April 14, 2003

Bill Lester Spun Once But Still Managed a Lead Lap Finish

Perseverance is the only way to describe Bill Lester and the No. 8 Dodge Dealers Team’s day at Martinsville Speedway. They started the race from the 17th position and came home in the 19th position, on the lead lap, after spinning once.

“I’d say we had a tough day, but the truck does not have all that much damage from racing at a short track, and we finished on the lead lap for the second race in a row,” said Lester. “I’m a little disappointed. I thought we would run a little better, but after we got spun out early on, we played catch up for most of the rest of the race. It seemed like track position was key, and we just never got where we wanted. I do have to thank my teammate, Chad Chaffin; he slowed down and let us get our lap back when the caution came out, so I owe him one. He helped us get back into contention with that move.”

Lester began the race trying to pace himself, but after getting spun on lap 60 and losing a lap early, the game plan changed. Lester found himself racing on the inside lane trying to get his lap back, and on lap 142 his teammate let him have his lap back when a caution came out.

From that point on, Lester found himself mired deep in the pack. He raced his way past a few guys, but lapped traffic played a role. He and the team just could never get track position, so they could never make a run at a top ten finish.

“I think we had a truck that could have finished in the top ten, but I just could never get up to them after the spin,” said Lester. “The truck turned great in the corners and it was strong on the straightaway, but things just never fell our way.”

With the 19th place finish, the No. 8 team fell one position in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings to 14th place. They are still only 48 points out of tenth place though.

“We lost a spot in the points, but it’s not that big of a deal right now,” said Lester. “We’re coming up on a few tracks that I feel really good about in Charlotte and Texas, and I know what we’ll have as far as trucks go. So I’m pretty excited about our chances there.”

A small conciliation for the team is that this was the first time they finished on the lead lap in two consecutive races, both surprisingly on short tracks. It was the sixth lead lap finish for Lester in the last year and four races.