Bill Lester

From The Third Turn, a Wikia wiki

Bill Lester

Born:
Awards:
Sprint Cup Series
Car #-Team:
{{{Previous year}}} Cup Position:
Best Cup Position:
First Race:
First Win:
Last Win:
Statistics
Wins: Top Tens: Poles:

Bill Lester

Born:
Birthplace:
Died:
Awards:
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
Car # - Team
[[{{{Previous Season}}}]] Cup Position:
Best Cup Position:
First Cup Race:
Last Cup Race:
First Cup Win:
Last Cup Win:
Wins	Top Tens	Poles
0	0	0
NASCAR Nationwide Series
Car # - Team
[[{{{Previous Season}}}]] Nationwide Position:
Best Nationwide Position:
First Nationwide Race:
Last Nationwide Race:
First Nationwide Win:
Last Nationwide Win:
Wins	Top Tens	Poles
0	0	0
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series
Car # - Team
[[{{{Previous Season}}}]] Truck Position:
Best Truck Position:
First Truck Race:
Last Truck Race:
First Truck Win:
Last Truck Win:
Wins	Top Tens	Poles
0	0	0
NASCAR {{{Other Series}}}
Car # - Team
Prevoius Position:
Best Position:
First Race:
Last Race:
First Win:
Last Win:
Wins	Top Tens	Poles
0	0	0

This template has two types of variables to be called, those having to do with statistics, and those not having to do with statistics. Currently, the ONLY variable that is 100% required, is the Name variable. All others are technically optional, but are useless if not used.

Name[1]
Born[2]
Hometown[3]
Died[4]
Cause of Death[5]
Achievements[6]
Awards[7]
Image[8]
First_Cup_Race	First_Busch_Race	First_Truck_Race	First_East_Race	First_West_Race	Canada_Car_Team[9][10]
Cup_Car_Team	Busch_Car_Team	Truck_Car_Team	East_Car_Team	West_Car_Team	Canada_Car_Team[11]
Previous_Year[12]
Prev_Cup_Pos	Prev_Busch_Pos	Prev_Truck_Pos	Prev_East_Pos	Prev_West_Pos	Prev_Canada_Pos[13]
Best_Cup_Pos	Best_Busch_Pos	Best_Truck_Pos	Best_East_Pos	Best_West_Pos	Best_Canada_Pos[14]
First_Cup_Win	First_Busch_Win	First_Truck_Win	First_East_Win	First_West_Win	First_Canada_Win [15]
Last_Cup_Win	Last_Busch_Win	Last_Truck_Win	Last_East_Win	Last_West_Win	Last_Canada_Win [15]
Updated_On[16]
Cup_Wins	Busch_Wins	Truck_Wins	East_Wins	West_Wins	Canada_Wins[17]
Cup_Top_Tens	Busch_Top_Tens	Truck_Top_Tens	East_Top_Tens	West_Top_Tens	Canada_Top_Tens[17]
Cup_Poles	Busch_Poles	Truck_Poles	East_Poles	West_Poles	Canada_Poles [17]
Use the following only if retired
Last_Cup_Race	Last_Busch_Race	Last_Truck_Race	Last_East_Race	Last_West_Race	Last_Canada_Race[15]
Total_Cup_Races	Total_Busch_Races	Total_Truck_Races	Total_East_Races	Total_West_Races	Total_Canada_Races[18]
Years_In_Cup	Years_In_Busch	Years_In_Truck	Years_In_East	Years_In_West	Years_In_Canada[19]

