Blacks on Track in 2004

Last season, Bill Lester was the only African American driver in NASCAR's top three series. Things haven't changed much since then; Bill Lester is still the only full time minority driver. Before the beginning of the 2003 season, Dodge Motorsports funded Bobby Hamilton Racing's Craftsman truck Series No 8 entry which provided a driving job for Lester. This was done at the behest of Daimler-Chrysler's quest to satisfy NASCAR's needs for a minority driver's diversity program.

Toward the end of the season, Dodge pulled the plug on its diversity program leaving Hamilton and company to fend for themselves. No official reason was stated for this action, although some industry insiders feel that Dodge was upset that Toyota was entering the series in 2004. When Dodge came back into NASCAR racing a couple of years ago, they pretty much took control of the Craftsman Truck Series, and were not pleased to learn that they were going to have competition from the extremely wealthy Japanese auto manufacturer.

Hamilton stood by Lester, allowing him to finish the season in the No. 8, Although, when the season ended so did Lester's job with Bobby Hamilton Racing. As long as Dodge was footing the Bill, Hamilton was happy to have Lester on board. Another driver is in the No. 8 this season with a new sponsor, replacing Lester.

I don't think Lester had the top of the line equipment that Dodge was paying for last season, he was only able to score one top ten finish in all of the 25 races on the circuit that he qualified for. He managed to score one pole starting position and ended up with a respectable 14th position in the driver's point's standings. I've watched him race and he's a better driver than that. If a driver doesn't have top quality equipment under him, he can't turn out a top quality performance.

Although it doesn't show it yet on his web site, Bill Lester.com , he has been hired by Bill Davis Racing (BDR)to pilot the No. 22 Toyota Tundra entry in the upcoming Craftsman Truck Series season. Bill Davis was one of the pioneers in the development of the Toyota Tundra trucks for the series. Because of this, some of you may remember that Dodge canceled all of its factory support of BDR's No. 22 and No. 23 Dodge entries in the Cup Series. Dodge Motorsports claimed that Davis broke a clause in their contract that prohibits working with another manufacturer.

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