Eventful race for Raphaël Lessard at Kalamazoo Speedway

The 125-lap race was held on Wednesday evening at the Kalamazoo Speedway in Michigan, a paved 3/8-mile high-banked oval.

While Busch started from the third row, Lessard, a Toyota Racing Development driver, was forced to take the green flag from the back of the field because of changes made to the car between the qualification session and the race.

Lessard had a chance to rub elbows with Busch when they were battling side-by-side for seventh place. Unfortunately, a rival pushed Busch into the wall, which forced him to lose positions, resulting in a 13th-place finish for the NASCAR star driver. 

Lessard drove his No. 99 Toyota Camry FRL Express/Toyota-TRD/JBL Audio into the Top 10. During a restart, a rival tried to block Lessard. The two cars touched, and the contact caused damaged to the front end of the Toyota. Towards the end of the race, another fender-bender prevented Lessard from finishing in the Top 5.

“Near the end of the race, I was able to follow the other drivers, we were then seventh when we hit some traffic,” the teenager recalled. “One of the back markers pushed me up the track, and I tried to brake to avoid him. Unfortunately I touched him, which sent him into a spin. I lost part of my front bumper in the incident, so my car was no longer aerodynamic.”

The young Canadian will contest a race of the CRA Series August 12 at the Flat Rock Speedway in Michigan.