When Bill Lester was chosen to drive the No. 8 BHR Dodge in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, one of his biggest dreams came true. After years of hard work, he finally got his chance to drive full-time in a NASCAR national touring series.

Lester’s path to NASCAR racing fame has been very different from that of most of the drivers that he competes against. Lester earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1984, and used that to join the Hewlett-Packard Company.

After spending several years with the Hewlett-Packard Company as a Project Manager, and racing on the weekends, he finally had a long conversation with his wife, Cheryl, and decided to go after his dream of becoming a professional racecar driver. So he quit his job in the high-tech industry, and began concentrating on his dream in the mid-1980’s in the SCCA Series.

In 1985 and 1986 he won the SCCA Series Northern California Region Rookie of the Year title, and the SCCA GT-3 Regional Road Racing Championship.

Then in 1989, Lester began racing in the International Motor Sports Association’s (IMSA) GTO Series and several other sports car series in the United States. He would race just about anything to get track time and a chance to showcase his talents. During the late 1980’s to the middle 1990’s, he amassed four starts in the 24 Hours of Daytona and several starts in the SCCA Trans AM Series.

In 1999, Lester got his first big NASCAR chance when he got the opportunity to race at Watkins Glen, New York, in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series. Lester had a solid run, starting in the 24th position, and moved into the top ten before finishing 21st after an on-track altercation with another competitor.

Then in 2000, Lester again got the call to drive in a NASCAR Series on a road course; only this time, it was in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. On that day, he started 31st and finished in the 24th position.

Shortly after that run, the doors started opening up for Lester and his career in NASCAR began to take off. His performance that day led to him making five starts for BHR in the Truck Series in 2001, before getting the nod to drive full-time in 2002. In 2003, Lester will be looking to improve on his 17th place finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points standings.

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