4/2/2007
Bill Lester
Martinsville Makes for Bad Day for Ballew
With anticipation, Billy Ballew Motorsports headed to the Martinsville Speedway with two NASCAR Craftsman Trucks entered in the Kroger 250 at the .546-mile race track in Virginia. Bill Lester, the team’s primary driver, was in the No. 15 Red Top Auto Auction truck and Paul Menard, the NASCAR Nextel Cup and Busch Series regular, piloted the No. 51 Moen Faucets/Pittsburgh Paints Chevrolet Silverado as part of a joint venture with Dale Earnhardt, Inc.
Lester qualified his Silverado in the 19th place position, running 20.126 seconds at a speed of 94.087 miles per hour. Unfortunately, Lester’s engine expired on lap 37, placing him in the garage early with a 36th place finish. Lester’s weekend teammate, Menard, qualified in the 15th place position on the grid with a time of 20.097 seconds and a speed of 94.223-miles per hour. Menard ran 148 of the 250 laps when a crank shaft broke on the No. 51 placing him to the 33rd position in the race.
“It’s just unfortunate." Team owner, Billy Ballew said. “This was probably the best truck we had built for Bill (Lester) so far this season. He really looked like he was better then the (No.) 51 at the beginning of the race but it just wasn’t meant to be for either of them when Paul (Menard) broke a crank shaft on the (No.) 51 (truck). We are just going through a little bit of bad luck and I hope that we shake it off before Kansas. I know how hard these guys work and I would like to thank DEI for putting Paul in the No. 51 – we are just disappointed in the outcome for everyone.?
Submitted By: Philip Hampton
