Raphaël Lessard

Raphaël Lessard (pronounced "less-ard"; born July 5, 2001)[1] is a Canadian professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series driving the No. 24 Chevrolet Silverado for GMS Racing. He has also driven for Venturini Motorsports in the ARCA Racing Series, and Kyle Busch Motorsports and DGR-Crosley in the Truck Series.

Raphaël Lessard
Lessard at Martinsville Speedway in 2019
Born	July 5, 2001 St-Joseph-de-Beauce, Quebec, Canada
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
28 races run over 2 years
Truck no., team	No. 24 (GMS Racing)
2020 position	12th
Best finish	12th (2020)
First race	2019 TruNorth Global 250 (Martinsville)
Last race	2020 Lucas Oil 150 (Phoenix)
First win	2020 Chevrolet Silverado 250 (Talladega)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 9 0
NASCAR Pinty's Series career
2 races run over 1 year
2019 position	27th
Best finish	27th (2019)
First race	2019 Budweiser 300 (Chaudiere)
Last race	2019 Les 50 Tours Hotel Le Concorde (Trois-Rivieres)
First win	2019 Budweiser 300 (Chaudiere)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 1 0
Statistics current as of November 6, 2020.

Racing career

Lessard started racing in an old Honda Civic, winning his first race on the day of his twelfth birthday. He then ran Quebec sportsmans and super late models in Canada before moving to America.[2]

His first American racing experience came in the CARS Super Late Model Tour, driving the 2015 season for Toyota Racing Development and David Gilliland Racing.[3] In 2016, at age 15, and in grade 10, he became the second non-American to win the CARS Super Late Model series championship,[4] the other being Mario Gosselin, also a Canadian from Quebec, who accomplished the feat in 1997.[5] It was Lessard's first championship.[4] He won four of ten races during the season, including the season finale at Southern National Motorsports Park.[4] Lessard continued with Toyota and David Gilliland Racing to run late model racing in large events like the Winchester 400, Snowball Derby and various PASS Late Model, CRA Racing Series and ARCA Racing Series events.[6] He was disqualified from an April 2017 PASS race for intentionally wrecking other drivers, illegally passing under yellow, and inappropriate actions by his crew.[7]

He debuted in the ARCA Racing Series in 2017 driving for Venturini Motorsports.[8] He made the top ten in his second start at Winchester Speedway.[9]

On February 15, 2019, it was announced that Lessard will drive three races in the No. 46 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports in the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series.[10] Lessard started 7th and finished 14th in his Truck Series debut at Martinsville.[11] In June, he joined DGR-Crosley's No. 17 truck for the Iowa Speedway and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park races.[12]

In 2020, Lessard joined KBM for the full Truck season in the No. 4 Tundra.[13] Despite missing the playoffs, he won his first career Truck race at Talladega Superspeedway when he was leading as the caution came out on the final lap, becoming the first French Canadian to win in a NASCAR national series.[14]

Lessard lost his KBM ride to John Hunter Nemechek in 2021 and subsequently moved to GMS Racing to drive the No. 24. The plans initially outlined a 12-race schedule before it was increased to the full season.[15][16]

Personal life

Lessard's father was a race car driver but sold his cars to help move Raphaël's racing career.[17]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Camping World Truck Series

NASCAR Camping World Truck Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	NCWTC	Pts	Ref
2019	Kyle Busch Motorsports	46	Toyota	DAY	ATL	LVS	MAR 14	TEX	DOV 11	KAN	CLT	TEX								BRI 12							32nd	135	[18]
	DGR-Crosley	17	Toyota										IOW 9	GTW	CHI	KEN	POC	ELD	MCH
		54																			MSP 10	LVS	TAL	MAR	PHO	HOM
2020	Kyle Busch Motorsports	4	Toyota	DAY 20	LVS 30	CLT 15	ATL 18	HOM 11	POC 37	KEN 13	TEX 12	KAN 16	KAN 11	MCH 7	DAY 3	DOV 19	GTW 6	DAR 6	RCH 26	BRI 18	LVS 20	TAL 1	KAN 33	TEX 4	MAR 20	PHO 5	12th	563	[19]
2021	GMS Racing	24	Chevy	DAY	DAY	LVS	ATL	BRI	RCH	KAN	DAR	COA	CLT	TEX	NSH	POC	KNX	GLN	GTW	MSP	BRI	LVS	TAL	MAR	PHO

