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October 1, 2003
South Boston a Tough Track For Bill Lester
John Boy and
Billy 250
October 4, 2003
South Boston Speedway
TV: SPEED (Live) 4:30 PM-Eastern Time
Radio: MRN (Live) 4:30 PM-Eastern Time
2003 points standing after 20 of 25 races
Position Driver Points
1st Brendan Gaughan 3151
2nd Travis Kvapil 3084
3rd Ted Musgrave 3051
4th Dennis Setzer 3015
6th Bobby Hamilton 2856
10th Chad Chaffin 2537
12th Bill Lester 2230
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 20 0 0 1 212,580
Totals 48 0 0 1 $520,816
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
Bill Lester No. 8 Strauss Auto Parts/The Club Dodge Race Notes
Topics of Interest
Bill Lester Performance Record at: South Boston Speedway
Date Start Finish Laps Status Money Won
9-28-01 26 32 129 of 250 Accident $ 5,240
9-21-02 31 17 255 of 257 Running 8,315
Totals 384 of 507 (75.7%) $ 13,555
No. 8 Team History: Year Start Finish Driver
2002 31 17 Bill Lester
2001 28 28 Willy T. Ribbs
South Boston a Tough Track For Bill Lester: South Boston Speedway has not
exactly been very kind to Bill Lester when he has competed here in the
previous two events held at the historic, half-mile facility. Lester has a
career best finish of only 17th place to show for his two starts at the
track.
"It's just an old, short track bullring as they call it in the racing
community," said Lester. "I've not had a lot of success at short tracks
over the last two years, and this place is a great example of that bad
luck. Hopefully we can get all 250 laps under our belt and get out of the
place with all the fenders on the truck."
Lester will be one of only 15 drivers who have competed in both NASCAR
Craftsman Truck Series events at the track. Of those 15 drivers who have
made every race at South Boston Speedway, only 10 are expected to try and
make the field for the 2003 event.
"It's pretty interesting that I'm one of only 15 guys to run both races at
South Boston Speedway," said Lester. "At most of the tracks we go to, most
of the competitors have raced there several more times than I have. In
this case, I have as many Truck Series starts as anyone. Now some of the
other drivers do have NASCAR Busch Series experience, but all in all, I
feel like we have as good a chance as anyone."
Lester will enter the event at South Boston Speedway one position higher
in the points standings after moving into the 12th place following the Las
Vegas event last week.
"We're slowing moving up, but we still have to watch out for the teams and
drivers behind us," said Lester. "We're in a strong, four-way battle for
the 12th through 15th places in the points standings."
Crew Member Change: Effective immediately, Tim Horton will take
over as the Jackman of the No. 8 Strauss Auto Parts/The Club Dodge. He
replaces Rob White who has left the organization. Horton served as the No.
8 Team's Jackman during the 2002 season. He has been with BHR for five
years as the head of the chassis fabrication department.
This Week's Truck: Lester will be making his fifth start of the
season in "Rocket" this week at South Boston Speedway. Rocket's previous
best finish for this season has been an 11th place finish in Dover,
Delaware.
Performance Chart: Rocket
Date Location S/F Driver
2002
3-15-02 Darlington 13/28 Bill Lester
4-13-02 Martinsville 13/25 Bill Lester
5-31-02 Dover 22/12 Bill Lester
6-22-02 Memphis 31/17 Bill Lester
7-20-02 Loudon 20/14 Bill Lester
8-2-02 IRP 11/28 Bill Lester
9-5-02 Richmond 18/36 Bill Lester
2003
5-30-03 Dover 33/11 Bill Lester
6-28-03 Milwaukee 22/12 Bill Lester
8-20-03 Bristol 18/19 Bill Lester
9-13-03 Loudon 12/13 Bill Lester
Championship Contenders: With five races remaining in the 2003
season, there are 11 drivers that can still mathematically win the 2003
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship.
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 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 14 30 143 of 200 Accident 6,365
Loudon 12 13 200 of 200 Running 10,040
California 7 28 85 of 100 Suspension 10,690
Las Vegas 10 20 142 of 146 Running 9,890
South Boston (Next Event)
2003 Totals
Starts - 20
Poles - 1
Wins - 0
Top fives - 0
Top tens - 1
Earnings -$ 212,580
Laps Completed -3308 of 3434 (96.3%)
Laps Led - 17 of 3434
Races Led - 2 of 20
DNF's - 4
Lester Quotes
"We didn't have a very good two weeks out west. We had good trucks, but we
just could not get a solid finish out of either race. We just had a lot of
bad luck with the wheel bearing problem at California Speedway and then a
chassis setup problem in Las Vegas. Hopefully we can get back on track and
finish out the year in a strong way. It would be nice to end on a high
note."
"This has been a pretty good year. We've run better than last year, and in
many ways, improved our performance. We're higher in the points standings
and have a pole and a top ten finish to show for our efforts."
For More Information see
www.bobbyhamiltonracing.com
NEXT EVENT: The John Boy and Billy Craftsman Truck 250 at South
Boston Speedway in South Boston, Virginia on October 4, 2003. The event
will be televised live on SPEED Channel at 4:30 PM Eastern Time and also
live on MRN radio at 4:30 PM Eastern Time.
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