Kraus Takes Third In K&N East At New Hampshire

Bill McAnally Racing

Derek Kraus drove the Bill McAnally Racing No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry to a third-place finish in the United Site Services 70 race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday.

With his podium finish at the track known as the Magic Mile, the 17-year-old NASCAR Next driver from Stratford, Wisconsin was able to maintain a two-point lead in the championship standings of the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East.

Kraus took advantage of a scramble among the leaders in the opening lap to gain multiple spots after starting ninth. He was up to second by Lap 11 and took the lead after a Lap 25 restart, but was passed at the midway point of the race and fell to second. He slipped to third in a drag race to the checkered flag.

“We struggled a lot yesterday in practice, so we didn’t know what we were going to have,” Kraus said after the race. “It was a really good finish for the weekend with our NAPA Toyota. For us it was like a win, after our struggle yesterday. My BMR team worked hard to get this.”

Kraus led the way among his BMR teammates – with Lawless Alan finishing 10th in the No. 12 AUTOParkit Toyota Camry, Hailie Deegan 11th in the No. 19 Monster / NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota Camry, and series rookie Brittney Zamora 12th in the No. 99 ENEOS / NAPA Filters Toyota Camry.

Deegan and Zamora are running the full schedule this year in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, while also racing in select events in the K&N East. Alan, a 19-year-old from Southern California, was making just his second NASCAR K&N Pro Series start – his first in the K&N East.

Kraus continues to lead the championship standings, as the K&N East hits the midway mark of the season with six races complete of a 12-race schedule. He has two wins, four top-five and six top-10 finishes in his six starts. In addition to the K&N East, he also leads the championship chase in the K&N West.

Deegan – an 18-year-old NASCAR Next driver from Temecula, California – is 10th in the K&N East standings, with five starts this season. Zamora – a 20-year-old from Kennewick, Washington – is 11th in the K&N East standings, with four starts.

Kraus and Deegan are 1-2 in the K&N West championship standings, meanwhile, with Kraus holding an eight-point advantage over his teammate. Zamora is sixth in those standings.

In attendance at the speedway on Saturday were guests from NAPA Power Premium Plus, along with a group of guests with BBB Industries from Sanel NAPA, which has a chain of more than 48 locations across New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts. They were treated to a VIP pit tour and the opportunity to attend the drivers meeting before the race.

The New Hampshire race, won by Chase Cabre, is to be televised on NBCSN on July 29 at 6 p.m. ET.

The next event on the series schedule will be the Casey’s General Store 150 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East-West combination race at Iowa Speedway on July 26.

BMR PR

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