K&N Pro Series East

NASCAR K&N Pro Series East results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	NKNPSEC	Pts	Ref
2019	Bill McAnally Racing	50	Toyota	NSM	BRI 9	SBO	SBO	MEM	NHA	IOW	GLN	BRI	GTW	NHA	DOV	34th	35	[20]

Pinty's Series

NASCAR Pinty's Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	NPSC	Pts	Ref
2019	Dumoulin Compétition	07	Dodge	MSP	JUK	ACD 1*	TOR	SAS	SAS	EIR	CTR 7	RIS	MSP	ASE	NHA	JUK	27th	85	[21]

ARCA Menards Series

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

ARCA Menards Series results
Year	Team	No.	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	AMSC	Pts	Ref
2017	Venturini Motorsports	25	Toyota	DAY	NSH 33	SLM 13	TAL	TOL	ELK	POC	MCH	MAD	IOW	IRP	POC	WIN 10	ISF	ROA	DSF	SLM	CHI	KEN	KAN	51st	370	[22]
2019	KBR Development	19	Chevy	DAY	FIF 8	SLM	TAL	NSH	TOL	CLT														27th	615	[23]
		28									POC 4	MCH	MAD	GTW	CHI	ELK	IOW	POC 5	ISF	DSF	SLM	IRP	KAN

^* Season still in progress
¹ Ineligible for series points

References

1. "Raphael Lessard summary". Racing Reference. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
2. McDonald, Norris (2017-08-19). "Raphael Lessard, 16, is taking the stock-car racing world by storm". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
3. "Raphael Lessard – NASCAR Talk". nascar.nbcsports.com. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
4. "SLM: A Canadian Goes South and Claims CARS SLM Title". Speed51.com. 12 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
5. "Raphaël Lessard crowned champion of the 2016 CARS Super Late Model Tour". Edmonton Journal. 12 November 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
6. "Raphael Lessard 2017 DGR Race Schedule". David Gilliland Racing. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
7. "PASS Statement Regarding Raphael Lessard Disqualification At Hickory – race22.com". race22.online. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
8. "Quebec's Raphael Lessard returns...race-ready for Winchester". ARCA Racing. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
9. "Driver Raphael Lessard 2017 ARCA Racing Series Results - Racing-Reference.info". racing-reference.info. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
10. "Lessard Returns To KBM For Three Truck Races". Speed Sport. February 15, 2019. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
11. "An afternoon to remember for Raphael Lessard". Motorsport.com. March 23, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
12. "Lessard Picks Up Two Gander Trucks Races with DGR-Crosley". DGR-Crosley. June 6, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
13. "Canadian Raphael Lessard set to compete full-time for KBM in 2020". Kyle Busch Motorsports. November 14, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2019.
14. "Canadian rookie Raphael Lessard grabs NASCAR Truck series win at Talladega". ESPN.com. ESPN. AP. October 3, 2020. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
15. Long, Dustin (November 25, 2020). "Raphael Lessard joins GMS Racing for 2021 season". NBC Sports. Retrieved November 25, 2020.
16. Estrada, Chris (January 7, 2021). "Raphael Lessard to run full Truck Series season for GMS Racing". NBC Sports. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
17. Mio, Kevin (2016-12-06). "Raphael Lessard doesn't have a licence, but boy can he drive". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
18. "Raphael Lessard – 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
19. "Raphael Lessard – 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved November 6, 2020.
20. "Raphael Lessard – 2019 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
21. "Raphaël Lessard – 2019 NASCAR Pinty's Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
22. "Raphael Lessard – 2017 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
23. "Raphael Lessard – 2019 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 10, 2019.

External links

• Website
• Raphaël Lessard driver statistics at Racing-Reference