Lester finally gets shot with BHR
By Dave Rodman, Turner Sports Interactive
November 21, 2001
11:26 AM EST (1626 GMT)
LEBANON, Tenn. -- Engineer Bill Lester has finally made a three-year drive to become a professional race driver pay off.
Lester, 40, of Oakland, Calif., will drive the factory backed No. 8 Dodge Dealers Ram 1500 as a Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate in the 2002 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Dodge Motorsports and Bobby Hamilton Racing have announced.
Lester, whose early racing experience came in amateur sports car events, patiently waited throughout the 2001 season after he was arguably the most raceworthy candidate for the inaugural Dodge Motorsports Diversity Program seat at BHR.
Reportedly, in the original driver tryout for the diversity seat, Lester was the quickest candidate when he tested at the tough Nashville Speedway USA short track at the end of the 2000 season. However, Dodge opted to go with another former sports car racer with Indianapolis 500 experience and greater name recognition, Willy T. Ribbs.
Lester made his Busch Series debut in 1999 with a 21st-place finish at Watkins Glen International and has also turned some heads with limited outings in the Grand American Road Racing Association, driving with the support of Chevrolet.
Lester, who has six career Truck Series starts, cooled his heels during the recently completed season, being satisfied with test sessions and five races in BHR’s No. 4 Dodges.
His lack of oval experience hurt his race finishes, but Lester was a good qualifier, scoring a best start of 10th at Nashville Superspeedway. Lester out-qualified his much more experienced teammate the last three times they raced together by an average of eight spots per race.
"This is simply a dream come true,” Lester said. “I've wanted to be a full-time professional racing driver for a long time and I've worked hard for a lot of years for just this kind of opportunity.”
Now, he has the opportunity to use the Truck Series as the first step on a ladder that might pass through the Busch Series, where Dodge will see action for the first time in 2002, to Winston Cup.
"Having a factory backing with Bobby Hamilton Racing, which is obviously one of our best teams, is going to provide Bill Lester with an opportunity that a lot of people yearn for," Ray Richard, Dodge Motorsports NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series program manager, said. "And, if he does well, he'll be in a good position to move up to Cup or Busch."
“My wife and I have made many sacrifices in pursuit of my goal and I am pleased to reward both her support and belief in me,” Lester said. “I look forward to driving the No. 8 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Dodge Ram for Bobby Hamilton Racing, and I hope to do both Dodge and Bobby Hamilton proud.
"I could not ask to be a part of a better racing team than Bobby Hamilton Racing. They already feel like my second family. I get along great with everybody and I feel right at home there.
“I know that I am joining a very accomplished and successful team. I would like nothing more than to bring a greater level of accomplishment and pride to this organization by winning rookie of the year honors and vying for the NCTS championship, while helping Dodge defend its 2001 manufacturer of the year title."
Team owner Hamilton looked to have a real 2001 championship contender in veteran Joe Ruttman, who won three times, won four Bud Poles and ended up third in the standings.
Ribbs, on the other hand, often seemed out of sorts in the heavy, boxy trucks and he tore up a lot of equipment. Lester, for his part, crashed at no less than three of the venues he competed at.
Still, Hamilton lauded his new driver’s potential.
"I'm looking forward to next year," said Hamilton, who scored a victory for his own team at Martinsville Speedway. “Lester will be a great addition to the Dodge one-team family. He will be a great spokesperson for Dodge and their dealers across the country.
“After a lot of testing over the last year, I feel like Lester has both on track talent and off track presence. That can help him be a successful addition to not only this team, but the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series."
In its second year of operation, the Dodge Motorsports Diversity
Program creates a development process for enhancing the racing careers of both minority drivers and racing technicians.
As part of the diversity initiative, Dodge will serve as primary sponsor of Lester’s Dodge in the second year of what began in 2001 as a three-year program.
“Dodge and DaimlerChrysler have been very proactive in ensuring that our workforce is diverse," Richard said. "When we met with NASCAR at the beginning of 2000 to announce our return to the Winston Cup (Series), one of our goals was to create a program that could bring the same diversity we see in our workforce into motorsports.”
Dodge also has funded a scholarship program that provides important training in the racing field and offers graduates placement opportunities within the Dodge Motorsports family.
In another example of Dodge’s commitment to achieving diversity in NASCAR, the Dodge Motorsports scholarship program gives aspiring minority students a hands-on, NASCAR-based racing technology education. Annually, up to six scholarships are awarded to deserving students.
This year's scholarship winners are currently enrolled at the Houston Campus of Universal Technical Institute (UTI) -- the only technical school in the nation that is officially licensed by NASCAR.
The students are in the first phase of study, which involves a 45-week program tailored to give them a thorough understanding in general automotive theory and practice.
Upon receiving their diploma, scholarship recipients enroll in a specialized six-week, NASCAR-specific elective program currently offered only at UTI’s Houston campus. The program provides students an intensive NASCAR curriculum, including the sport's history, rules and regulations, engine building and development and chassis theory.
When the NASCAR Technical Institute (NASCAR Tech) opens in Charlotte, N.C., in summer 2002, a scholarship recipient may alternately elect to complete studies there, in place of an existing UTI campus.
The course schedule at NASCAR Tech will offer students a 13-month program, which will include the basic nine-month general automotive training program currently available at UTI, along with a more comprehensive four-month NASCAR-specific course.
NASCAR studies include chassis fabrication, paint and bodywork, engine building and integration of hands-on race team programs.
| 
