Bill Lester

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Bill Lester
3M Performance 400 (Michigan
)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Lysol 200 (Watkins Glen
)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Line-X 225 (Portland)
Last race2021 Fr8Auctions 200 (Atlanta)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 7 3
Rolex Sports Car Series
Years active1998–2001, 2007–2012
Starts52
Wins1
Poles2
Best finish3rd in 2011
Last updated on: December 30, 2021.

William Alexander Lester III (born February 6, 1961) is an American semi-retired professional racing driver. He last competed part-time in the

African-American driver during that time. After that, he moved to sports car racing, competing in the Rolex Sports Car Series
from 2007 to 2012. Lester had also competed part-time in the same series from 1998 to 2001.

He also made two

Busch Series (now Xfinity) start in 1999
.

Since his retirement from driving, Lester has worked as a member of the NASCAR National Motorsports Appeals Panel.[1]

Racing career

Early career

He began racing in the road course circuits, running in the

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.

NASCAR

In

Phoenix International Raceway
.

In

Lowe's Motor Speedway and had a tenth-place run at Kansas Speedway
, garnering a 14th-place finish in the championship standings.

He switched over to

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. He later DNQed at California
after spinning in qualifying.

After failing to finish in the top-ten in 2006, Lester departed Davis to drive the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevy. His best finish was an eighth at Kentucky, when he stepped out of the truck due to sponsor problems. After he was unable to find another ride in NASCAR, he left in 2008 to return to sports car racing.

On February 26, 2021, Lester announced on

David Gilliland Racing on March 12, with local Ford dealerships and Camping World as his sponsors.[3]
He finished 36th.

Return to sports cars

2011 Rolex Sports Car Series GT car

In 2008, Lester drove the No. 3 Riley

Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, partnering with Shane Lewis. He moved to Orbit Racing for 2009, finishing 3rd at the summer Daytona race. The next year, Lester moved to a new team in Starworks Motorsport
driving the No. 7 BMW Riley for the full season, finishing 17th in points.

For 2011, Lester moved to the GT category with Autohaus Motorsports and their Chevrolet Camaro team. On May 14, 2011, Lester made sports car history by becoming the first African-American driver to win in any Grand-Am division. Fittingly, Lester won at the Virginia International Raceway, located close to the home of NASCAR's first African-American winner, Wendell Scott.[4]

Personal life

Lester's father is William A. Lester. [5]

In 1984, he earned a

EECS from the University of California, Berkeley.[6] Fresh out of college, he worked at Hewlett-Packard for 15 years before deciding to focus full-time on auto racing.[7]

Lester lives in Windermere, Florida with his wife Cheryl, and their sons William Alexander IV (Alex) and Austin Richard.[citation needed]

He published an autobiography, Winning in Reverse, in February 2021.[8]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Nextel Cup Series

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series
results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 NNCC Pts Ref
2006 Bill Davis Racing 23 Dodge DAY CAL LVS ATL
38 		BRI MAR TEX PHO TAL RCH DAR CLT
DOV
 POC
MCH

32
SON
 DAY CHI
NHA
POC
IND
GLN
MCH
BRI
 CAL
DNQ
RCH
NHA
 DOV
KAN
 TAL CLT MAR
ATL
 TEX PHO HOM 68th 67 [9]

Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series
results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 NBSC Pts Ref
1999 Robert Hayes Racing 8 Chevy
DAY
CAR
LVS
ATL
DAR
TEX
 NSV
BRI
TAL
CAL
NHA
RCH
NZH
CLT
DOV
 SBO
GLN

21
MLW
 MYB
PPR
GTY
 IRP
MCH
BRI
DAR
RCH
DOV
CLT
CAR
MEM
PHO
HOM
 111th 100 [10]

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 NCWTC Pts Ref
2000
Team 23 Racing
 23 Chevy DAY
HOM
PHO
MMR
MAR
PIR

24
GTY
MEM
 PPR EVG
TEX
KEN
GLN
MLW
NHA
 NZH
MCH
IRP
NSV
 CIC
RCH

DNQ
DOV
TEX
CAL
 86th 122 [11]
2001 Bobby Hamilton Racing 4 Dodge
DAY
HOM
MMR
MAR
GTY

