July 22, 2003

Bill Lester No. 8 Strauss Auto Parts/The Club Dodge Race Notes

Sears 200
July 25, 2003
Michigan International Speedway
TV: SPEED (Live) 1:00 PM-Eastern Time
Radio: MRN (Live) 1:00 PM-Eastern Time

2003 points standing after 12 of 25 races
Position Driver Points
1st Travis Kvapil 1849
2nd Brendan Gaughan 1815
3rd Ted Musgrave 1794
4th Dennis Setzer 1779
6th Bobby Hamilton 1734
12th Chad Chaffin 1443
13th Bill Lester 1411

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 12 0 0 1 138,275
Totals 40 0 0 1 $445,511

Career Best Start: 1st @ Lowes Motor Speedway 5-16-03
Best Finish: 10th @ Kansas Speedway 7-5-03
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

Topics of Interest
Performance Record: Michigan International Speedway
Date Start Finish Laps Status Money Won
7-27-02 19 15 100 of 100 Running 13,215
Totals 100 of 100 (100%) $ 13,215

No. 8 Team History: Year Start Finish Driver
2002 19 15 Bill Lester

Dodge's Backyard: This week, the No. 8 Strauss Auto Parts/The Club Dodge Team will be racing at Michigan International Speedway in Dodge's backyard.

"This is a big race," said Lester. "Everyone from Dodge, not to mention our new sponsors, will be on hand watching this race, so there is a little added pressure. We need to go out and show them we're on top of our game. They also need us to win those bragging rights for the manufacturer. Our teammate did it last year, so we need to do our part this year too."

Last week in St. Louis, the team suffered only its second DNF (did not finish) of the year after crashing out of the event with 19 laps to go.

"That was tough last week," said Lester. "We've been doing well this season finishing races, and to have a lapped truck take us out is hard to deal with. The nice thing is I don't think that guy will be here at Michigan, so hopefully nothing bad will happen to us."

Strauss Auto Parts/The Club: Beginning last weekend in St. Louis, the Strauss Discount Auto Parts chain and The Club will serve as the No. 8 Team's co-primary sponsors for the remainder of the 2003 season.
"We've been working on a partner for this team all year, and it's great to have two great groups join us for the rest of the season," said Lester. "Hopefully we can give them a great ride on the truck and develop a partnership that will be beneficial for all parties involved."

Appearances: Lester has two appearances for Dodge this weekend. On Thursday, July 24, Lester will visit the Jeep/Truck Facility near Detroit, Michigan from 1:00 to 3:00PM. Then on Friday night, he will attend the Bar-B-Que dinner on a lake near the Michigan International Speedway.

40th BHR Race: Last week, Lester started his 40th career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event. This week, he will be making his 40th career start for BHR.

Halfway/ 2002 to 2003: Last year, Lester had an average start of 13.45 and an average finish of 17.2. This year, he has improved to an average start of 12.8 and an average finish of 15.17.

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 1 15 135 of 136 Running 11,890
Dover 15 11 198 of 200 Running 13,750
Texas 13 12 146 of 146 Running 13,165
Memphis 14 26 125 of 200 Running 8,990
Milwaukee 23 12 198 of 200 Running 10,215
Kansas 2 10 167 of 167 Running 14,000
Kentucky 9 12 150 of 150 Running 14,940
St. Louis 14 22 141 of 160 Accident 9,190
Michigan (Next Event)

2003 Totals
Starts - 12
Poles - 1
Wins - 0
Top fives - 0
Top tens - 1
Earnings - $ 138,275
Laps Completed - 2032 of 2138 (95.0%)
Laps Led - 0 of 2138
Races Led - 0 of 12
DNF's - 2

This Week's Truck: This weekend at Michigan International Speedway, the No. 8 team will be racing one of its favorite trucks, "Trix." Trix was the same truck that Lester drove to a career-best tenth place finish at Kansas Speedway earlier this month. It is also the same truck that Lester drove to his first career pole at Lowes Motor Speedway in May of this year.

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
5-16-03 Charlotte 1 15 Bill Lester
7-5-03 Kansas 2 10 Bill Lester
5-12-03 Kentucky 9 12 Bill Lester

Lester Quotes  "Man, I love the truck we're racing at Michigan. Trix has always been very good to us no matter where we take it to race. Of all the trucks on my side of the show, it has the best average start. I think there have only been three races that it has not started in the top ten. I just hope we can improve on our career-best finish of tenth place that we set in this truck at Kansas, and maybe this time I can celebrate with the crew and not in the infield care center."

For More Information see www.bobbyhamiltonracing.com