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GRAND-AM
GRAND-AM: 5 Questions With Bill Lester
Veteran road racer and NASCAR driver discusses history-making day at Virginia International Raceway...
Bill Lester, left, and Ricky Taylor, right, scored top honors in GT at last weekend's Bosch Engineering 250 at VIR. (Photo: GRAND-AM)
Saturday’s Bosch Engineering 250 at Virginia International Raceway proved to be a history-making day, as Bill Lester became the first African-American to win a GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series race in the championship’s 11-year history.
For Lester, who teamed with Jordan Taylor in the No. 88 Autohaus Motorsports Camaro GT.R, the win proved to be extra special as it came in Danville, Va., the hometown of African-American NASCAR pioneer Wendell Scott.
With their win, Lester and Taylor move into third place in the GT standings, trailing championship leaders Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana by only 15 points heading into next weekend’s Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park.
Earlier in the week, Lester checked in with the media to discuss the win and what’s next for he and Taylor. It’s all a part of the latest installment of ‘5 Questions.’
Q: It was a pretty wild race for Jordan and you. Explain the strategy behind your opening stint.
LESTER: It started raining about half an hour before the drop of the Green flag. We were in anticipation of rain, hoping it would hold off, but it didn't. And when it came, it came down in buckets.
Not only had I never been in a GT car in the rain, but I had never been on the new Continentals in the rain. So it was basically a roll of the dice in terms of what I was going to experience, because my expectations were just wide open.
So it was good to hand over the car to Jordan. The objective throughout the race was for me to hand it over to him in flawless condition so he could fight for the win. Once I gave it to him, he did just that.
He did a stellar job of holding off... veterans [like] Oliver Gavin, and Bill Auberlen who are seasoned accomplished road racers. He never put a wheel wrong and did a superb job, and he has a great future in this sport
for years to come.
We're happy about what we accomplished, and almost as if winning was a drug. Once you get a taste of it, all you want is more.
Q: Considering the historical perspective, plus winning in the hometown of Wendell Scott, is the victory extra special to you?
LESTER: I'm sure that the Scott family would be happy about what I was able to accomplish. I actually spent some time at the Scott residence in Danville and saw Wendell's old garage and sat in one of his racecars. I was actually fortunate enough to help induct Wendell Scott into the Sports Hall of Fame up in New York.
I've been fortunate enough to have been influenced by him. Even though this is a different type of racing, the fact of the matter is that I'm glad that I was able to represent minorities, basically, across the board.
That's not what I'm all about. The fact is that I'm just really proud that everything was able to come together. We've shown flashes of brilliance and this time we were able to put a dot over the I.
Q: Having started off in road racing, how does it feel to complete a full-circle in your motorsports career?
LESTER: It’s very gratifying. I started out in Sports Car Club of America Road Racing back in the mid '80s, in a very modest Mazda RX-3 with essentially a garage effort. I couldn't really afford to keep tires on the car.
To rise through the ranks of amateur racing into professional road racing, through IMSA, and through SCCA Trans-Am, SCCA World Challenge, GRAND-AM Cup, the 24 Hours of Daytona and numerous prestigious sports car races.
Then to go into NASCAR and start out in Busch Grand National, which is now the Nationwide Series, as the first black driver to ever compete in that sport, then to make it all the way up to the Cup Series is far surpassing what I thought I would ever accomplish in motorsports.
Then to finally come full circle, like you said, to come back to my roots, come back to sports cars, it's really fun for me. I've always enjoyed road racing, and to be able to do that with such a good outfit as Autohaus Motorsports and such an accomplished driver at such a young age in Jordan Taylor and to get the first victory for Chevrolet Camaro is a gratifying and superb accomplishment for everybody involved. So I'm very pleased by what we were able to accomplish.
For Lester, who teamed with Jordan Taylor in the No. 88 Autohaus Motorsports Camaro GT.R, the win proved to be extra special as it came in Danville, Va., the hometown of African-American NASCAR pioneer Wendell Scott.
With their win, Lester and Taylor move into third place in the GT standings, trailing championship leaders Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana by only 15 points heading into next weekend’s Memorial Day Classic at Lime Rock Park.
Earlier in the week, Lester checked in with the media to discuss the win and what’s next for he and Taylor. It’s all a part of the latest installment of ‘5 Questions.’
Q: It was a pretty wild race for Jordan and you. Explain the strategy behind your opening stint.
LESTER: It started raining about half an hour before the drop of the Green flag. We were in anticipation of rain, hoping it would hold off, but it didn't. And when it came, it came down in buckets.
Not only had I never been in a GT car in the rain, but I had never been on the new Continentals in the rain. So it was basically a roll of the dice in terms of what I was going to experience, because my expectations were just wide open.
So it was good to hand over the car to Jordan. The objective throughout the race was for me to hand it over to him in flawless condition so he could fight for the win. Once I gave it to him, he did just that.
He did a stellar job of holding off... veterans [like] Oliver Gavin, and Bill Auberlen who are seasoned accomplished road racers. He never put a wheel wrong and did a superb job, and he has a great future in this sport
for years to come.
We're happy about what we accomplished, and almost as if winning was a drug. Once you get a taste of it, all you want is more.
Q: Considering the historical perspective, plus winning in the hometown of Wendell Scott, is the victory extra special to you?
LESTER: I'm sure that the Scott family would be happy about what I was able to accomplish. I actually spent some time at the Scott residence in Danville and saw Wendell's old garage and sat in one of his racecars. I was actually fortunate enough to help induct Wendell Scott into the Sports Hall of Fame up in New York.
I've been fortunate enough to have been influenced by him. Even though this is a different type of racing, the fact of the matter is that I'm glad that I was able to represent minorities, basically, across the board.
That's not what I'm all about. The fact is that I'm just really proud that everything was able to come together. We've shown flashes of brilliance and this time we were able to put a dot over the I.
Q: Having started off in road racing, how does it feel to complete a full-circle in your motorsports career?
LESTER: It’s very gratifying. I started out in Sports Car Club of America Road Racing back in the mid '80s, in a very modest Mazda RX-3 with essentially a garage effort. I couldn't really afford to keep tires on the car.
To rise through the ranks of amateur racing into professional road racing, through IMSA, and through SCCA Trans-Am, SCCA World Challenge, GRAND-AM Cup, the 24 Hours of Daytona and numerous prestigious sports car races.
Then to go into NASCAR and start out in Busch Grand National, which is now the Nationwide Series, as the first black driver to ever compete in that sport, then to make it all the way up to the Cup Series is far surpassing what I thought I would ever accomplish in motorsports.
Then to finally come full circle, like you said, to come back to my roots, come back to sports cars, it's really fun for me. I've always enjoyed road racing, and to be able to do that with such a good outfit as Autohaus Motorsports and such an accomplished driver at such a young age in Jordan Taylor and to get the first victory for Chevrolet Camaro is a gratifying and superb accomplishment for everybody involved. So I'm very pleased by what we were able to accomplish.
Road Atlanta
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