Handling issues hamper hopes of a top-10 finish for Bill Lester and the No.15 Billy Ballew Motorsports NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team Friday night at the California Speedway.

The Billy Ballew Motorsports team was riding high after an 11th place finish last week at the Daytona International Speedway and hoped to duplicate that success when Lester went out for his qualifying run Friday afternoon. Lester turned a first lap time of 41.572 seconds with a speed of 173.193mph. As Lester was building momentum for his second lap the truck became tight in the center of the corner sending him up the track and forcing him to scrub the lap. Lester would take his first lap time and start in the 15th position. (more…)

Bill Lester and the Billy Ballew Motorsports team ride into the California Speedway on momentum from the season opening NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race last week at the Daytona International Speedway. Lester, in his first race with the championship caliber team, started in a disappointing 33rd place position on the grid but drove the No. 15 Chevrolet Silverado to an 11th place finish in the 100 lap event at the famed superspeedway. Lester and Ballew hope they can keep that energy flowing when they take to the track this weekend for the running of the San Bernardino County 200.

“I’m excited and anxious to ride our Daytona momentum into California Speedway,” Bill Lester said. “It is always fun racing back to back weekends. In the past the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series had to wait over a month to five weeks to race again. But the last two years we have gone right from Daytona to California, which keeps the excitement rolling.” (more…)

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series 2007 season opening race Friday night proved to be a stellar start for Bill Lester and the No. 15 Billy Ballew Motorsports team during the running of the Silverado HD 250 at the Daytona International Speedway.

Lester’s weekend didn’t start as well as it ended after having to change the engine during the first practice on the famed 2.5-mile superspeedway. The team, led by Richie Wauters, knew they would have to start in the rear of the field for the 100 lap event and prepared the truck for the race, not putting emphasis on the qualifying laps. Still Lester was disappointed after posting a time of 52.22 seconds placing the Chevrolet Silverado in the 33rd position on the starting grid. (more…)

Bill Lester enters the 2007 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season with a lot of changes from his 2006 season.  Lester has joined Billy Ballew Motorsports and will be behind the wheel of Chevrolet Silverado’s for the first time in his career, which has given Lester a renewed spirit heading into the season-opener at the Daytona International Speedway.

Lester has made five career starts at the 2.5-mile superspeedway behind the wheel of a Craftsman truck with his best finish coming in 2004 when he finished 16th and his best start coming last season when he started on the outside of the front row.  Billy Ballew Motorsports placed their truck on the pole in 2005 with Kerry Earnhardt behind the wheel and earned their team’s best finish at Daytona in 2003 of fifth with Andy Houston.  This weekend the powerhouse duo of Lester and Ballew hope to bring their talents together for their first trip to victory lane in Daytona. (more…)