By: Raphaël Lessard Racing
May 22 2019 

General Tire #Anywhereispossible 200 - May 31st, 2019

Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, Quebec – Raphael Lessard will race in the "General Tire #Anywhere is possible 200" on May 31st at the Pocono Raceway. This is his second race of the 2019 season for Raphael Lessard in the ARCA Menards Series with the KBR Development team, which will field only one car for this race. In Pensacola (FL) on March 9th, Raphael Lessard impressed by leading 83 of the 200 laps in the race. Thanks to the support of the company Les cuisines Thermo-Bois, the young Beauce driver is looking to get back on the podium at the wheel of car #28.

Every race added to Raphael Lessard’s program over the season is extremely important to him, as he needs as much track time as possible to develop his skills and gain experience, as well as learn as many new tracks as possible. This race will be his first one on the asymmetrical triangular track, nicknamed “The Tricky Triangle”, and he will benefit from some free practice on Wednesday, May 29th to give drivers more time to learn the intricacies of this wide and bumpy track. "I look forward to getting back at the wheel with the KBR team in Pocono. We want to maintain our highest performance level all the way to the checkered flag this time around," Raphael Lessard said with determination. As the only KBR driver for this event, Raphael Lessard will work with team owner Mike Bursley and Jeff Stankiewicz as Crew Chief, a winning team.

Iowa Practice session - NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series, May 20th – Newton (IA)

Raphael Lessard participated in a day of testing on Iowa Speedway to fine-tune the set-up of a Kyle Busch Motorsports (KBM) truck in preparation for the NASCAR truck race scheduled there for June 15th. This was the second special practice session of this sort for Raphael Lessard, as the KBM team and Toyota Racing Development (TRD) recognize the growing skills and experience of the young driver, and their confidence in his abilities continues to grow.

The renewed support of KBR, specialists in Super Late Model and ARCA series racing will help Raphael Lessard get up to competitive speed quickly, in practice and qualifying, and during the race as track conditions evolve.

*Schedule: http://bit.ly/2JrRXuY - Practice starts at 9am, qualifying is scheduled for 12pm, and the green flag will be waved on Friday, May 31st at 5:45pm (EST). The race will be broadcast on FOX (FS2) at 8pm.

ABOUT RAPHAEL LESSARD

Born on July 5, 2001, in Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, Quebec, Canada, Raphael Lessard is one of the most promising prospects in North American oval racing. Raphael made his debut in stock-cars in 2013, on local tracks in the Quebec City area. His exceptional talent quickly allowed him to climb the ladder and attract the attention of David Gilliland, a former NASCAR Monster Energy Series driver and now a team owner, in 2015. An agreement then allowed Lessard to participate in the last four races of the season in the PASS North Tour Series; a Late Model series on paved ovals, at the wheel of a David Gilliland Racing team car.

In 2016, his first full-time season with Gilliland Racing, Lessard won the CARS Super Late Model Tour title with four wins, 8 top five and 9 top ten in his No. 99 Toyota Camry, and thus becoming the youngest Canadian driver to win a major stock car series title in the United States. Since 2016, Lessard has been part of the Toyota Racing Development (TRD) prestigious driver development program. To date, he is the only Canadian to have been recruited into this program.

2018 - 16 races - Super Late Model with Kyle Busch Motorsports

· Two wins, seven top-5s and 13 top-10s

· Wins the U.S. Short Track Nationals race at Bristol Motor Speedway

· Wins the Red Bull 400 at Anderson Speedway

· Leads 60 laps at the famous Snowball Derby in December, before a mechanical problem puts him out of the race with only six (6) laps to go.

2017 - Competed in 20 Super Late Model races and two ARCA series races

· Two wins and eight top-5 finishes in the Super Late Model category

· A top-10 from two races in the ARCA series

· Voted the most popular driver in North America by Speed51.com

· Voted as one of the top 10 drivers to watch in 2017 by Speed51.com

· Named by Speed51.com Short Track Power Ranking as 7th best driver in the United States

2016 - Participated in 10 races

· CARS Super Late Model Series Champion

· Youngest Canadian driver to win a prestigious stock-car series in the United States

· Four wins, eight top-5s and nine top-10s in 10 races

ABOUT KBR Development

KBR is a team running the full 2019 ARCA Menards Series, operating out of a 11,000-square-foot headquarters installation in Zeeland, Michigan. KBR works with only the best industry experts and top manufacturers in all aspects of operations. Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series winner Erik Jones, Raphael Lessard, Brandon McReynolds and Carson Hocevar are just a few of the talented drivers to have driven for the team.

ABOUT FRL EXPRESS Inc.

F.R.L. Express Inc. is a general transportation company founded in 2004 by François Lessard. Its main field of activity over the last 15 years is general transport in closed trailers over short and long distances in Canada and the United States. FRL currently have about 50 employees in addition to about ten tow carriers. FRL owners are proud of the progress made in recent years thanks to the FRL team members and wishes to continue on this positive note. “Our employees, customer service and satisfaction are our priorities. We are all proud to be partners in the success and achievements of our son Raphael Lessard,” state the proud parents.

ABOUT ARCA

This professional Stock Car racing series is often used to develop young drivers on their way to more senior NASCAR series. Races take place on all types of paved tracks and on dirt. ARCA cars are based on older NASCAR Cup cars, using a standardized 700 hp Ilmor engine. ARCA races are often presented as part of a major NASCAR race weekend to showcase their young drivers in front of the NASCAR officials, sponsors, teams and VIPs.

The series has helped launch drivers such as Benny Parsons, Ken Schrader and Kyle Petty at the time, and more recently, Kyle Busch, Justin Allgaier, Casey Mears, and Sam Hornish, Jr.

Young drivers often find rides for the traditional ARCA race that is part of Daytona Speedweek at the start of the racing season. Driving in an event like that one is part of the process to qualify for a NASCAR race licence for Speedway races on tracks such as Daytona and Talladega in senior NASCAR Series. Racing in ARCA costs about 10% of racing in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.

ABOUT POCONO RACEWAY

This tri-oval opened in 1974 and features an asymmetrical configuration. Turn 1, inclined at 14 degrees, mimics the Trenton Speedway, while turn 2, inclined at 9 degrees, uses the Indianapolis Motor Speedway shape, and turn 3, inclined at 6 degrees, is based on the old Trenton Speedway. The three very different corner geometries mean that trajectories, corner speed, aerodynamics drag and downforce, bumps and how to pass a competitor in the corners vary greatly over one lap. The essentially flat corners and all taken at relatively high speeds that remind drivers of racing on a road course. Emerson Fittipaldi holds the top speed record at 340 km/h in an Indy Car, and Kyle Larson holds that record for NASCAR, at 295 km/h. ARCA cars are expected to approach 300 km/h at the finish line, on the longest straightaway in NASCAR.