Longtime NASCAR Driver Admits He Was ‘Floored’ By Confederate Ban
Longtime NASCAR driver Bill Lester, 60, has seen a lot over his years in the sport.
Lester, who hasn’t raced in a NASCAR event in 14 years, recently admitted that he was “floored” by the sport’s decision to ban the confederate flag – floored in a good way.
The longtime NASCAR driver thanked Bubba Wallace for his influence in the sport and the use of his platform to spark change.
“Bubba was really fortunate to be able to take advantage of the platform that he had being at the top level of the sport to be able to say, ‘You know what, NASCAR? You talk about being America’s sport, well, prove it. Ban the Confederate flag. See if you really want to put your money where your mouth is.’ And NASCAR, to their credit, did.
“I was floored. I was blown away. I was so moved that I sent an email to [NASCAR president] Steve Phelps and said, ‘Thank you. I really appreciate what you did. That was a huge statement.’ Because when I was racing on a more consistent basis in the mid-2000s, ears were not ready to hear it. There was no platform that I had to be able to say the things that Bubba did and let them gain traction. They sunk in this time.”
Bill Lester competed in trucks in the mid-2000s & will race a truck Saturday at Atlanta. Lester, whose two 2006 Cup starts made him the only Black driver in Cup between Willy T. Ribbs in 1986 and Bubba Wallace in 2017, said he was floored when NASCAR banned the Confederate flag. pic.twitter.com/FoT42vHQcl
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) March 16, 2021
Lester added that he would love to see more Black drivers in the sport like Wallace.
“For young, Black youth or youth of color, they have to see more athletes that look like them in this sport, right?” Lester said. “They need to see more Bubba Wallaces or Bubba Wallace having more success. It’s going to come. I believe, honestly, that it’s going to come with that program. But you know, folks are expecting way too much too soon. It’s not going to happen overnight. …
“But as soon as somebody like Bubba starts winning and more folks from the Black community start seeing that and realizing that’s something that they can do — because they see that, they have that exposure — then that’ll be something they start trying to do.”
Lester recently published a book, Winning In Reverse: Defying the Odds and Achieving Dreams, that can be purchased here.
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