Bill Lester will pilot the #23 Nextel Cup entry for Bill Davis Racing at Atlanta. He’ll be the first black driver to attempt to qualify for a Cup Series race in 20 years. Before this week, the last black to start a Cup event was Willy T. Ribbs at Michigan on June 15, 1986. Prior to that, George Wiltshire and Randy Bethea each had a run at a Cup race in 1975. Wendell Scott started 495 times in NASCAR’s premier series and remains the only black to win a Cup race, at Jacksonville, Fla., on Dec. 1, 1963. Lester was the first black to compete in a Busch Series event in 1999, the first to start a Truck Series race in 2000, the first to win a pole for a modern-era NASCAR race in 2003, the first to win $1 million, and the first to lead a top division race in more than two decades.(nascar.com)(3-14-2006)
UPDATE: Lester qualifed 19th in the #23 Waste Management Dodge with a speed of 190.502.(3-18-2006)
UPDATE 2: Lester finished the event in the 38th position, six laps down from the race winner, but with a tremendous amount of experience from his career first Nextel Cup race. His next Cup series event is scheduled for June 18 at the Michigan International Speedway.(BDR PR)(3-20-2006)
