Bill Lester

William Alexander Lester III (born February 6, 1961) is an American semi-retired professional racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 17 Ford F-150 for David Gilliland Racing. Lester previously competed full-time in the Truck Series from 2002 to midway through 2007. Lester was the NASCAR's only full-time 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.

Bill Lester
Lester in 2008
Born	William Alexander Lester III (1961-02-06) February 6, 1961 (age 63) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Achievements	First African-American to win a Rolex Sports Car Series race (Virginia International Raceway, 2011, GT Class)
NASCAR Cup Series career
2 races run over 1 year
Best finish	68th (2006)
First race	2006 Golden Corral 500 (Atlanta)
Last race	2006 3M Performance 400 (Michigan)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
1 race run over 1 year
Best finish	111th (1999)
First race	1999 Lysol 200 (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 0 0
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career
143 races run over 9 years
2021 position	89th
Best finish	13th (2003)
First race	2000 Line-X 225 (Portland)
Last race	2021 Fr8Auctions 200 (Atlanta)
Wins Top tens Poles 0 7 3
Rolex Sports Car Series
Years active	1998–2001, 2007–2012
Starts	52
Wins	1
Poles	2
Best finish	3rd in 2011
Last updated on: December 30, 2021.

He also made two NASCAR Cup Series starts in 2006 and one 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 SCCA and IMSA series. He made his IMSA debut in 1900 at Sears Point International Raceway, qualifying ninth and finishing 1st 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 unsponsored Oldsmobile Cutlass for Rocketsports at Portland, and one race for Tom Gloy at Mid-Ohio. 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.

NASCAR

In 1999, he became the first African-American to run a Busch Series race, when he ran at Watkins Glen in the No. 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 No. 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 five races the next season in the No. 4 for Bobby Hamilton Racing, his best finish an eighteenth 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-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.

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. Lester raced in his first Nextel Cup race in the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, driving the No. 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. 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 NASCAR Race Hub that he would be coming out of retirement to compete in the Truck Series race at his home track of Atlanta, which was also the same track where he made his Cup Series debut at in 2006.^[2] The team was revealed as 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 Daytona Prototype for Southard Motorsports in the 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 Bachelor of Science degree in 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". Christmastime.
3. "Bill Lester Returns to the NCWTS at Atlanta Motor Speedway". 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. Former NASCAR Driver Discusses Competing as a Black Man, 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

• Biography portal

• Official website
• Bill Lester driver statistics at Racing-Reference