Raphael Lessard

The 19-year-old prospect makes the jump from Kyle Busch Motorsports to GMS Racing in 2021. Lessard is fresh off a season of one win and seven Top-10 finishes with his prior race team. Lessard will partner with crew chief Chad Walter in his first season racing with GMS. He'll pilot the team's No. 24 Chevy Silverado and look to improve on his 2020 performance. Lessard has just 28 starts of experience racing in this division of NASCAR, so he's still learning on the job. However, the experience of Walter which is a decade of acting crew chief and well over 200 races, will help ease the growing pains a bit. There is some nice upside with this team, but a lot of pieces to the puzzle will need to fall into place for full potential to be realized.

The Canadian is transitioning from part-time to full-time racing in the truck series this season. Lessard takes over the No. 4 Toyota Tundra that Todd Gilliland piloted last season. The 18-year-old prospect made five starts last season between a couple different teams, but mainly for Kyle Busch Motorsports. Lessard earned a pair of Top 10's in those five events and registered a pedestrian 11.2 average finish. He also impressed with three Top-10 finishes in three starts in the ARCA Series last year. Lessard is a young, raw talent, and he lacks a lot of seat time that other young drivers bring to this division of NASCAR. He'll have top flight equipment and support, and that's half the battle to a successful rookie campaign.