Lester looking for work as diversity dissolves

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- NASCAR's driver diversity plans have hit the brakes, leaving Bill Lester looking for a ride for 2004.

	Bill Lester

DaimlerChrysler has announced it will cease support at the end of this season for the program at Bobby Hamilton Racing that fielded Dodge trucks for the African-American driver in the Craftsman Truck Series.

A Dodge official said the company was currently unsure how the decision would affect its diversity scholarship program, which in its three-year existence tried to encourage minority candidates to pursue educations favoring careers in motorsports, particularly NASCAR racing.

"Diversity has always been very important to us here," Dodge motorsports spokesman Todd Goyer said. "We set out for a two-year program, always hoping that we'd be able to attract more companies, more corporations that would be interested in expressing their support for diversity in motorsports.

"That didn't happen last year, so we extended our sponsorship one more year through 2003."

Dodge finally had enough when it informed Hamilton several weeks ago it would not continue the program.

	The No. 8 truck may not be back in 2004. Credit: Autostock

"Basically, we can't carry the diversity flag in motorsports alone," Goyer said. "So we're not going to continue that (program) next year."

Willy T. Ribbs, formerly a winning sports car driver who moved through the ranks to Indy cars, was the inaugural Dodge diversity driver in 2001. For the past two seasons, Lester, a native of Washington, D.C., who grew up in the San Francisco bay area and also had a sports car background, drove BHR's diversity truck.

Lester won his first career Bud Pole earlier this season at Lowe's Motor Speedway, scored his first career top-10 finish and is 13th in points with three races remaining this season.

The No. 8 truck's most recent listed sponsors were Strauss Auto Parts and The Club. In addition, General Mills positioned Lester on boxes of Honey Nut Cheerios this summer, but the support was not what Dodge had anticipated.

NASCAR, which has stepped up its effort to diversify its sport on every level, will attempt to maintain an active diversity program, vice president for corporate communications Jim Hunter said Thursday.

"We're going to press on with our diversity initiatives," Hunter said. "Obviously you hate to see anyone withdraw from a program, but we don't think this will have a major effect."

	Bill Lester

"I know diversity is very important to (NASCAR)," said Goyer, who added that the Dodge diversity scholarship program had put nearly 30 candidates into training in its three years of existence.

"Of course, we're still going to honor (current scholarships)," Goyer said. "The scholarship program is still being evaluated right now (and) we haven't made a decision."

Hamilton said the decision was more indicative of a generally "soft" financial climate that has led to a paucity of sponsors on every level of NASCAR racing rather than a specific lack of support for diversity.

"I think that's all it is," Hamilton said. "(The economy is) terrible right now (and) this was more monetary than it is anything. A lot of race teams are fighting it right now. "

Hamilton, whose three Truck Series teams are all Dodge factory-supported, lauded the manufacturer for its commitment to the diversity program, and stressed that the company had not cut its racing support one bit.

"There's even more money being spread around more equally, in terms of engineering support and what have you," Hamilton said. "Even though they said they were going to cut here and change there, they said I wouldn't notice a difference at the end of the rainbow and I haven't at all -- if anything, it's been better."

But that didn't save Lester's program.

"I don't think it's really sunk in for everyone, yet," Hamilton said. "The disappointment is on Dodge's part, too, I can promise you (because) they pushed every envelope they could to try not to do this (end program).

"They just couldn't get any support (but) the bottom line is, they run well beyond the term that they anticipated going, in all fairness to them.

"It hurts me a little bit as an owner, but I'm OK with it because they've done more than their part, as far as a (legitimate) diversity program. I've seen other manufacturers do what they called a diversity program -- where they spent a couple thousand dollars to put someone on retainer just to say they had one (a diversity program).

"Nobody's stepped up and done a program like Dodge has."

Hamilton said he doesn't have signed deals in place for any of his trucks for next season but that he was "confident" that his two primary sponsors would return. Square D backs the No. 4 Ram that Hamilton has driven to a victory, 15 top-10 finishes and sixth in the points. Dickies has sponsored Chad Chaffin's No. 18 truck (eight top-10s, 10th in points).

"I feel confident about it (because) all three of my sponsors have had decent years," Hamilton said. "They would like to have done better and so would I, but everyone understands it's a building process and there's light down the end of the tunnel."

Lester could end up still in Hamilton's No. 8 truck but the owner Thursday said he anticipated running a two-truck program in 2004.

"We hope that Bill ends up in the Bobby Hamilton Racing No. 8 Dodge Ram next year, for sure," Goyer said. "He's represented us well (but) we can't do it alone."

"We feel confident that Bill, with the ability he's shown on the track will be competing somewhere next year," Hunter said. "No. 1, there's no question he can drive a truck; and No. 2, he's a classy representative for not only the Craftsman Truck Series, but for the sport overall."