1. ↑ Should be full name (when known) and NOT wikilinked.
2. ↑ a.k.a. Date of Birth, should be wikilinked. (If it is not, the Wiki system does not format it correctly).
3. ↑ a.k.a. Place of Birth, should be wikilinked.
4. ↑ a.k.a. Date of Death, should be wikilinked. (If it is not, the Wiki system does not format it correctly).
5. ↑ If undefined, displays as "Unknown".
6. ↑ Any notable achievements. e.g. Daytona 500 win, All-Star win, Championship, etc..
7. ↑ Any notable awards. The definition of notable in this context is not clear, however, for now, if you think it might be notable, include it.
8. ↑ Still under discussion, might not be included in template
9. ↑ Required for any series that the driver has started one or more race. If not present NONE of the other stats will show.
10. ↑ Formatting: Year Race (Track) Year linked to year in NASCAR page, name of race linked to page of that race. Wikilinked name of race. Track is wikilink to track, piped text should be nickname/short name.
11. ↑ Required for any current driver. Formatting Car #, wikilinked team.
12. ↑ Required for any driver that raced last year in any series.
13. ↑ Required for any driver that raced last year for each series. If not present, the entire Previous Year line will not show for that series section.
14. ↑ For any driver that was active in that series. Do NOT count this year. (if this year is the only year that the driver has participated, e.g., rookie, do not use this field
15. ↑ ^{15.0 15.1 15.2} Same formatting as First Race. If undefined, will not show.
16. ↑ Required for any current driver. This field MUST be updated each time the stats are. Once driver retires, and this field is irrelevant, remove field
17. ↑ ^{17.0 17.1 17.2} If undefined, shows as "0"
18. ↑ Another term for this could be total starts. If the driver took the green flag, it counts.
19. ↑ One race in a year counts for that year. e.g. 10 races in 10 years is possible, especially for road ringers

</noinclude> William Alexander Lester III (born February 6, 1961) is racing driver who competes in the Daytona Prototype category in the Rolex Sports Car Series. In 1984, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in EECS from the University of California, Berkeley. Fresh out of college, he worked at Hewlett-Packard for a few years before deciding he wanted to focus on auto racing.

Until 2007, he competed full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, being at the time the only African-American competing full-time in a NASCAR circuit. He also participated in a number of Sprint Cup races.

Contents 1 Early racing career 2 NASCAR career 3 Personal 4 External links

[edit] Early racing career

He began racing in the road course circuits, running in the SCCA and IMSA series. He made his IMSA debut in 1989 at Sears Point International Raceway, qualifying ninth and finishing 12th in a Chevrolet Camaro. He also picked up a victory that year in an endurance race at Sears Point. In 1990, he began running the SCCA, running an unsported Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme for RocketSports Racing at Portland, and one race for Tom Gloy at Mid-Ohio Speedway. He did not race professionally again until 1996, running SCCA events at Watkins Glen, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Sears Point, and Reno, Nevada. He competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1998 and 1999, finishing fifth and tenth, respectively.

[edit] NASCAR career

In 1999, he became the first African-American to run a Busch Series race, when he ran at Watkins Glen in the #8 Dura Lube Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned by Bobby Hillin, Jr.. He started 24th and ran near a top-ten most of the day before an accident relegated him back to 21st. The next season, he made his Craftsman Truck debut at Portland, starting 31st and finishing 24th in the #23 Red Line Oil truck owned by Team 23 Racing. He also competed against Bobby Norfleet in that race, marking the only time in NASCAR two African-Americans have competed in the same race. He ran 5 races the next season in the #4 for Bobby Hamilton Racing, his best finish an eighteenth at Phoenix International Raceway.

In 2002, he ran in the Craftsman Truck series full-time for Hamilton. While he did not finish in the top-ten, he had sixteen finishes between 11th-18th, leading to a seventeenth place points finish and runner-up to Brendan Gaughan for NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Rookie of the Year. The next season, he grabbed his first career pole at Lowe's Motor Speedway and had a tenth-place run at Kansas Speedway, garnering a 14th place finish in the championship standings.

He switched over to Bill Davis Racing in 2004. He had a best finish of tenth and finished 22nd in points. In 2005, he won two consecutive poles, and had his first top-five finishes. Lester raced in his first Nextel Cup race in the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, driving the #23 Waste Management Dodge Charger for Davis in 2006. The race was supposed to be run on March 19, but was postponed for a day due to rain. He qualified 19th, becoming the first African-American to make a Cup race since 1986, and the sixth in series history. He finished 38th, six laps down. He ran another race that season at Michigan, finishing 32nd.

After failing to finish in the top-ten in 2006, Lester departed Davis to drive the #15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevy. His best finish was an eighth at Kentucky, when he stepped out of the truck due to sponsor problems. He left NASCAR racing at the end of 2007.

In 2008, Lester is running in the Rolex Sports Car Series.

[edit] Personal

Since 1992, he has served as a racing instructor at Infineon Raceway. He now lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Cheryl, and their son William Alexander IV (Alex).

[edit] External links

• Bill Lester's official web page
• Driving career statistics at racing-reference.info