Le Balayage Du Coucher De Soleil: Raphael Lessard Sweeps NASCAR Pinty’s Series Doubleheader at Sunset Speedway

Raphael Lessard will probably be spending the coming weeks fielding offers to run in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series for the remainder of 2021, after the 20-year-old put forward a pair of incredible performances on Sunday Night, doubling up on victories to start the series’ season at Sunset Speedway.

After taking home the victory in both of Sunday Night’s events at Sunset Speedway, the Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, Quebec-native holds a sizeable lead in the 2021 NASCAR Pinty’s Series point standings, but doesn’t have plans to return to the series throughout it’s remaining nine rounds.

With the second event of the evening playing out as the polar opposite of the first, Lessard dominated the General Tire 150 after starting on the front row, leading the majority of the event, with only one exception, a problem for Lessard, that found itself quickly reversed, as the 20-year-old dove into the first corner and spun the No. 7 APC Chevrolet of Peter Shepherd III.

CAUTION 3 – Raphael Lessard – winner of tonight's first event — spins the No. 7 of Pete Shepherd III, while battling for the lead.

Lapcevich is 2nd, Tagliani, Kennington and Camirand round out the top-five.#NASCAR | @NASCARPintys | #GeneralTire125 pic.twitter.com/kIcdfcQ7n9

— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) August 2, 2021

Later on in the event, Lessard’s Wight Motorsports Chevrolet looked to have a significant challenge from Rookie of The Year contender Treyten Lapcevich, who closed a one-second margin over the course of the event’s final laps. As Lapcevich attempted to get underneath Lessard for the lead, the No. 20 Chevrolet broke loose and spun around, drawing the final caution of the event.

CAUTION 5 – Battling for the lead, @TreytenL spins on the inside of @raphael_lessard with just under three laps to go.

This will send us into NASCAR Overtime for the first-time in 2021.

Man, oh man, we're shaping up for a wild GWC.#NASCAR | @NASCARPintys | #GeneralTire125 pic.twitter.com/rQp2gOlt13

— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) August 2, 2021

Surprisingly enough, the NASCAR Overtime restart that followed was a pretty calm one, at least as far as the front-runners were concerned, with Lessard scooting away from DJ Kennington for his third  career victory in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series. Finishing behind Kennington was LP Dumoulin, with Treyton Lapcevich and Brett Taylor rounding out the top-five.

Alex Guenette, Larry Jackson, Mark Dilley, Alex Tagliani and Shaw Gemmell rounded out the top-10. Problems for various drivers on the final laps of the event, relegated Marc-Antoine Camirand to a 13th-place finish, while Peter Shepherd III, Brent Wheller and TJ Rinomato also ran into issues on the last lap.

Leaving Sunset Speedway, Raphael Lessard holds a 16-point lead over LP Dumoulin, with 22 Racing teammates Alex Tagliani and Treyten Lapcevich are tied for third-place, 19 markers behind Lessard heading to GP3R.

1. No. 80 – Raphael Lessard
2. No. 17 – DJ Kennington
3. No. 47 – LP Dumoulin
4. No. 20 – Treyten Lapcevich
5. No. 3 – Brett Taylor
6. No. 52 – Alex Guenette
7. No. 84 – Larry Jackson
8. No. 64 – Mark Dilley
9. No. 18 – Alex Tagliani
10. No. 8 – Shae Gemmell
11. No. 98 – Shantel Kalika
12. No. 22 – Marc-Antoine Camirand
13. No. 7 – Peter Shepherd III
14. No. 61 – Brent Wheller
15. No. 2 – TJ Rinomato
16. No. 51 – Andrew Ranger
17. No. 74 – Kevin Lacroix
18. No. 92 – Dexter Stacey

2021 NASCAR Pinty’s Series Point Standings After 2 of 11 Races:

1. Raphael Lessard – 95pts
2. LP Dumoulin (-16)
3. Alex Tagliani (-19)
4. Treyten Lapcevich (-19)
5. Alex Guenette (-21)
6. Shaw Gemmell (-22)
7. Larry Jackson (-24)
8. Andrew Ranger (-25)
9. Marc-Antoine Camirand (-26)
10. Mark Dilley (-26)
11. DJ Kennington (-26)
12. Brett Taylor (-27)
13. Kevin Lacroix (-28)
14. Peter Shepherd III (-29)
15. Shantel Kalika (-31)
16. Brent Wheller (-35)
17. TJ Rinomato (-38)
18. Dexter Stacey (-43)