Oakland's Bill Lester driving a NASCAR truck at Daytona and more in 05 (psst: he's black!)

Spike Lee made some dumb comment about rednecks and NASCAR last year.
Maybe he was trying to be funny. Hey Spike love the movies, even
Crooklyn (every time they were watching the Knicks on that tv I loved
it) but please try to follow along before you drop the bomb on NASCAR
in 2005.

In fact the story of Bill Lester would be (and is) a good one. Look for
truck number 22 this year. See the Daytona NASCAR truck race Friday 5pm
on Speed.

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From Bill Davis Racing:

A path less traveled is a good way to describe Bill Lester's journey
into NASCAR racing. Although his history does not mirror his fellow
competitors backgrounds, his abilities are rather similar. As he
competes in his fourth full season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
as the driver of the No. 22 Toyota Tundra, no one would ever question
his determination to be the best.

In 1984, Lester earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical
Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California,
Berkeley, and was soon hired at the Hewlett-Packard Company.

Lester worked as a project manager for Hewlett-Packard and raced on the
weekends. He desired to become a professional race car driver. After a
long conversation with his wife, Cheryl, he decided to make his dream a
reality.

Lester left his career in the high-tech industry and joined the Sports
Cart Club of America Series (SCCA). He claimed the SCCA Series Northern
California Region Rookie of the Year title and the SCCA GT-3 Regional
Road Racing Championship in 1985 and 1986.

In 1989, Lester began racing in the International Motor Sports
Association's (IMSA) GTO Series and several other sports car series in
the United States. He raced just about anything to get track time and a
chance to showcase his talent. He made four starts in the 24 Hours of
Daytona and several starts in the SCCA Trans AM Series.
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Before he moved back east to race I went to a house in Oakland with
allthese big racing trophies. It was in Ridgemont, above where 13 and
580 come together. I looked a little closer and holy sh*t it was
Lester's house! I knew about this guy and knew he was moving back east.
I asked if I could see the garage (heh heh) and inside was a nice 300zx
under a cover with a batterey charger hooked up. Fun Fun. He wasn't
there so I couldn't get an autograph...

And no I didn't make an offer.