Bill Lester is leaving NASCAR this year to return to his racing roots — sportscars. Lester has joined Southard Motorsports of the Grand-Am Rolex Series to share the #3 Lexus Riley with fellow driver Shane Lewis. Lester knows not to expect miracles at Southard, which finished 15th last year in the Daytona Prototype team standings. But after getting dropped from his Craftsman Truck Series ride with 10 races left on the schedule last year, he’s excited about this new opportunity. “I did not like watching the Craftsman Truck Series from the sideline after 15 races of 25,” Lester said during the third and final day of Grand-Am testing Sunday at Daytona International Speedway. “I really want to race for a championship. I want to race a whole year.” Team owner Steve Southard is giving him that chance. While Lester has been getting acclimated to his new team, he’s once again forced to fight stereotypes. In NASCAR, he was known primarily for becoming the first black driver in 20 years to qualify for a Cup race in 2006. Now he’s destined to be known as a stock-car driver running Daytona Prototypes. “I kind of see myself as a race car driver, period,” said Lester, 46, who actually started his racing career in the mid-1980s in sportscar road races sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America and the International Motor Sports Association. “I’m a race car driver who happens to be black.”(Daytona Beach News Journal)(1-7-2008)
