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Rafael Lessard opens his 2017 season this weekend in Georgia.

By: Rafael Lessard Racing
January 27 2017 

Another season is getting under way for the young driver from Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, Raphaël Lessard, winner of the CARS Tour Championship last November. His 2017 calendar will see him behind the wheel for 23 races, among them 20 Super Late Model races and 3 ARCA races with Venturini Motorsports.

Raphaël will be driving his Camry #99 FRL Express / Team Coach Imaging / Toyota-TRD / JBL Audio this Sunday afternoon at the CRA SpeedFest 200 in Cordele, Georgia.

After winning the 2016 CARS Super Late Model Tour championship in his very first season in the United States, Raphaël Lessard is back to business as usual this weekend at the wheel of his Camry # 99 FRL Express / Team Coach Imaging / Toyota-TRD / JBL Audio for a second season in the United States. The St-Joseph-de-Beauce native will begin his 2017, 23-race schedule this Sunday as part of the 2017 SpeedFest, held at Crisp Motorsports Park in Cordele, Georgia.

Unlike in 2016, the David Gilliland Racing team driver will not limit himself to a single championship in 2017. He will race in 4 different Super Late Model series, with 9 races in the CRA series, 5 races in the CARS series, 3 races in the PASS series, 2 races in the SSS series and the Snowball Derby at the end of the season, in addition to 3 ARCA races with the Venturini Motorsports team.

Sunday’s race will take place at the Watermelon Capital Speedway, a 3/8 mile (0.6 km) oval with moderately inclined corners.

The CRA SpeedFest 200 will be broadcast live on Speed51.com . You can also keep an eye on Raphaël's on-track performance — in real time — on Race-Monitor.com.

Who: Raphaël Lessard in his Camry #99 FRL Express/Team Coach Imaging/Toyota- TRD/JBLAudio car prepared by the David Gilliland Racing team

What: The CRA SpeedFest 200 - a 200-lap race.

When: Sunday, January 29, at approximately 2:30 pm EST

Qualifications: Saturday, January 28, 5:00 pm EST

Where: Crisp Motorsports Park, Cordele, Georgia