April 7. 2003

Bill Lester Happy to be Thinking About Racing Only This Weekend

Advance Auto Parts 250
April 12, 2003
Martinsville Speedway
TV: SPEED (Live) 1:00 PM-Eastern Time
Radio: MRN (Live) 1:00 PM-Eastern Time

2003 points standing after 3 of 25 races
Position Driver Points
1st Bobby Hamilton 510
2nd Rick Crawford 481
3rd Brendan Gaughan 479
4th Travis Kvapil 455
5th Robert Pressley 439
12th Chad Chaffin 375
13th Bill Lester 360

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 3 0 0 0 32,820
Totals 31 0 0 0 $341,056

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

Performance Record: Martinsville Speedway
Date Start Finish Laps Status Money Won
3-15-02 13 25 230 of 250 Accident $ 7,865
Totals 230 of 250(92%) $ 7,865

No. 8 Team History: Year Start Finish Driver
2002 13 25 Bill Lester
2001 DNQ Willy T. Ribbs

Time Off Has Been Busy For Lester: Bill Lester has been extremely busy over the last few weeks, to say the very least. It would also be fair to say that the last thing on his mind has been racing.

On March 28, 2003, Lester and his wife, Cheryl, welcomed their new baby boy into the world. William Alexander Lester IV (Alex) weighed seven pounds, 12 ounces, and was 21 ¼ inches long.

"What an incredible few weeks it has been," said Lester. "I still just don't know what to say. It was the greatest day of our lives together. Even now, it's hard to believe that I'm a father."

Now it is back to the race track for Lester and the No. 8 Dodge Team. They are coming off of a strong 13th place finish at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, California, and hold a career-best 13th position in the overall NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings.

"I know it's early, but at least we've made it through the first few races without too many problems," said Lester. "We know we can get a lot better, but at least the team and I feel we are all heading in the same and right direction. Rollins is making some great calls in the pit area, and the guys are putting a great truck under me, so hopefully we'll just continue to improve over the next month or two. Then I think we'll be getting in a position to make a little noise in both a race and the points."

Testing: All three of the BHR teams will spend the Monday and Tuesday of the race week, leading up to the Advance Auto Parts 250 at Martinsville Speedway, testing at Greenville-Pickens Speedway.

"It will be good to get back in the seat after a few weeks off," said Lester. "I just want to make sure everything feels good before we get to the race track on Thursday."

Career Earnings: Lester needs only $8,944 to surpass the $ 350,000 mark in career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series earnings.

Drive-a-Long Program: During the time off, BHR held a drive-a-long day at the Nashville Fairground USA track for several of its sponsor representatives. Each one got the chance to drive a racecar around the track at full speed and also ride in a passenger seat with one of the BHR drivers.

BHR No. 8 Dodge Crew Roster
Name Duties
Chris Atwood Rear Tire Carrier
Tommy Davis Catchcan
Steve Douglas Jackman
Jeff Hensley Signman
Bill Lester Driver
Kip McCord General Manager Spotter
Jason Miller Rear Tire Changer
David Pepper Marketing Public Relations
Danny Rollins Crew Chief Front Tire Changer
David Quay Gasman
Jeff White Front Tire Carrier

Marriage: Over the break in the races, Kesha Davis daughter of Jeff Davis, who oversees the paint and body shop at BHR, was married to Clint Smith in Dyer, Tennessee on April 5, 2003.

"I'm just glad I was off the road and could be at the wedding," said Davis. "It worked out pretty good, schedule wise.

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 (Next Event)

2003 Totals
Starts - 3
Poles - 0
Wins - 0
Top fives - 0
Top tens - 0
Earnings - $ 32,820
Laps Completed - 496 of 508 (97.6%)
Laps Led - 0 of 508
Races Led - 0 of 3
DNF's - 1

This Week's Truck: For the third race in a row, the No. 8 Dodge Team will be racing "Curley." Over the last two weeks, the team put a new body on Curley after it took a little roughing up at Mesa Marin Raceway, enroute to a 13th place finish.

"Curley has always been a good truck for us, and I'm sure the boys will have it looking great and running great this weekend," said Lester.

Performance Chart: Curley
DATE RACE START/FINISH DRIVER
5-5-02 St. Louis 12 17 Bill Lester
5-19-02 Pikes Peak 9 15 Bill Lester
6-29-02 Milwaukee 16 18 Bill Lester
9-21-02 South Boston 31 17 Bill Lester
11-8-02 Phoenix 2 14 Bill Lester
3-14-03 Darlington 15 12 Bill Lester
3-23-03 Bakersfield 23 13 Bill Lester

Lester Quotes

"It's going to be hard to get in the car and leave home this week, but that's just one of the things that I'm going to have to do. I'm pretty sure I will be calling home a few times a day, while I'm gone, to see how everyone is doing."

"We had a good race a few weeks ago, so I hope the momentum from that run will carry over to this week. We need to get through these two short tracks in solid shape, and then we'll be getting to places like Charlotte, which I hope to be a front runner right from check in at the track."