World News – CA – Canadian Raphael Lessard wins wild truck race at Talladega

Stewart Friesen and Lessard led the way on a restart with two of the 94 laps remaining and they were still side by side with one lap to go

On the last lap, Friesen and Lessard took turns blocking the advances of the other drivers and Friesen rolled over, igniting a wreckage on his back which put the race on bail

When the warning was posted, Lessard – who was receiving a push from Ben Rhodes – was right in front of Trevor Bayne and claimed the win

“Oh my God, that was awesome,” Lessard said “First of all I just want to thank everyone back home, my team Kyle Busch Motorsports Can’t believe it This is just my second superspeedway race

« Getting my first Truck Series win here is amazing I don’t know who was behind me but he gave me a hell of a boost I can’t thank him enough He pushed me as hard as I did could and I was just for the ride

« The warning came at the right time I’m so happy I have to burn out after the win I hope I can do some more »

Lessard said he moved to Mooresville, NC, in January and it was difficult not being able to see his family much with the COVID-19 restrictions “It’s a crazy year to be the first time that I am moving from my home and my family to Quebec, Canada ”, he declared

« Haven’t seen them in a while and want to tell everyone I needed this We had a tough season but this is feeling really good »

Bayne finished second in the race, Chandler Smith third, Rhodes fourth and Codie Rohrbaugh completed the top five

Two drivers – Christian Eckes and Todd Gilliland – were eliminated from competition for the title in the qualifiers

Rhodes, Matt Crafton, Brett Moffitt, Sheldon Creed, Grant Enfinger, Tyler Ankrum, Austin Hill and Zane Smith advanced to the playoff semifinals

Following the break between stages 2 and 3, several drivers in the pit but Moffitt stayed on the track and inherited the lead

As the 45th round restarted, Moffitt led the way followed by Creed, Derek Kraus, Ankrum and Johnny Sauter

On lap 47, Gilliland appeared to lose an engine as the peloton spun on their backs Tanner Gray lost control of his truck as the terrain was checking out and crashed into the inside wall

The race turned green on lap 54 with Moffitt in the lead followed by Creed and Kraus

On lap 55 Rhodes took first place and one lap later Sauter took first place

With 30 laps to go, Austin Hill and Kraus hit the pit lane for their final green flag pit stop, but Hill was penalized for speeding on the pit lane and had to serve a driving penalty

Once the cycle of stops was completed on lap 82, Creed returned to the lead followed by Moffitt and Kaz Grala

With 10 laps to go, Creed kept a small lead over Moffitt with Friesen third

On lap 88, NASCAR posted a warning for debris as Creed shredded a tire and lost pace Friesen inherited the lead just before the warning

Most of the cars on the first lap opted to pit, but Friesen stayed on the track and in the lead when the race turned green with two laps to go

Kraus won the second stage with caution when a warning was posted for a wreckage with three laps to go on the stage

Following the break between stages 1 and 2, several trucks chose to present with Eckes the first road out of the pits He was penalized, however, for speeding on the pit lane and had to start again from the back of the field

With 10 laps left of the second stage, Kraus continued to lead the ball followed by Sauter and Chandler Smith

On lap 37, Gray shot down Gus Dean at turn 4, sending Dean spinning and crashing into the interior retaining wall

Austin Hill emerged victorious from a side-by-side duel with Creed to claim the victory of Stage 1

Creed, who started on pole, led the first lap, only to see Austin Hill complete the second lap at the line and Creed retreating ahead on lap 3 Hill led the line again on lap 5

On lap 7, Ford of Enfinger developed a tire on his left rear tire He was forced to make a green flag pit stop on lap 11 for a puncture

By lap 13, Creed had regained the lead but made contact with Austin Hill, which slowed down the peloton and set off a chain reaction further into the peloton.

Chase Purdy got on the track and picked up Johnny Sauter and Zane Smith to start the wreckage on turns 3 and 4 By the time it was completed, 11 trucks were involved

“It sucks,” said Zane Smith, whose race ended prematurely “They kept regrouping in front of me and my teammate got out of shape and I was an innocent bystander »

Others involved in the incident included Tate Fogleman, Austin Wayne Self, Korbin Forrister, Danny Bohn, Spencer Boyd, Dawson Cram and Clay Greenfield

The race was placed under the red flag for almost 5 minutes to clean the track of debris The race returned to green with two laps to go in the stage and Eckes in the lead

Raphaël Lessard, NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series, NASCAR, Chevrolet Silverado 250, Todd Gilliland, Talladega, Stewart Friesen, Christian Eckes, Trevor Bayne