Motorsports

Lester back in field; wants to do more Sunday

By TIMES WIRES
Published June 17, 2006

BROOKLYN, Mich. - Bill Lester, the first black driver to race in NASCAR's top stock car series in 20 years, backed up his solid qualifying run in March at Atlanta by making the field again Friday at Michigan International Speedway.

Now, the 45-year-old hopes to prove in Sunday's 3M Performance 400 that he can race as well as he qualifies.

In March, amid much ballyhoo, Lester finished 38th, six laps behind winner Kasey Kahne, who also showed the way Friday by winning the pole at Michigan.

"The first thing (at Atlanta) was just making the show and getting some experience," Lester said after qualifying 34th in the 43-car Michigan field. "We came up a little short that time. This time, our objective is to race the whole distance, to go all 400 miles. We want to be on the lead lap.

"If we do that, we're going to be very satisfied."

Kahne earned his 10th pole, fourth this season, at 185.644 on the 2-mile oval. That was just fast enough to beat four-time series champion Jeff Gordon (185.543).

A.J. Allmendinger was fired, got engaged, and landed a new job - all in the span of five days. He added to the past week's drama by winning the provisional pole for the Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland.

Allmendinger, in his debut for Forsythe Racing, had a fast lap of 58.378 seconds (121.114 mph) at Portland International Raceway. Two-time defending series champ and St. Petersburg resident Sebastien Bourdais was second at 120.936, followed by Allmendinger's teammate, Paul Tracy.

Friday, RuSport let Allmendinger go. Over the weekend, he proposed to Toronto chiropractor Lynne Kushnirenk. Then Forsythe hired him, letting Mario Dominguez go.

"Got the news on Friday, kind of got over the initial shock and was on the phone for a bit," Allmendinger said. "(Then) I just thought, why not, let's go get engaged in Niagara Falls. Got engaged, got hired on Tuesday."

Dindo Capello earned the pole as Audi R10s took the top two starting spots for the endurance classic in Le Mans, France, which starts today. Capello, Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen lead start first next to fellow American Le Mans Series competitors Marco Werner, Emanuele Pirro and Frank Biela.

A federal judge dismissed a class-action lawsuit against Formula One, tiremaker Michelin and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway by fans upset about the boycott of the U.S. Grand Prix by seven race teams last year. Judge Sarah Evans Barker ruled the fans had no basis to sue.

[Last modified June 17, 2006, 00:50:09]