Bill Lester
Bill Lester was born in Washington, D.C., District of Columbia, United States on February 6th, 1961 and is the Race Car Driver. At the age of 63, Bill Lester biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
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William Alexander Lester III (born February 6, 1961) is an American former professional racing racer who last competed in the Rolex Sports Car Series for Autohaus Motorsports.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in EECS from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1984.
He worked at Hewlett-Packard for a few years before deciding he wanted to concentrate on auto racing. He competed full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series until 2007, being the first African-American to compete full time in a NASCAR series.
He has also competed in a number of Nextel Cup Series events.
He competed in the Daytona Prototype category in the Rolex Sports Car Series from 2008 to 2010. He currently serves on the National Motorsport Appeals Panel as a member.
Personal life
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in EECS from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1984. He worked for Hewlett-Packard for 15 years before deciding to concentrate solely on auto racing.
Lester and his partner Cheryl, as well as their sons William Alexander IV (Alex) and Austin Richard, live in Windermere, Florida.
In February 2021, he published Winning in Reverse, his autobiography.
Racing career
He started racing in the SCCA and IMSA series, and also in the IMSA series. He made his IMSA debut in 1989 at Sears Point International Raceway, qualifying ninth and finishing 12th in a Chevrolet Camaro. He won in an endurance run at Sears Point earlier this year. He started running the SCCA in 1990, running an unsponsored Oldsmobile Cutlass for Rocketsports at Portland, as well as one for Tom Gloy at Mid-Ohio. He did not race again until 1996, he was competing in SCCA events in Watkins Glen, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Sears Point, and Reno, Nevada. In 1998 and 1999, he competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona, finishing fifth and tenth, respectively.
When he ran at Watkins Glen in the No. 96, he became the first African-American to run in a Busch Series race. Bobby Hillin Jr.'s 8 Dura Lube Chevrolet Monte Carlo is owned by Bobby Hillin Jr. He started 24th and ran near the top of the day for the majority of the day until an accident relegated him to 21st. He made his Craftsman Truck debut at Portland, beginning 31st and finishing 24th in the No. 4 series. Team 23 Racing owns a 23 Red Line Oil truck. In the same championship, he also competed against Bobby Norfleet, the first time in NASCAR two African-Americans met in the same sport. In the No. 5, he ran five races in the next season. Bobby Hamilton Racing's best finish at Phoenix International Raceway was four.
He appeared in the Craftsman Truck series full time for Hamilton in 2002. Although he did not finish in the top ten, he had sixteen finishes between 11th and 18th, resulting in a seventeenth-place finish and runner-up to Brendan Gaughan for NASCAR Craftsman Rookie of the Year. He captured his first pole at Lowe's Motor Speedway in his career debut and finished in 10th place in the championship standings at Kansas Speedway, resulting in a 14th finish.
In 2004, Bill Davis Racing took over. He had a best finish in tenth and finished 22nd in points. He won two poles in a row and achieved his first top-five finishes in 2005. Lester rode in his first Nextel Cup race in the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, driving the No. 106. In 2006, the 23 Waste Management Dodge Charger for Davis was charged with 23 offences. The run was supposed to be run on March 19, but it was postponed for a day due to rain. He finished 19th, making him the first African-American to win a Cup since 1986 and the sixth in series history. He came in 38th, six laps down. He ran another race at Michigan during the season, finishing 32nd. After spinning in qualifying, he later DNQed at California.
Lester departed Davis after failing to finish in the top ten in 2006, moving to the No. 301. Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevy, a 15-year-old boy. When he stepped out of the truck due to sponsorship issues, his highest finish at Kentucky was eighth. After being unable to find another ride in NASCAR, he left in 2008 to return to sports car racing.
Lester revealed on NASCAR Race Hub on February 26, 2021, that he would retire to compete in the Truck Series series at his home track in Atlanta, which was also the same track where he made his Cup Series debut in 2006. On March 12, David Gilliland Racing was announced as the team's sponsor, with local Ford dealerships and Camping World as his sponsors. He came in 36th overall.
Lester rode the No. 1 in 2008. In the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, 3 Riley Daytona Prototypes for Southard Motorsports is partnering with Shane Lewis. For 2009, he joined Orbit Racing, finishing 3rd at the summer Daytona race. Lester departed from his previous job in Starworks Motorsport, driving the No. 4 in the coming year. 7 BMW Rileys for the full season, finishing 17th in points, 17th in total points.
Lester and his Chevrolet Camaro team made it to the GT category in 2011 for the first time. Lester made sports history by becoming the first African-American driver to win in any Grand-Am division in May 14, 2011. Lester was crowned at the Virginia International Raceway, which is close to the home of NASCAR's first African-American winner, Wendell Scott.
Motorsports career results
(Bold) (Bold – Pole position earned by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. (most laps led): * – Most laps led.)
1 Ineligible for series points during the season.