The Buzz: Halloween
October 31, 2001
4:14 PM EST (2114 GMT)
Bill Davis Racing may be contemplating a numbers switch that would make it the fourth team employing consecutive car numbers in the 2002 season.
Word is that Davis will use the No. 23, which it held the rights to but never used, for driver Hut Stricklin’s Hills Bros. Dodge next season. BDR currently runs a No. 22 Intrepid for Ward Burton and No. 93 for Dave Blaney.
BDR uses the No. 23 for its Busch Series Pontiacs driven by Scott Wimmer and originally used the number in Winston Cup at the 2000 NAPA 500 season finale when Wimmer made his Winston Cup debut.
Team owner Travis Carter and driver Jimmy Spencer regularly used the No. 23 in Winston Cup during the 1999 season. Stricklin formerly used the number in 1994 when he drove Carter’s Fords.
Other teams employing sequential numbers next season are Hendrick Motorsports, 24-25; Richard Childress Racing, 29-30-31; and Petty Enterprises, 43-44-45.
DIVERSITY INITIATIVE CONTINUES
The Buzz has learned that Californian Bill Lester will be Dodge Motorsports’ driver in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2002. Lester, 40, an engineer who made a late career switch to professional motorsports after a long stint in amateur road racing, has six career starts in the Truck Series and would be eligible for the NCTS Raybestos Rookie of the Year race in 2002 while driving for Bobby Hamilton Racing.
Reportedly, in the original driver tryout for the diversity seat, Lester was the quickest candidate who tested at Nashville Speedway USA, but Dodge opted to go with the more well-known Willy T. Ribbs.
In five starts for BHR this season, Lester outqualified his much more experienced teammate the last three times by an average of eight spots per race. His lack of experience has hurt him more in races, where his best finish is 18th in his most recent outing, at Phoenix International Raceway.
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.
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