August 25, 2003

Chassis Problems and Flat Tire Cost Bill Lester at Bristol Motor Speedway

Bill Lester and the No. 8 BHR Strauss Auto Parts/The Club Dodge Team’s day at Bristol Motor Speedway began strong, but a flat tire and a severely loose race truck dropped Lester five laps down and into the 19th position.

“I don’t know what happened,” said Lester. “We started out fast, but as the race progressed, the truck just became unbelievably hard to drive. It was so loose in the corners, it seemed like I was on a dirt track. Every time I would go into the corner, I would take off up the banking and just about crash. Then to add insult to injury, we had a flat tire. I don’t know, I’m just glad this race is over and we can get on to Richmond.”

Lester’s day began with a solid top five effort in practice, but a slip in qualifying in turn three and four forced him to start in the 18th position. When the race started, the No. 8 truck was a rocketship. Lester moved into the 13th position just after the one-third mark of the event, but shortly after that, things began to go downhill. Then with the truck already beginning to be a little loose in the turns, the right rear tire began to go down. Lester made several pit stops during the day to correct the problems, but nothing seemed to help.

When all was said and done, Lester and the team finished a disappointed 19th place. This was a heartbreaker after running so strong early on and in practice earlier in the day.

“Man, this was just a bad race for us,” said Lester. “Randy (Seals) and the guys worked their butts off all day, and we had a pretty good truck early, but it just went away. I hope when they get home they can find something that would have made the truck get so loose. The big thing is we just have to put this race out of our minds and get on to Richmond in a few weeks and get a good finish there.”

Lester and the team remain in the 13th position in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings with nine races remaining in the 2003 season. The top 19 drivers in the points standings are all still alive in the 2003 Craftsman Truck Series points championship.

Driver: Bill Lester, No. 8 Strauss Auto Parts/The Club Dodge Team
Starts Pole Wins Top Fives Top Tens Earnings Points Position
16 1 0 0 1 $ 175,595 13th

Race-by-Race Run Down:
Location Start Finish Laps Status Money Won
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 12 167 of 167 Running 13,165
Memphis 14 26 128 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 5 11 100 of 100 Running 12,275
Indy 23 28 191 of 200 Running 7,090
Nashville 7 16 148 of 150 Running 8,640
Bristol 18 19 195 of 200 Running 9,315

Richmond (Next Event)

Totals 2666 of 2788 (95.6%) $ 175,595

NEXT EVENT: The Richmond 200 at Richmond International Speedway in Richmond, Virginia on September 4, 2003. The event will be televised live on SPEED Channel at 8:00 PM Eastern Time and also live on MRN radio at 8:00 PM Eastern Time.