Highlights

Bill Lester gets first half of job done

(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-17 10:47

Bill Lester, the first black driver to race in NASCAR's top stock car series in 20 years, backed up his solid qualifying run in March at Atlanta with another strong performance Friday at Michigan International Speedway.

Now, the 45-year-old driver is hoping to prove in Sunday's 3M Performance 400 that he can race as well as he qualifies.

At Atlanta Motor Speedway, amid much ballyhoo, Lester's race day was far from impressive when he finished 38th, six laps behind winner Kasey Kahne, who also showed the way Friday by winning the pole at Michigan.

"The first thing (at Atlanta) was just making the show and getting some experience," Lester said after qualifying 34th in the 43-car Michigan field. "We came up a little short that time. This time, our objective is to race the whole distance, to go all 400 miles. We want to be on the lead lap.

"If we do that, we're going to be very satisfied."

Lester, a regular in NASCAR's Craftsman Truck Series, said he was mostly just trying to stay out of the way when he became the first black man to race in the Cup series since Willy T. Ribbs drove at Michigan in June 1986.

"My objective in Atlanta was basically to earn the respect of my competition," he said. "Most of these guys had never raced against me. They may or may not have even heard of me. I just wanted them to have confidence knowing that I wasn't going to do anything stupid out there and that I had respect for them and, hopefully, they would have respect for me.

"I did a whole lot more giving than taking. This time, to try to attempt to finish on the lead lap, I'm going to have to be a lot more aggressive."

Lester, who started 19th at Atlanta in his No. 23 Bill Davis Racing Dodge, was one of 12 drivers vying to qualify on speed for one of nine available spots in Sunday's lineup. He did that easily, turning a lap of 180.845 mph on the 2-mile Michigan oval — the fifth fastest among that group.

Kahne, a third-year Cup star racing Dodges for Ray Evernham, earned his 10th career pole and fourth of the season with a lap of 185.644. That was just fast enough to beat the 185.543 of four-time series champion Jeff Gordon, the last of 47 drivers making qualifying attempts.

He was followed by Brian Vickers and series points leader Jimmie Johnson, two of Gordon's Hendrick Motorsports teammates, at 184.995 and 184.943, respectively, and the Petty Enterprises Dodge of Bobby Labonte at 184.810.

Rounding out the top 10 were Dale Earnhardt Jr., Joe Nemechek, Mark Martin, rookie Clint Bowyer and defending race winner Greg Biffle. Denny Hamlin, the rookie who won a Cup race for the first time last week at Pocono, qualified 21st.

Ryan Newman, who holds the track qualifying record here, appeared on the way to a very fast lap when he lost control, sliding sideways and barely missing the wall before somehow getting the car back under control. By that time, though, he had two flat tires and had to settle for no speed and a starting spot at the rear of the 43-car field.

Newman said it's simply luck — not skill — that kept him out of the wall.

"You've got to do the right thing but, after that, it's just luck," he said.

But the focus Friday was definitely on Lester, who was well on the way to a life as a corporate executive before finally deciding to take the chance and go racing full-time.

"I'm just following my dream," he said. "If I could have written my own script, of course I would have been in this position 20 years ago. But, by the same token, I guess there's a reason why the breaks and the opportunities have come this late in my life."

Now that he is getting this chance, with one more Cup race on his schedule this year, Lester said he hopes he can be a catalyst for change.

"Maybe I can influence or inspire the next generation, the generation that's out there now that's behind me, to be able to achieve and be able to take advantage of this wonderful sport we have in NASCAR racing," he said.

"When I was young, in my teens, I didn't see anybody looking like me that I might be able to aspire to and say, `Hey, he did it, so I know I can do it.' So maybe there's some kid out there that sees me out and says, `You know, heck, he's out there paving the way and if he can do it I can do it. There's nothing special about it.'"