with the Bud Shootout and will end on Sunday, November 19 with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. ... The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a popular NASCAR racing series that features modified pickup trucks. ... Billy Ballew Motorsports is a team that competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. ... The 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will begin on February 17, 2006 at Daytona International Speedway with the Florida Dodge Dealers 200, and end on November 17, 2006 with the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. ... The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a popular NASCAR racing series that features modified pickup trucks. ... The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a popular NASCAR racing series that features modified pickup trucks. ... The 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was held February 14 and ended November 14. ... The 2000 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Season began February 18 and ended October 28. ... Portland International Raceway is located in Portlands Delta Park complex, just south of the Columbia River and less than a mile west of Interstate 5. ... January 9 is the 9th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD (or CE) era. ... Image File history File links Bill_Lester. ... Image File history File links Bill_Lester. ... February 6 is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... The Chevrolet Silverado from Chevrolet and its GMC counterpart, the GMC Sierra, are the latest line of full-size pickup trucks from General Motors. ... The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) is the largest sanctioning body of motorsports in the United States. ... The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a popular NASCAR racing series that features modified pickup trucks. ... Waste Management, Inc. ... The Dodge Charger, in its current incarnation, is a rear-wheel drive full-size automobile built by the DaimlerChrysler corporation for its North American Dodge brand. ... The NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series is NASCARs top racing series. ... Bill Davis Racing is a NASCAR team that fields the #22 Caterpillar Inc. ... An African American (also Afro-American or Black American) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... A Bachelor of Science (B.S., B.Sc. ... EECS (sometimes pronounced eeks) is an abbreviation for Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences. ... The University of California, Berkeley (also known as UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, and by other names, see below) is the oldest and flagship campus of the ten-campus University of California system. ... The Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE: HPQ), commonly known as HP, is a very large, global company headquartered in Palo Alto, California, United States. ...

Early racing career

He began racing in the road course circuits, running in the SCCA and IMSA series. He made his IMSA debut in 1989 at Sears Point International Raceway, qualifying ninth and finishing 12th in a Chevrolet Camaro. He also picked up a victory that year in an endurance race at Sears Point. In 1990, he began running the SCCA, running an unsported 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 24 Hours of Daytona in 1998 and 1999, finishing fifth and tenth, respectively. The SCCA could be considered the grass-roots level of auto racing in the United States. ... The International Motor Sports Association (generally referred to as IMSA) is an American auto racing sanctioning body. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Infineon Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway, is a road course and drag strip in the hills of northern California, near Sonoma, north of San Francisco. ... The Chevrolet Camaro is a popular pony car made in North America by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors. ... Infineon Raceway, formerly Sears Point Raceway, is a road course and drag strip in the hills of northern California, near Sonoma, north of San Francisco. ... 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme was a mid-size car produced by General Motors for the American market. ... Portland International Raceway is located in Portlands Delta Park complex, just south of the Columbia River and less than a mile west of Interstate 5. ... Tom Gloy (born June 11, 1947, Lafayette, California), is a former driver in the CART Championship Car series. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Watkins Glen International (nicknamed The Glen) is an auto race track located near Watkins Glen, New York at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. ... Elkhart Lake is a village located in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. ... City nickname: The Biggest Little City in the World Founded May 13, 1868 County Washoe County Mayor Bob Cashell Area  - Total  - Land  - Water 179. ... The Rolex 24 At Daytona (also frequently referred to as the 24 Hours of Daytona) is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

NASCAR career

In 1999, he became the first African-American to run a Busch Series 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 21st. The next season, he 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 two 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 an eighteenth at Phoenix International Raceway. See also: 1999 in NASCAR The 1999 NASCAR Busch Series season began on February 13 and ended on November 13. ... NASCAR Busch Series logo The Busch Series is a stock car racing series owned and operated by NASCAR. It is NASCARs second division (often compared to Triple-A baseball), and is a proving ground for drivers who wish to step up to the organizations top level, the Nextel... The Chevrolet Monte Carlo is an American mid-size car. ... Bobby Hillin, Jr. ... Red Line Oil is a company that produces synthetic oil. ... Team Racing is a defunct NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team. ... Bobby Norfleet (born c. ... Bobby Hamilton (born May 29, 1957 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a driver and owner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series circuit. ... Phoenix International Raceway is a one mile tri-oval race track located in Avondale, AZ. It opened in 1964, but wasnt used by NASCAR until 1988, with the first race won by the late Alan Kulwicki. ...

In 2002, he ran in the Craftsman Truck series full-time for Hamilton. While he did not finish in the top-ten, he had sixteen finishes between 11th-18th, leading to a seventeenth place points finish and runner-up to Brendan Gaughan for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year. The next season, he grabbed his first career pole at Lowe's Motor Speedway and had a tenth-place run at Kansas Speedway, garnering a 14th place finish in the championship standings. The 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Season began February 15 and ended November 15. ... Brendan Gaughan (born July 10, 1975 in Los Angeles, California) is a truck racer from Las Vegas, Nevada. ... The NASCAR Rookie of the Year Award is presented to the first-year driver that has the best season in a NASCAR season. ... Lowes Motor Speedway (formerly Charlotte Motor Speedway) is a superspeedway in Concord, North Carolina, a few miles north of Charlotte. ... Kansas Speedway is a speedway in Kansas City, in the U.S. state of Kansas. ...

He switched over to Bill Davis Racing in 2004. He had a best finish of tenth and finished 22nd in points. In 2005, he won two consecutive poles, and had his first top-five finishes. Bill Davis Racing is a NASCAR team that fields the #22 Caterpillar Inc. ... The 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season began on February 13 and ended on November 19. ... // Florida Dodge Dealers 250 The Florida Dodge Dealers 250 was held February 18 at Daytona International Speedway Top Ten Results Bobby Hamilton Jimmy Spencer Todd Bodine Ricky Craven Ted Musgrave Ken Weaver Brad Keselowski David Starr Wayne Edwards Johnny Benson American Racing Wheels 200 The American Racing Wheels 200 was...

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 sixth in series history. He finished 38th, six laps down. He ran another race that season at Michigan, finishing 32nd. The Golden Corral 500 is a NASCAR Nextel Cup stock car race held at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Georgia. ... Atlanta Motor Speedway is a superspeedway in Hampton, Georgia, USA, 20 miles (32 km) south of Atlanta. ... Waste Management Incorporated is a company that is in the waste management industry, including collection, transfer, and disposal of garbage (or waste), as well as recycling and waste-to-energy and landfill natural gas recovery. ... The Dodge Charger, in its current incarnation, is a rear-wheel drive full-size automobile built by the DaimlerChrysler corporation for its North American Dodge brand. ... The 2006 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season started at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 12 with the Bud Shootout and will end on Sunday, November 19 with the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. ... March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ... The 1986 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Season began February 16 and ended November 16. ...

After failing to finish in the top-ten in 2006, Lester departed Davis to drive the #15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevy. The 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will begin on February 17, 2006 at Daytona International Speedway with the Florida Dodge Dealers 200, and end on November 17, 2006 with the Ford 200 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. ...

Personal

Since 1992, he has served as a racing instructor at Infineon Raceway. He now lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Cheryl, and their son William Alexander IV (Alex). 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... Nickname: Hotlanta, The Big Peach, The ATL, A-Town Location in Fulton County in the state of Georgia Coordinates: Country United States State Georgia Counties Fulton, Dekalb  - Mayor Shirley Franklin (D) Area    - City 343. ...

External links

• Bill Lester's official web page
• Driving career statistics at racing-reference.info