March 17, 2003

Bill Lester Turns in a Respectable 12th Place Finish at Darlington

Bill Lester and the No. 8 BHR Dodge Dealers Dodge began the race from the 15th position after rain washed out qualifying. Lester stayed out of trouble all day while racing the track, not the competition, and recorded a 12th place finish.

It is hard to say that the team had an uneventful race because you are always on the edge at Darlington Raceway, but the No. 8 team did just that. They really had no major problems all day.

“We had a good day, but Bobby Hamilton Racing had a great day with Bobby (Hamilton) winning,” said Lester. “We were tight all race long, and just could never get the truck just the way we wanted, but we stayed out of trouble and got a solid finish.”

Lester’s 12th place finish is a product of a new outlook as far as what it takes to have a good season. Last year, the focus was completely on finishing in the top ten and in some ways; it took away from the team’s final performance.

“This season we’re trying to keep our eyes on the big picture,” said Lester. “We need to get a solid finish in the points and to do that; we need to finish every race. That’s some thing that we didn’t do last season.”
Following the event at Darlington, Lester and the No. 8 team moved to the 13th position in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings, which is an all-time high for the No. 8 team since they first started racing in 2001.

“Hey, it’s way too early to worry about points, but it does get the guys on the team fired up about what we could do this season,” said Lester. “It’s all about improving every week, and that’s what we’re going to try and do each and every week.”


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 (Next Event)
Totals 241 of 253 (95.2%) $ 24,630

NEXT EVENT: Lucas Oil 250 at Mesa Marin Raceway in Bakersfield, California on March 23, 2003. The event will be televised live on SPEED Channel at 5:00 PM Eastern Time.