Bill Lester started the Golden Corral 500, a day later than scheduled due to rain, from the 19th position after an impressive qualifying run on Friday night at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. With a goal of finishing all 325 laps, Lester came close to accomplishing that as he would finish the event in the 38th position, six laps down from the race winner, but with a tremendous amount of experience from his career-first NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race.

"I can't even believe how much I learned today racing with the most talented stock car drivers in the world," said Lester. "I know that the experience I was able to gain from this race will make me that much better when we get the Michigan in June. In fact, at this point I can hardly wait to get there in order to use what I have learned. Being able to run laps behind drivers like Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and so many others just teaches a driver so many things about handling these race cars. They are a lot harder to hold on to than the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks which you can really beat and bang without loosing control."

"This entire experience has just been unbelievable," said Lester. "I have to thank Bill Davis Racing and Championship Group for giving me the opportunity to fulfill my dream of racing a NASCAR Nextel Cup car at my home race track of Atlanta Motor Speedway and I just can't wait to get behind the wheel of one of these cars again in June."

The next NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race for Lester is scheduled for April 1 at the Martinsville Speedway while his next NASCAR Nextel Cup Series event is scheduled for June 18 at the Michigan International Speedway.

Lester took the green flag from the 19th starting position and quickly began experiencing NASCAR Nextel Cup racing and being surrounded by veterans of the sport. Lester immediately started working various racing lines on the track to determine the most comfortable area for his Waste Management car. By lap six of the event, Lester had moved to the 25th position and began feeling an extreme loose condition in the center of the corner.

When the first caution flag was displayed on lap 15, Lester brought his Waste Management car to the attention of crew chief Rick Viers and his Bill Davis Racing led pit crew. The team would give him four fresh tires and fuel along with wedge in the left-rear of the car to try and tighten the car in the center of the corner. As the field took the green flag again on lap 20, Lester noted an improvement with the change, but he was still having trouble powering off the corners.

In order to fight the loose condition off the corners, Lester began trying a higher line on the race track, but nothing seemed to help make the car any tighter. Another caution flag on lap 41 enabled Viers to make more drastic adjustments to the car by lowering the track bar and putting a spring rubber in the left-rear of the car. On the lap 47 restart, Lester quickly showed faster lap times and a more stable car in the corners allowing him to run near the apron of the track and gain positions. But by lap 64, the car would get free again keeping Lester from driving the car as hard into the corners as he would like. Lap 66 brought out a needed caution for the Waste Management team in order to allow them even more adjustments for Lester. Following this last set of adjustments, Lester noted that his car had now gone too far to the other side and developed a tight condition.

Viers and the Bill Davis led crew would continue altering many of the early-race adjustments that were used to fix the loose condition to now work to fix the tight condition. Four more pit stops through the race would allow the team to get the car much closer and improve lap times for Lester. With consistent lap times and an overall smooth run this afternoon, Lester would have only minor mishap which came on lap 244 when he made slight contact with the outside wall in turn four.

Lester made his final pit stop on lap 306 allowing him to finish the race with four fresh tires and some of his fastest lap times of the day. Lester would take the checkered flag in his inaugural NASCAR Nextel Cup race in the 38th position, six laps down.

"Rick (Viers) and this entire Bill Davis Racing team did a great job for me today," said Lester. "They never gave up and we kept making adjustments to the car until the very last pit stop. We were real loose early in the race and then in one stop we went clear to the other side and made the car too tight. Toward the end of the race we were fighting a snapping loose feeling at the exit of the corners and that was keep me from getting back to the throttle too quickly. But overall this was a great day for experience and I think our whole team has learned a lot about these cars and we will be ready for a solid run at Michigan in June."