May 12, 2003

Bill Lester, No 8 Dodge Dealers Race Notes: Lowe's Motor Speedway

Hardee's 200
May 16, 2003
Lowe's Motor Speedway
TV: SPEED (Live) 8:00 PM-Eastern Time
Radio: MRN (Live) 8:00 PM-Eastern Time

2003 points standing after 4 of 25 races
Position Driver Points
1st Bobby Hamilton 670
2nd Rick Crawford 631
3rd Brendan Gaughan 594
4th Ted Musgrave 591
5th Dennis Setzer 590
13th Chad Chaffin 470
14th Bill Lester 466

Bill Lester Profile
Birthdate - February 6, 1961
Wife - Cheryl
Children - Alex
Residence - Atlanta, Georgia
Education - BS in E.E./C.S.
U.C. Berkeley

NASCAR Truck Series Career Statistics
Year-By-Year
Years Starts Wins Top 5's Top 10's Money
2000 1 0 0 0 $ 7,770
2001 5 0 0 0 35,700
2002 22 0 0 0 264,766
2003 4 0 0 0 42,135
Totals 32 0 0 0 $350,371

Career Best Start:
2nd @ Phoenix Intl. Raceway 11-8-02
Best Finish: 11th @ Texas Motor Speedway 6-7-02
Biggest Purse:  $ 15,165 @ Daytona Intl. Speedway 3-14-03

Career Highlights (1985-2003)
1. 1985 SCCA Northern California Region Rookie of the Year
2. 1986 SCCA GT-3 Regional Road Racing Champion
3. Entered three Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona between 1998 and 2000
4. One NASCAR Busch Series start at Watkins Glen Intl. Speedway in 1999

Bill Lester No. 8 Dodge Race Notes

Topics of Interest

Performance Record: Lowe's Motor Speedway
(Never competed at the facility in a NASCAR division)

Level Playing Field: Bill Lester and the No. 8 BHR Dodge Motorsports team feel that the field of play is a little more to their liking when they visit a track for the first time.

"I know that there are a few veteran drivers that have been to Charlotte, but for the most part, I have as much experience as many of the drivers set to compete at this race," said Lester. "Whenever we race at a new track, it's not as big a disadvantage as when we go to the tracks that everyone in the field has run at multiple times. Maybe it's just me, but I feel more confident when we are at a new facility for the trucks."

Lester and the No. 8 team are off to a very solid start this year. They have posted two consecutive lead lap finishes and sit in a career high 14th position the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings, just 204 points out of the points lead.

"We obviously have a lot of improving to do, but we're on the right track," said Lester. "I feel as good about where this team is heading as I ever have. The guys are working well together and Danny (Rollins) and I are communicating very well lately. I fully expect to go to these next few races and be a force. I think we're going to start up front and run up front. Now the trick is just finishing up front."

JoBue the Voodoo Doll: Lester and the No. 8 Dodge Motorsports team have a new secret weapon. Riding along with Lester this week will be JoBue, a voodoo doll the team put in the truck a few weeks ago during a test in Atlanta, Georgia.

"We'll try anything," said Lester. "JoBue was with me a few weeks ago at the test at the Atlanta Motor Speedway, and he may have had a hand in keeping me from spinning. No, not really. But everyone has a good luck charm, and it just seemed that JoBue fit with this team. We've had some crazy things happen to us in the past, so why not try a little something different."

Testing: The No. 8 team shook down two different trucks in last week's test at Lowes Motor Speedway. The team also tested at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on April 23-24, 2003, and the Nashville Fairground Speedway shortly after that.

"We've been pretty busy over the last few weeks," said Lester. "We had a lot of things we wanted to try so we spent most of the time off testing somewhere just about every week. I think all the testing will show in how we run over the next two months."

Staying Sharp: Several of the members of the No. 8 team traveled to Kentucky Speedway last weekend to help pit Keith Murt's Auto Racing Club of America (ARCA) car. The team started 26th and finished 14th. With five weeks off between races, the crewmembers have been helping other teams, both in the ARCA series and at the Nashville Fairgrounds track in Nashville.

Lester's 2003 Craftsman Truck Series Event Results
Location Start Finish Laps Status Money
Daytona 8 18 97 of 106 Accident $ 15,165
Darlington 15 12 144 of 147 Running 9,465
Bakersfield 23 13 255 of 255 Running 8,190
Martinsville 17 19 250 of 250 Running 9,315
Charlotte (Next Event)

2003 Totals
Starts - 4
Poles - 0
Wins - 0
Top fives - 0
Top tens - 0
Earnings - $ 42,135
Laps Completed - 7466 of 758 (98.4%)
Laps Led - 0 of 758
Races Led - 0 of 4
DNF's - 1

This Week's Truck: Lester will be racing "Trix" at Lowes Motor Speedway this week. It will be the tenth race for Trix since being built last year. Trix helped Lester score his career best finish, 11th place, last year at Texas Motor Speedway.

Performance Chart: Trix
DATE RACE START/FINISH DRIVER
5-7-02 Texas 7 11 Bill Lester
7-6-02 Kansas 3 29 Bill Lester
7-13-02 Kentucky 3 14 Bill Lester
7-27-02 Michigan 19 15 Bill Lester
8-10-02 Nashville 12 16 Bill Lester
9-13-02 Texas 6 28 Bill Lester
10-13-02 Las Vegas 12 17 Bill Lester
11-2-02 California 3 14 Bill Lester
11-15-02 Homestead 9 18 Bill Lester

Lester Quotes

"I always like when we go to a new track. In most cases, it puts me on a more equal playing field with some of my fellow competitors who have been to some of the these tracks several times. The only people that have a lot of experience at Lowe's Motor Speedway are Bobby (Hamilton), Ted Musgrave, and maybe Kenny Schrader. Two of those three are Dodge drivers, so I'm sure I can get a few pointers from one of them."

"A lot of media people are looking at us and asking, "When are you going to have a breakout race?" We've shown the ability to run up front on these mile and a half super speedways, but we just can't seem to get a finish that reflects how well we have run. Could Charlotte be the day we get that finish? Yes, it could. I know we have been testing the past few weeks, and I think we've found something, but we won't know until we get there and unload. The one thing I have going for me is that I like these high speed ovals, so I can get around them pretty well."

For More Information see www.bobbyhamiltonracing.com