October 23, 2003

Bill Lester Dodge Preview: PHOENIX

Truck that Turns: “It’s important in Phoenix to have a truck that turns really well. You want to ride on the bottom of the track and through the corners in one and two and remain there in turns three and four. You need a truck that turns well there through the center and comes off the corners well. It takes a lot of horsepower too. Although it’s a one-mile track, the straightaways are important; you have to get through that dog leg on the back. Those are the biggest key factors a truck needs for Phoenix.”

Owner as Crew Chief: “Last year when we were in Phoenix, Bobby (Hamilton, owner) acted as my crew chief for qualifying. Obviously it worked out really well for us. We only missed the pole position by one-one thousandths of a second. That is about as close as you can get to the pole. It was fun working with Bobby last year, and having him give us some good direction which yielded good results. Bobby gave me some advice over the radio in terms of how to run the track, like don’t go into the corners too hard and stuff like that. He looked over my shoulder. I think that what we’re going to do this year is use last year’s baseline and build off of that. Hopefully we can get good qualifying results, which will make us even more optimistic about having a good race run. The key thing is to be good in the race and I think Kip and the guys can do that for me.”

Temperature Affects Setup: “When the temperature goes up, typically the track will get slicker. So it affects your setup the most in Phoenix. It will force you to change what you have to do to get the truck around the track faster. Sometimes you have to hunt around for a line that is going to work and that will be one of the keys to the setup as well. I don’t know what the temperature will be like, but you have to keep in your mind that what you start out with may not be what you will end up with.”

Notes:

• This weekend’s truck is Curly. This will be the ninth time Lester has raced this truck this year. His best finish in Curly is 12th at Darlington and Texas.
• Lester has a great shot to make history this weekend for BHR. If he finishes in the top 10 at Phoenix, he can leave his mark at BHR for the 100th top-10 finish.

Crystal Ball: “I’m hopeful that one of us can win in Phoenix. I don’t have a crystal ball and sure can’t predict the future, but we want a win. I’m sure that Bobby, Chad and I are all going to do our level best to put one of our trucks in victory lane. There are only a couple more races left in the season. Chad or I have yet to win, so we’re hungry. I think if Bobby can go there and finish well, he’ll have a good chance at a top five at least in the championship standings. So he’ll give it all he has. I’m really hungry and aggressive to get a win or good finish before the season is out.”