Derek Kraus battled back from an early-race incident to come away with a fourth-place finish at Iowa Speedway on Friday night in the Casey’s General Store 150 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East-West combination race.
The 17-year-old NASCAR Next driver from Stratford, Wisconsin was in third on Lap 35 when contact from another car punctured his left rear tire, sending his Bill McAnally Racing No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry backwards into the Turn 4 wall.
He pitted for repairs under the subsequent caution and then got back on the lead lap when the yellow flag flew on Lap 52 for the first of two scheduled breaks. He restarted in 20th and charged to 10th in the next 10 laps. He steadily worked his way forward from there and was up to fourth when the checkered flag waved.
While he battled back, his BMR teammates had struggles of their own. Hailie Deegan, who started 10th in the No. 19 Monster Energy/NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota Camry, was penalized for a pit stop infraction late in the race and finished 12th. Series rookie Brittney Zamora was temporarily sidelined with mechanical trouble on Lap 102, meanwhile, and returned to finish 20th in the No. 99 NAPA Filters/ENEOS Toyota Camry.
Despite their troubles, Kraus and Deegan are still 1-2 in the K&N West championship standings – with Kraus expanding his lead to 16 points over his teammate. Kraus has three wins, one pole, five top-five and seven top-10 finishes in eight K&N West starts this season. Deegan – an 18-year-old from Temecula, California, who is also a NASCAR Next driver – has two victories, two poles, five top-five, and six top-10 finishes in eight starts.
Zamora remains second in rookie points and is fifth in the overall K&N West standings. The 20-year-old, second-generation driver from Kennewick, Washington has one pole, four top-five and five top-10 finishes in her eight series starts.
Kraus, who entered Friday’s event leading the championship standings in both divisions, slipped to second in the K&N East standings – six points behind race winner Sam Mayer.
The BMR team made a special appearance in advance of the race for a sales event at the MPEC-NAPA Auto Parts Store in East Newton on Thursday.
Guests from NAPA Power Premium Plus were welcomed at a hospitality area at the track on race day, along with having the opportunity to take a VIP pit tour. Guests from NAPA Belts & Hoses were also in attendance for the race.
The Iowa race will be televised to a national audience on NBCSN on July 31 at 4 p.m. PT.
The next event on the K&N West schedule will be at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, Washington on Aug. 17.
BMR PR
