Lessard Tops First Truck Practice On Bristol Dirt

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Whether it was due in part to favorable track conditions early, or “just a little bit of luck,” Raphael Lessard paced the opening round of NASCAR Camping World Truck Series practice Friday on the dirt at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Lessard, driving the No. 24 Chevrolet Silverado, turned a best lap of 19.384 seconds (92.860 mph) on his 11th of 31 tours around the .533-mile, dirt-covered high banks.

The 19-year-old Canadian almost looked perplexed when giving his account of his fast lap after the end of the session. Lessard came into the weekend with no competitive dirt experience in his racing career.

“I’m not sure, honestly, how we did it,” Lessard admitted. “I guess it’s a lot like driving in the snow back home [in Canada]. Thanks to everyone at GMS Racing for building a fast Chevy Silverado. We’ve been spending time at a local dirt track [Millbridge Speedway] with a micro sprint trying to get ready. We knew the race track would change throughout the session, but I’m really happy to be P1 early.

“There’s a long way to go, though.”

Lessard was among a handful of NASCAR national series drivers to tune up for the Bristol dirt weekend by turning laps at the sixth-mile Millbridge dirt oval prior to coming to The Last Great Coliseum.

“It’s two different things, but every little bit helps,” he noted.

Carson Hocevar, who has run on dirt in the past at the Tulsa Shootout, was second-quick for Niece Motorsports at 19.396 seconds (92.803 mph).

He was followed by Hailie Deegan’s David Gilliland Racing-prepared Ford, with another Ford in Chase Briscoe and the Toyota of Stewart Friesen filling out the top five spots on the speed charts.

Sixth through 10th were Todd Gilliland, Sheldon Creed, Tyler Ankrum and Brett Moffitt.

Gilliland had the fastest 10-lap average during first Truck Series practice, at 91.525 mph.

There were numerous spins during the session, with Danny Bohn and Jake Griffin sharing the dubious distinction of having the most trouble. Both drivers had a pair of spins during first practice.

Even dirt dominator Kyle Larson, who won 46 times in various dirt cars a year ago, wasn’t immune. He did a 360-degree spin inside of 10 minutes to go in opening practice. Larson ended up 12th quickest.

Final practice for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series takes place at 5:30 p.m. ET, live on FS1.

PRACTICE RESULTS: NASCAR Camping World Truck Series; Bristol Motor Speedway; March 26, 2021

1. #24 – Raphael Lessard, 19.384
2. #42 – Carson Hocevar, 19.396
3. #1 – Hailie Deegan, 19.418
4. #04 – Chase Briscoe, 19.432
5. #52 – Stewart Friesen, 19.465
6. #15 – Tanner Gray, 19.483
7. #38 – Todd Gilliland, 19.502
8. #2 – Sheldon Creed, 19.525
9. #26 – Tyler Ankrum, 19.579
10. #45 – Brett Moffitt, 19.588
11. #4 – John Hunter Nemechek, 19.592
12. #44 – Kyle Larson, 19.603
13. #23 – Chase Purdy, 19.620
14. #88 – Matt Crafton, 19.688
15. #21 – Zane Smith, 19.695
16. #17 – Kevin Harvick, 19.706
17. #22 – Austin Wayne Self, 19.725
18. #99 – Ben Rhodes, 19.729
19. #62 – Jessica Friesen, 19.760
20. #33 – Myatt Snider, 19.811
21. #98 – Grant Enfinger, 19.821
22. #11 – Bubba Wallace, 19.849
23. #34 – Jake Griffin, 19.879
24. #75 – Parker Kligerman, 19.881
25. #56 – Mike Marlar, 19.883
26. #13 – Johnny Sauter, 19.899
27. #18 – Chandler Smith, 19.901
28. #49 – Andrew Gordon, 19.935
29. #51 – Martin Truex Jr., 19.970
30. #30 – Danny Bohn, 19.993
31. #9 – Codie Rohrbaugh, 20.036
32. #3 – JR Heffner, 20.069
33. #16 – Austin Hill, 20.069
34. #40 – Ryan Truex, 20.104
35. #41 – Cody Erickson, 20.113
36. #25 – Timothy Peters, 20.145
37. #19 – Derek Kraus, 20.205
38. #39 – Ryan Newman, 20.233
39. #6 – Norm Benning, 20.635
40. #12 – Tate Fogleman, 20.734
41. #83 – Trevor Collins, 20.841
42. #02 – Daniel Suarez, 20.894
43. #20 – Spencer Boyd, 21.169