Press Release (For Immediate Release) _________________________________________ RAPHAEL LESSARD READY FOR HIGH BRISTOL SPEEDS IN NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES EAST 150 laps on the fastest half mile in the world - Saturday, April 6 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 FANSCHOICE.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. 2019 Season DATE RACE SERIES TEAM GRID FINISH Notes March 9, Five Flags Speedway, KBR Led 83 of 150 lap ARCA 6e 8e 2019 Pensacola, USA Development race March 23, Martinsville Speedway, Gander Outdoors Kyle Busch 7e 14e --- 2019 Virginia, USA Truck Motosports April 6, Bristol Motor Speedway, Bill McAnally K&N Pro Series East 2019 Tennessee, USA Racing Dover International May 3, Gander Outdoors Kyle Busch Speedway, Delaware, 2019 Truck Motosports USA August 15, Bristol Motor Speedway, Gander Outdoors Kyle Busch 2019 Tennessee, USA Truck Motosports -30- High resolution images: https://bit.ly/2FKliOj ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 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 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 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. MEDIA CONTACT: Mario Lachance, coordinator Raphael Lessard Racing Cell phone : 418.369.9209 – E-mail : [email protected] Follow Raphael Lessard: Site Web Facebook Twitter Instagram Google Drive 3 .