By: Raphaël Lessard Racing   
April 7 2019 

Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, Quebec – Raphaël Lessard once again demonstrated his talent on Saturday at the Bristol Motor Speedway, behind the wheel of the Toyota #50 NAPA Belts & Hoses | FRL Express. Starting from the back of the grid (17th), Raphael charged through the pack up to an impressive 7th place by lap 104 of the 150-lap race. Faced with mechanical issues from Friday’s practice sessions, the young driver rose to the challenge with flying colours on the fastest half-mile track in the world.

Driving a K&N car for the first time at Bristol Motor Speedway was no problem for Raphael Lessard, who already had some winning experience at Bristol in Super Late Model cars. Raphael Lessard has also demonstrated his quick adaptability to different cars that were new to him, as in an ARCA car and in a NASCAR Gander Outdoors Series truck earlier this season.

During the first practice session on Friday (April 5th), the car suffered from serious understeer going into corners 1 and 3, and oversteering coming out of corners 2 and 4, causing the loss of at least half a second over the full lap, a costly problem on this short and quick track. According to Raphael Lessard, the engine also lacked some power compared to the competition, which further complicated driving.

These issues did not allow Raphael Lessard to demonstrate his full potential during practice and qualifying. On Saturday (April 6th), the Bill McAnally Racing (BMR) team made some minor adjustments within the limits of the K&N Pro Series East rules, and to further complicate matters, Raphael Lessard was moved to the back of the starting grid by the K&N officials following a penalty to the team.

During the race, Raphaël Lessard showed his usual determination as he drove hard to draw the most performance out of the car. "I pushed 200 % from start to finish, always looking for the quickest lines as the track surface and racing conditions evolved from the top to the middle and bottom of the track. It worked as I was getting more and more speed from the car," said the young driver after the race. "When passing cars, I analyze and plan the manoeuvres to reduce lost time, driving behind the car to find a loophole and deciding how and where to overtake. If it doesn't work, I repeat the process or change tactics, without losing patience and concentration."

In the end, Raphael Lessard drove the car above its potential from start to finish, without unduly pushing people around or damaging his ride, a sign of growing professionalism from a young driver who is rapidly gaining in maturity and efficiency on the track.

After the race, Raphael Lessard said the he was happy with his race as he had gained valuable experience during the 150 laps on the track where he will drive in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series event on August 15th. "I really learned a lot: reading the evolution of trajectories from lap to lap, how to make a heavier car react more quickly, managing brake use and tire wear, adjusting to an engine with less power, losing as little time as possible in heavy traffic on a small track, and overtaking from the top groove as the others run the inside groove to protect their position. This was a satisfying and important day for me, and I will certainly be near the front next time here," concluded the proud and happy driver.

Raphael Lessard returns to the track on May 3rd at the Dover International Speedway for a NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series race, with the Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) team.

2019 Season

About The Bristol Motor Speedway

The tight configuration of the short track makes it one of the most difficult to drive on consistently quickly. The track never gives the driver a real break to relax his hands and forearms as me must steer the car every inch of the way. The approximately 30 cars on the half-mile track have the effect of doubling the traffic density compared to a 1-mile track, for example. The driver feels like he is always in very heavy traffic, which complicates passing.

In addition, the top of the windshield hides the racetrack when in the corners and forces the pilot to raise his head to look up and to the left rather than ahead on a less elevated course. In addition, the combination of speed and inertia in turns pushes the driver to the right and down into the seat, making it hard to breathe in the corners and leaving barely enough time to do so on the short straightaways, in less than five seconds.

The short, 15 second lap requires full concentration from the driver at all times, a zero-tolerance drive from start to finish.

About Raphael Lessard

Born on July 5th, 2001, in St-Joseph-de-Beauce, Quebec, Canada, Raphael Lessard is one of the hottest prospects in North-American racing today. Raphael made his debut as a race car driver in 2013, around local tracks in the Quebec City area. A quick learner, Lessard moved up the ranks through 2014, and in 2015 caught the eye of ex-NASCAR Cup Series driver David Gilliland. This led to Lessard running in last four races of the season on the PASS North Tour; an asphalt late model division, driving for David Gilliland Racing. In 2016, his first full-time season with Gilliland, Lessard won the CARS Super Late Model Tour Championship with four wins, eight top-five and nine top-ten finishes in his No. 99 Toyota Camry. He also became the youngest Canadian race car driver to win in a USA-based major stock car series. Since 2016, Lessard is part of Toyota’s prestigious driver development program (TRD). To this day, he is the only Canadian to be recruited into this program. Raphael Lessard Racing

About Bill Mcanally Racing (BMR)

Veteran team owner Bill McAnally has an excellent reputation as one of the best teams in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, with eight championships to his name, a NASCAR K&N Pro West series record, and wins in other regional NASCAR series. The team based in Roseville, California, USA, has won more than 90 victories in the East and West divisions in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series - the most important NASCAR series in terms of driver, crew and official development.

About Toyota

Toyota (NYSE:TM), creator of the Prius hybrid and the Mirai fuel cell vehicle, is committed to building vehicles for the way people live through our Toyota and Lexus brands. Over the past 60 years, we've built more than 30 million cars and trucks in North America, where we operate 14 manufacturing plants (10 in the U.S.) and directly employ more than 44,000 people (more than 34,000 in the U.S.). Our 1,800 North American dealerships (nearly 1,500 in the U.S.) sold nearly 2.6 million cars and trucks (2.45 million in the U.S.) in 2016 - and about 85 percent of all Toyota vehicles sold over the past 15 years are still on the road today.

About FRL Express Inc.

F.R.L. Express Inc. is a general trucking company founded in December 2004 by François Lessard, specializing in general transportation in closed trailers, on short or long distances, in Canada and in the United States. Our team now employs about fifty logistics specialists as well as ten contracted truck drivers. We are proud of our business growth and evolution since our inception and recognize the hard work of every member of our team who contributed to our success. Our business priorities are taking care of our team members, providing flawless customer service, and ensuring complete customer satisfaction. We contribute to the success of our son Raphael Lessard and are very proud of his accomplishments.

Hightlights

2018 - Competed in 16 Super Late Model events for Kyle Busch Motorsports
• Earned two wins, seven top-five and 13 top-10 finishes
• Won the U.S. Short Track Nationals at Bristol Motor Speedway
• Won the Red Bull 400 at Anderson Speedway
• Led 60 laps at the prestigious Snowball Derby in December when a leak put him out of the race with 6 laps to go.


2017 - Competed in 20 Super Late Model and two ARCA Series events
• Earned two wins and eight top-five finishes in Super Late Model competition
• Captured one top-10 in two starts in ARCA competition

2016 – Competed in 10 races
• CARS Super Late Model Series Champion
• Youngest Canadian driver to win in a USA-based major stock series
• Four wins, eight top-five and nine top-10 finishes in the 10-race schedule
• Voted most popular driver in North America for 2016 by Speed51.com
• Named Top-10 Pavement Short Track Driver to watch in 2017 by Speed51.com
• Voted as the seventh-ranked driver in the United States by Speed51.com’s Short Track Power Ranking