Raphael Lessard Ready For High Bristol Speeds In Nascar K&N Pro Series East
Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce (Quebec, Canada) - April 2, 2019 - Raphael Lessard will compete for the first time this Saturday, April 6 in a NASCAR K&N Pro Series East race on the fastest half mile oval in the world, the Bristol Motor Speedway. He will be at the wheel of the #50 Gates | FRL Express Toyota, prepared by the Bill McAnally Racing (BMR) team. Raphael Lessard intends to return with nothing less than victory. Bristol has been good to the young driver who has already won a Super Late Model event there on May 28, 2018.
Raphael Lessard will be on his third visit on this track, which he knows well thanks to his on-track experience as well as to the hours spent on his DCX Simulator at home. "I like high speeds in corners and the pressure on my body when high on the banking. I'm certainly going to have fun," added the young driver.
THE DETAILS
Series NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES EAST
The race Zombie Race 150, 80 miles
Date April 6, 4 p.m.
The track Bristol Motor Speedway
Lap record Brian Gerster, 150 mph/242 kph, Xtreme Sprint Car
Layout Oval paved course, 0.533 miles, parabolic banking from 26 to 30 degrees
TESTING IN NASHVILLE AND MORE INFORMATION ON THE MARTINSVILLE NASCAR TRUCK RACE
At the request of Kyle Busch, and as further testimony to his confidence in him, Raphael Lessard headed to Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville (Tennessee, United States) on Monday after Martinsville to drive in testing and development work on the Super Late Model machine that Kyle Busch will use in the All American 400 race on April 14 in Nashville.
Raphael Lessard, interviewed by phone after the testing session, shared an analysis of his driving performance in the Martinsville NASCAR Truck race of last Saturday, March 23. "Qualifying 7th and my early race pace convinced me that I can keep up with the best drivers in the series. I do, however, need to work on a better set-up for long runs, specifically improve my cornering speed in transitions between corners 1 and 2, and between corners 3 to 4, i.e. during the maximum change of direction phases. And while doing this, I must also continue to reaccelerate as early as possible coming out of corners to maximize my speed down the straightaways," said the young driver.
Post-race discussions with Kyle Busch Motorsports technical staff ensured a good understanding of this dynamic by Raphael Lessard, enough to apply it during the tests in Nashville. He mentioned that he had been able to improve both manoeuvres, especially on better corner exits.
- The Zombie 150 race will be presented live on TV, Saturday, April 6th at 4pm, (https://www.fanschoice.tv/schedule?view=default)
- The race will be streamed on april 11th at 4pm, at NBCSN.
