1. William Alexander Lester III was born on February 6,1961 and is an American semi-retired professional racing driver.
28 Facts About Bill Lester
1. 2.
Bill Lester last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No 17 Ford F-150 for David Gilliland Racing.
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Bill Lester previously competed full-time in the Truck Series from 2002 to midway through 2007.
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Bill Lester was the NASCAR's only full-time African-American driver during that time.
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Bill Lester had competed part-time in the same series from 1998 to 2001.
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Bill Lester made two NASCAR Cup Series starts in 2006 and one Busch Series start in 1999.
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Bill Lester began racing in the road course circuits, running in the SCCA and IMSA series.
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Bill Lester made his IMSA debut in 1990 at Sears Point International Raceway, qualifying ninth and finishing 1st in a Chevrolet Camaro.
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Bill Lester picked up a victory that year in an endurance race at Sears Point.
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Bill Lester did not race professionally again until 1996, running SCCA events at Watkins Glen, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, Sears Point, and Reno, Nevada.
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Bill Lester competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1998 and 1999, finishing fifth and tenth, respectively.
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Bill Lester started 24th and ran near a top-ten most of the day before an accident relegated him back to 21st.
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Bill Lester competed against Bobby Norfleet in that race, marking the only time in NASCAR two African-Americans have competed in the same race.
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Bill Lester ran five races the next season in the No 4 for Bobby Hamilton Racing, his best finish an eighteenth at Phoenix International Raceway.
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Bill Lester switched over to Bill Davis Racing in 2004.
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Bill Lester had a best finish of tenth and finished 22nd in points.
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Bill Lester raced in his first Nextel Cup race in the Golden Corral 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, driving the No 23 Waste Management Dodge Charger for Davis in 2006.
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Bill Lester ran another race that season at Michigan, finishing 32nd.
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Bill Lester later DNQed at California after spinning in qualifying.
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Bill Lester's best finish was an eighth at Kentucky, when he stepped out of the truck due to sponsor problems.
21.
On February 26,2021, Bill Lester announced on NASCAR Race Hub that he would be coming out of retirement to compete in the Truck Series race at his home track of Atlanta, which was the same track where he made his Cup Series debut at in 2006.
22.
In 2008, Bill Lester drove the No 3 Riley Daytona Prototype for Southard Motorsports in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, partnering with Shane Lewis.
23.
Bill Lester moved to Orbit Racing for 2009, finishing 3rd at the summer Daytona race.
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The next year, Bill Lester moved to a new team in Starworks Motorsport driving the No 7 BMW Riley for the full season, finishing 17th in points.
25.
For 2011, Bill Lester moved to the GT category with Autohaus Motorsports and their Chevrolet Camaro team.
26.
On May 14,2011, Bill Lester made sports car history by becoming the first African-American driver to win in any Grand-Am division.
27.
Fittingly, Bill Lester won at the Virginia International Raceway, located close to the home of NASCAR's first African-American winner, Wendell Scott.
28.
Bill Lester published an autobiography, Winning in Reverse, in February 2021.