Born: Washington, D.C., February 6
Current Residence: Atlanta, Ga.
Wife: Cheryl Children: William Alexander IV (Alex) and Austin Richard
Web Site: www.BillLester.com
Helmet: matte black
Southard Motorsports Driver: Since, 2008
Unique note: Lester holds a Bachelor of
Science Degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from U.C. Berkeley.
Major Accomplishments:
Championships: SCCA GT-3 Regional Road Racing Championship (’86)
Endurance races: Rolex 24 At Daytona, 6 (’98-’01,’07-’08)
NASCAR Starts: 142 NASCAR Craftsman
Truck Series starts, 2 NASCAR Sprint Cup
starts, 1 Nationwide Series Start
Honors: SCCA Northern California Region Rookie of the Year (’85) |
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Career Highlights:
2008- Bill Lester debuts in his first full season of Rolex Daytona Prototype (DP) competition with Southard Motorsports. He joins Shane Lewis (Jupiter, Fla.) in the No. 3 Lexus-Riley opening the year with his fifth career start in Rolex 24 At Daytona. 2007- Raced a Chevrolet Silverado for Billy Ballew Motorsports marking Lester’s sixth consecutive season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Earned one Top-10. Had three Daytona Prototype starts including his fifth Rolex 24 At Daytona. Had a season-best DP finish of 17th. 2006- Competed in his fifth full season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Started in the Top-Five three times and the Top-10 four times on his way to finishing 20th in the season point standings driving the No. 22 Toyota. Made two NASCAR Nextel Cup starts in the No. 23 Bill Davis Dodge. 2005- Earned two pole positions and finished 17th in his fourth season on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series circuit driving for Bill Davis Racing in the No. 22 Toyota. 2004- Was signed to race the No. 22 Bill Davis Racing Toyota in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. During his third year in the Series he earned one Top-10 finish, two Top-Five starts and 22nd in the Drivers’ Championship. 2003- In his sophomore season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Lester earned his first Series pole position and one Top-10 finish. He scored his career-high, to-date, season finish in the driver standings with 14th in the No. 8 Dodge Ram. 2002- Signed to drive the No. 8 Dodge Ram for his first full season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Four Top-Five starts and a 17th place finish in Drivers' Championship earned Lester the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Raybestos Rookie of the Year Runner-up honors. 2001- Made five NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event starts. Continued to race in professional road racing with three Grand-Am Cup, now KONI Challenge, races. Earned his career-high, to-date, finish in the Rolex 24 At Daytona with a third in the AGT class. 2000- Raced in his third-consecutive Rolex 24 At Daytona and two Motorola Cup Series events. After a test in a Bobby Hamilton Racing NASCAR Craftsman truck he made his debut in the Craftsman Truck Series finishing 31st. 1999- Debuted in the NASCAR Nationwide Series (then Busch Grand National) with a start at Watkins Glen International. Ran in his second career Rolex 24 At Daytona. Had a heavy testing routine with a wide variety of cars including the Team Kool Green Indy Lights car, the PPI Team Formula Atlantic car and SpecterWerks Grand-Am sports car. Foreshadowing his stock car racing future, Lester also tested the Cicci-Welliver NASCAR Busch Grand National and Team Rensi Motorsports ARCA cars. 1998- Made his Rolex 24 At Daytona debut. 1997- Did not race. 1996- Made four SCCA World Challenge Series starts. 1993- Tested a Bondurant SCCA World Challenge car. 1990- Raced in two SCCA Trans-Am Series events. 1989- Made one IMSA GTO class start. Early Career- Bill Lester became a race driver much later in life than other top professionals. He began racing in SCCA competition while working for Hewlett-Packard in California. Won Racing Drivers Club (RDC) four-hour race twice. Won the SCCA Series Northern California Region Rookie of the Year in 1985 and followed that one year later with the GT-3 Regional Road Racing Championships in ’86.
Personal: Holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from U.C. Berkeley. Was hired by Hewlett-Packard (HP) out of college and began racing on the weekends. With significant success he quit his job at HP and began racing fulltime. He lives in Atlanta, Ga. with his wife Cheryl and sons William Alexander IV (Alex) and Austin Richard.
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