36
DAR
 PPR
20
DOV
TEX
MEM
MLW
KAN
KEN
NHA
IRP
NSH

30 		CIC
NZH
RCH
SBO

32
TEX
LVS
PHO

18
CAL
 59th 304 [12]
2002 8
DAY

18
DAR

28
MAR

25
GTY

17 		PPR
15
DOV

12
TEX

11
MEM

17
MLW

18
KAN

29
KEN

14
NHA

14
MCH

15
IRP

28
NSH

16
RCH

36
TEX

28
SBO

17
LVS

17
CAL

14
PHO

15
HOM

18 		17th 2320 [13]
2003
DAY

18
DAR

12 		MMR
13
MAR

19
CLT

15
DOV

11
TEX

12
MEM

26
MLW

12
KAN

10
KEN

12
GTW

22
MCH

11
IRP

28
NSH

16
BRI

19
RCH

30
NHA

13
CAL

28
LVS

20 		SBO
23
TEX

28
MAR

22
PHO

20
HOM

18 		14th 2712 [14]
2004 Bill Davis Racing 22 Toyota
DAY

16
ATL

15
MAR

17
MFD

30
CLT

21
DOV

25
TEX

12
MEM

23
MLW

34
KAN

28
KEN

29
GTW

10
MCH

18
IRP

31
NSH

31
BRI

14
RCH

29
NHA

27
LVS

24
CAL

28
TEX

28
MAR

14
PHO

18
DAR

16
HOM

24 		22nd 2400 [15]
2005
DAY

29
CAL

16
ATL

21
MAR

26
GTY

12
MFD

18
CLT

6
DOV

30
TEX

22
MCH

16
MLW

15
KAN

5
KEN

22
MEM

35
IRP

18
NSH

7
BRI

25
RCH

14
NHA

25
LVS

32
MAR

32
ATL

19
TEX

11
PHO

21
HOM

5 		17th 2672 [16]
2006
DAY

35
CAL

15
ATL

29
MAR

24
GTY

30
CLT

DNQ
MFD

24
DOV

30
TEX

22
MCH

33
MLW

15
KAN

23
KEN

28
MEM

25
IRP

14
NSH

21
BRI

16
NHA

35
LVS

19
TAL

31
MAR

12
ATL

22
TEX

21
PHO

20
HOM

11 		20th 2252 [17]
2007 Billy Ballew Motorsports 15 Chevy
DAY

11 		CAL
20
ATL

30
MAR

36
KAN

16
CLT

19 		MFD
21
DOV

35
TEX

18
MCH

15
MLW

24
MEM

12
KEN

8
IRP

16
NSH

20
BRI
GTW
NHA
LVS
TAL
MAR
ATL
TEX
PHO
HOM
 23rd 1550 [18]
2021
David Gilliland Racing
 17 Ford DAY DAY LVS ATL
36 		BRI RCH KAN DAR COA CLT TEX NSH POC KNX GLN GTW DAR BRI LVS TAL MAR PHO 89th 1 [19]

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

References

  1. ^ Glendenning, Mark (September 24, 2020). "NASCAR appeals panel upholds Wallace penalty". RACER.
  2. ^ Srigley, Joseph (February 26, 2021). "Bill Lester Announces Intentions to Return to NASCAR Camping World Truck Series at Atlanta". TobyChristie.com.
  3. David Gilliland Racing. March 12, 2021. Archived from the original
    on March 12, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  4. ^ "Action Express Takes Home $25,000 Bounty for Virginia International Raceway Win". MotorRacingNetwork.com. 2013-09-28. Archived from the original on 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2013-12-02.
  5. ^ "Love of racing is in his blood". Chicago Tribune. 26 March 2006.
  6. ^ Biography of William Alexander Lester III, TheHistorymakers.org, March 10, 2018, Retrieved June 24, 2020
  7. NPR Morning Edition
    , June 24, 2020, Retrieved June 24, 2020
  8. ^ Pruett, Marshall (February 2, 2021). "Catching Up With: Bill Lester". RACER. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  9. ^ "Bill Lester – 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  10. ^ "Bill Lester – 1999 NASCAR Busch Grand National Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  11. ^ "Bill Lester – 2000 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  12. ^ "Bill Lester – 2001 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  13. ^ "Bill Lester – 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  14. ^ "Bill Lester – 2003 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  15. ^ "Bill Lester – 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  16. ^ "Bill Lester – 2005 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  17. ^ "Bill Lester – 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  18. ^ "Bill Lester – 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  19. ^ "Bill Lester – 2021 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved December 30, 2021.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bill_Lester&oldid=1187776383"