Black Race Car Driver In NASCAR

It is still news in the 21st Century for a black person to be the first or only one of his or her race engaging in some activity that we were excluded from for centuries, or in the case of race care driving, decades. Alas, Bill Lester, left, is the first black in 20 years to race in NASCAR's top stock-car series. Waste Management is one of his top sponsors.

A native of Washington, D.C., Lester, now 45, moved to California at an early age. In 1984, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. He worked at Hewlett-Packard for a few years before deciding he wanted to focus on auto racing. He now lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife Cheryl, and their son William Alexander IV (Alex).