# Bill Lester

William Alexander Lester III (born February 6, 1961) is an American semi-retired professional racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, driving the No. 17 Ford F-150 for David Gilliland Racing. Lester previously competed full-time in the Truck Series from 2002 to midway through 2007. Lester was the NASCAR's only full-time African-American driver during that time. After that, he moved to sports car racing, competing in the Rolex Sports Car Series from 2007 to 2012. Lester had also competed part-time in the same series from 1998 to 2001.
He also made two NASCAR Cup Series starts in 2006 and one Busch Series (now Xfinity) start in 1999.
Since his retirement from driving, Lester has worked as a member of the NASCAR National Motorsports Appeals Panel.

## Racing career
### Early career

He began racing in the road course circuits, running in the SCCA and IMSA series. He made his IMSA debut in 1990 at Sears Point International Raceway, qualifying ninth and finishing 1st 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 unsponsored Oldsmobile Cutlass for Rocketsports at Portland, and one race for Tom Gloy at Mid-Ohio. 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.

### NASCAR

In 1999, he became the first African-American to run a Busch Series race, when he ran at Watkins Glen in the No. 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 No. 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 five races the next season in the No. 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 No. 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. He later DNQed at California after spinning in qualifying.
After failing to finish in the top-ten in 2006, Lester departed Davis to drive the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports Chevy. His best finish was an eighth at Kentucky, when he stepped out of the truck due to sponsor problems. After he was unable to find another ride in NASCAR, he left in 2008 to return to sports car racing.
On February 26, 2021, 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 also the same track where he made his Cup Series debut at in 2006. The team was revealed as David Gilliland Racing on March 12, with local Ford dealerships and Camping World as his sponsors. He finished 36th.

### Return to sports cars

In 2008, Lester drove the No. 3 Riley Daytona Prototype for Southard Motorsports in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, partnering with Shane Lewis. He moved to Orbit Racing for 2009, finishing 3rd at the summer Daytona race. The next year, Lester moved to a new team in Starworks Motorsport driving the No. 7 BMW Riley for the full season, finishing 17th in points.
For 2011, Lester moved to the GT category with Autohaus Motorsports and their Chevrolet Camaro team. On May 14, 2011, Lester made sports car history by becoming the first African-American driver to win in any Grand-Am division. Fittingly, Lester won at the Virginia International Raceway, located close to the home of NASCAR's first African-American winner, Wendell Scott.

## Personal life

Lester's father is William A. Lester.
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 15 years before deciding to focus full-time on auto racing.
Lester lives in Windermere, Florida with his wife Cheryl, and their sons William Alexander IV (Alex) and Austin Richard.
He published an autobiography, Winning in Reverse, in February 2021.

## Motorsports career results
### NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

#### Nextel Cup Series

NASCAR Nextel Cup Series results :
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | NNCC | Pts | Ref |
| 2006 | Bill Davis Racing | 23 | Dodge | DAY | CAL | LVS | ATL 38 | BRI | MAR | TEX | PHO | TAL | RCH | DAR | CLT | DOV | POC | MCH 32 | SON | DAY | CHI | NHA | POC | IND | GLN | MCH | BRI | CAL DNQ | RCH | NHA | DOV | KAN | TAL | CLT | MAR | ATL | TEX | PHO | HOM | 68th | 67 | |

#### Busch Series

NASCAR Busch Series results :
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | NBSC | Pts | Ref |
| 1999 | Robert Hayes Racing | 8 | Chevy | DAY | CAR | LVS | ATL | DAR | TEX | NSV | BRI | TAL | CAL | NHA | RCH | NZH | CLT | DOV | SBO | GLN 21 | MLW | MYB | PPR | GTY | IRP | MCH | BRI | DAR | RCH | DOV | CLT | CAR | MEM | PHO | HOM | 111th | 100 | |

#### Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results :
| Year | Team | No. | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | NCWTC | Pts |
| 2000 | Team 23 Racing | 23 | Chevy | DAY | HOM | PHO | MMR | MAR | PIR 24 | GTY | MEM | PPR | EVG | TEX | KEN | GLN | MLW | NHA | NZH | MCH | IRP | NSV | CIC | RCH DNQ | DOV | TEX | CAL | | 86th | 122 |
| 2001 | Bobby Hamilton Racing | 4 | Dodge | DAY | HOM | MMR | MAR | GTY 36 | DAR | PPR 20 | DOV | TEX | MEM | MLW | KAN | KEN | NHA | IRP | NSH 30 | CIC | NZH | RCH | SBO 32 | TEX | LVS | PHO 18 | CAL | | 59th | 304 |
| 2002 | Bobby Hamilton Racing | 8 | Dodge | DAY 18 | DAR 28 | MAR 25 | GTY 17 | PPR 15 | DOV 12 | TEX 11 | MEM 17 | MLW 18 | KAN 29 | KEN 14 | NHA 14 | MCH 15 | IRP 28 | NSH 16 | RCH 36 | TEX 28 | SBO 17 | LVS 17 | CAL 14 | PHO 15 | HOM 18 | | | | 17th | 2320 |
| 2003 | Bobby Hamilton Racing | 8 | Dodge | DAY 18 | DAR 12 | MMR 13 | MAR 19 | CLT 15 | DOV 11 | TEX 12 | MEM 26 | MLW 12 | KAN 10 | KEN 12 | GTW 22 | MCH 11 | IRP 28 | NSH 16 | BRI 19 | RCH 30 | NHA 13 | CAL 28 | LVS 20 | SBO 23 | TEX 28 | MAR 22 | PHO 20 | HOM 18 | 14th | 2712 |
| 2004 | Bill Davis Racing | 22 | Toyota | DAY 16 | ATL 15 | MAR 17 | MFD 30 | CLT 21 | DOV 25 | TEX 12 | MEM 23 | MLW 34 | KAN 28 | KEN 29 | GTW 10 | MCH 18 | IRP 31 | NSH 31 | BRI 14 | RCH 29 | NHA 27 | LVS 24 | CAL 28 | TEX 28 | MAR 14 | PHO 18 | DAR 16 | HOM 24 | 22nd | 2400 |
| 2005 | Bill Davis Racing | 22 | Toyota | DAY 29 | CAL 16 | ATL 21 | MAR 26 | GTY 12 | MFD 18 | CLT 6 | DOV 30 | TEX 22 | MCH 16 | MLW 15 | KAN 5 | KEN 22 | MEM 35 | IRP 18 | NSH 7 | BRI 25 | RCH 14 | NHA 25 | LVS 32 | MAR 32 | ATL 19 | TEX 11 | PHO 21 | HOM 5 | 17th | 2672 |
| 2006 | Bill Davis Racing | 22 | Toyota | DAY 35 | CAL 15 | ATL 29 | MAR 24 | GTY 30 | CLT DNQ | MFD 24 | DOV 30 | TEX 22 | MCH 33 | MLW 15 | KAN 23 | KEN 28 | MEM 25 | IRP 14 | NSH 21 | BRI 16 | NHA 35 | LVS 19 | TAL 31 | MAR 12 | ATL 22 | TEX 21 | PHO 20 | HOM 11 | 20th | 2252 |
| 2007 | Billy Ballew Motorsports | 15 | Chevy | DAY 11 | CAL 20 | ATL 30 | MAR 36 | KAN 16 | CLT 19 | MFD 21 | DOV 35 | TEX 18 | MCH 15 | MLW 24 | MEM 12 | KEN 8 | IRP 16 | NSH 20 | BRI | GTW | NHA | LVS | TAL | MAR | ATL | TEX | PHO | HOM | 23rd | 1550 |
| 2021 | David Gilliland Racing | 17 | Ford | DAY | DAY | LVS | ATL 36 | BRI | RCH | KAN | DAR | COA | CLT | TEX | NSH | POC | KNX | GLN | GTW | DAR | BRI | LVS | TAL | MAR | PHO | | | | 89th | 1 |
$^*$ Season still in progress $^1$ Ineligible for series points