Raphaël Lessard

Raphaël Lessard (pronounced "less-ar"; born July 5, 2001)[1] is a Canadian professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, driving the No. 4 Toyota Tundra for Kyle Busch Motorsports. He has also driven for Venturini Motorsports in the ARCA Racing Series.

Raphaël Lessard
Lessard at Martinsville Speedway in 2019
Born (2001-07-05) July 5, 2001
St-Joseph-de-Beauce, Quebec, Canada
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series career
17 races run over 2 years
Truck no., teamNo. 4 (Kyle Busch Motorsports)
2019 position32nd
Best finish32nd (2019)
First race2019 TruNorth Global 250 (Martinsville)
Last race2020 Sunoco 159 (Daytona)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 4 0
NASCAR Pinty's Series career
2 races run over 1 year
2019 position27th
Best finish27th (2019)
First race2019 Budweiser 300 (Chaudiere)
Last race2019 Les 50 Tours Hotel Le Concorde (Trois-Rivieres)
First win2019 Budweiser 300 (Chaudiere)
Wins Top tens Poles
1 1 0
Statistics current as of August 16, 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]

Personal life

Lessard's father was a race car driver but sold his cars to help move Raphaël's racing career.[14]

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.)

Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors 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 NGTC Pts Ref
2019 Kyle Busch Motorsports 46 Toyota DAY ATL LVS MAR
14		 TEX DOV
11		 KAN CLT TEX BRI
12		 32nd 135 [15]
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 GTW DAR RCH BRI LVS TAL KAN TEX MAR PHO -* -* [16]

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 [17]

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 [18]

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 [19]
2019 KBR Development 19 Chevy DAY FIF
8		 SLM TAL NSH TOL CLT 27th 615 [20]
28 POC
4		 MCH MAD GTW CHI ELK IOW POC
5		 ISF DSF SLM IRP KAN

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. Mio, Kevin (2016-12-06). "Raphael Lessard doesn't have a licence, but boy can he drive". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
  15. "Raphael Lessard – 2019 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 23, 2019.
  16. "Raphael Lessard – 2020 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  17. "Raphael Lessard – 2019 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  18. "Raphaël Lessard – 2019 NASCAR Pinty's Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
  19. "Raphael Lessard – 2017 ARCA Racing Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  20. "Raphael Lessard – 2019 ARCA Menards Series Results". Racing-Reference. Retrieved March 10, 2019.
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