[Lefty Noob]

What do you guys know about this fella Bill Lester? Just got done reading an Associated Press article that says Lester, a Craftsman Truck Series driver for the past couple of years, is attempting to become "the first black driver in nearly 20 years to qualify for a race in NASCAR's top series." Apparently he's a bit of a long-shot to crack the 43-car field for Atlanta, but he's hoping to inspire others to try and follow in his footsteps. Think he's got a shot to qualify?

[Team Yates]

As long as he has some good equipment, he should be able to qualify. My question is: what brand car will he be driving? In the truck series, he drives a TOYOTA! A preview of TOYOTA? I hope he at least makes the race, I don't know how long he will make it in the race, but I think he will at least qualify for it, barring any mishaps during qualifying.

[Lefty Noob]

Okay, Yahoo! Sports says he's going to be driving the #23 Dodge, sponsored by Waste Management.

[Team Yates]

Thanks for letting me know about the Dodge part, I knew the sponsor as Waste Management, but couldn't find out the brand of car. Wishful thinking on the TOYOTA aspect.

[jamminj]

We talk about Lester just because he's black. Isn't that wrong? I mean, no one's asking about Greg Sacks or Mike Garvey.

Lester should be treated just like all the other Cup wanna-be's.... that is to say, ignored until he starts winning races.

Yeah, I'm white, so what?

[Tin Can]

NASCAR is celebrating Black History Month so I think its cool that he is, I hope he dose well to. Would'nt that be something if he placed in front of Stewart..

[jamminj]

Black History month is February, isn't it?

[Team Yates]

Come on jamminj, I seriously don't think this thread was started just because Lester is black, it's because he deserves to be talked about just like all the up and coming drivers. I remember not that long ago, they did the same of Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Jamie McMurray, etc.. If it was overkill I might tend to agree with you, but it's normal talk, just like Erin Crocker, etc.. It would be rude if they didn't give the same amount of time to him as all the others. Greg Sacks and Mike Garvey got that same treatment in their "beginnings", maybe you didn't follow the sport as closely then as you may now follow it.

[Nevadastars]

Originally Posted by jamminj

Lester should be treated just like all the other Cup wanna-be's.... that is to say, ignored until he starts winning races.

Don't let Jesse Jackson hear you talking like that or you'll be pegged as a bigot. He was trying to strongarm NASCAR a few years ago about very few blacks in the sport, but this sport takes money, not just raw talent like "ball" sports. Sorry if this is a bit too political for this site, but it's the truth.

I read in the local paper Lester also plans on trying to make two Cup races this year, Michigan and California. Good luck to him, he is going to need it just to qualify for those events. Here is a link to the Sacramento Bee link I was reading, its pretty good....
http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports...15054001c.html

[jamminj]

Ok, let's talk about Jimmie, Kasey, Jamie, and Bill:

Driver # of starts Wins Top 5's Top 10's
Jimmie (Busch) 81 1 7 19
Kasey (Busch) 54 1 4 14
Jamie (CTS) 69 2 6 20
Bill (CTS) 105 0 2 6

And Jimmy and Kaseys numbers were from the BUSCH series. Who know's what kind of numbers they would have, had they started their NASCAR carrers in the CTS (Kasey does have 2 wins in 2 starts in the CTS though).

So, like I said before, Bill shouldn't be treated differently because of his race (Erin Croker shouldn't be either, because of her sex BTW). To praise a driver for anything but their results on the track truly is racism/sexism. Just because it's "good" racism, doesn't make it any better. The man is still being treated differently because of his color, and that's wrong.

When Bill Lester wins a race, I'll be right there with y'all to praise him... because it's then that Lester deserves to be grouped with the likes of Johnson, Kahne, and McMurray.

[Team Yates]

Well jamminj, if that's the case: that we shouldn't talk about drivers until they win, we shouldn't have been talking about Michael Waltrip and alot of others all these years! If you read back through the thread, you will see that you made it a "race" issue, no pun intended. All I was saying is that Nascar has put all the other drivers in the "limelight" to give us insight of up and coming. At least in modern era, they have been doing that. I personally don't think that they are talking more about him then any other driver that they have done this with before.They do it without regard to numbers or stats, it's on what's happening right now. Not to mention the fact that the question was : Does he have a shot to qualify? Do you have an answer to the question?

[jamminj]

I don't know why you keep saying that I made it a race issue. The first post of the thread mentions the fact that Lester is a black man. Why would that have to be mentioned at all? Humm...

Also, quit bringing up drivers with better records than Lester, it doesn't help your arguement. First it was JJ, KK, and JM, and since their numbers proved you wrong, now you bring up MW??? Michael Waltrip had 5 Busch starts in 1988 and he WON one of those races. Show me someone who's got a worse record if you want to argue. They are called facts, offer them instead of your opinion.

Sure, I think he has a shot a qualifying. In fact, qualifying is one of Lester's strong suits. He has had a few Poles in the CTS. Of course, you failed to mention that in your rebuttal (probably because it's factual).

Now, I believe Lester gets too much publicity (for the wrong reasons). You say, he gets the same as every other "up-and-coming" driver. The problem is that most every other "up-and-coming" driver was "up-and-coming" because they performed on the track. He's got 105 starts and 0 wins, and you're calling him an "up-and-coming" driver based on that record??? Or is there another reason?

I don't think Jesse Jackson would have any problem with treating a man based on the way he handles a wheel, and not the color of his skin.

[LSC9901]

So lets talk about Kevin Lepage. He is a damn yankee from Vermont .... but wait. He is a 34th place driver. Why waste good media time on a nobody.

[Nevadastars]

Well, Bill Lester is solidly in the show with a 19th place effort. Congrats to him and his team.

[jamminj]

That's not bad... not bad at all.

Interested to see how Sunday goes. Now that I'm a Bill Lester fan.