Congrats, Bill Lester!

I want to give a big Huzzah! to Bill Lester for being the first African-American to qualify for a Cup race in 20 years! For him to also qualify 19th (ahead of folks like Tony Stewart, Dale Jr., and Matt Kenseth) is tremendous. When I heard on Thursday that he was going to attempt to qualify, the analysts wished him luck but doubted he would make the field on time. I'm thrilled to see them proven wrong.

There's nothing that could help NASCAR's image as a redneck sport than to have more African-American drivers compete...especially in a regular ride. Given his age (45), I don't think Lester will be the Tiger Woods that NASCAR needs, but it's good to see this happen.

While watching the qualifying on Tivo this morning, Mike mentioned that when Wendell Scott won in Jacksonville in 1963 (the only win by an African-American), they had the 2nd place driver come to Victory Lane to celebrate. It wasn't until the crowd left the stands that Scott was allowed to celebrate his win.

x-posted in personal journal and _happy_hour