Derek Kraus stormed to an eighth-place finish in the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing No. 19 ENEOS / NAPA Toyota Tundra at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night in a NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race that ended early due to inclement weather.
The 18-year-old series rookie – one of three drivers who had to start from the rear of the 40-truck field due to an issue during pre-race inspection – saw his charge through the field cut short when the race was declared official due to lightning and heavy rain that hit the area with 71 laps complete of the 150 that were scheduled.
Despite multiple cautions in the first stage, Kraus was able to move into the top 10 in the first 30 laps and finished Stage 1 in eighth place on Lap 35. He was shuffled back several spots for the restart, as the field cycled through pit stops. He quickly rebounded back into the top 10, however, and was ninth by Lap 60. He gained an additional spot before Stage 2 was complete on Lap 70 and the red flag was displayed a lap later because of lightning.
Kraus came away with his fourth top-10 finish in seven starts this season. He remains 11th in the championship standings, just 14 markers out of 10th. He has completed 772 laps of the 775 possible.
Derek Kraus – Thoughts about Kentucky
You started from the back and drove all the way to the top 10. Talk about your run tonight
“Yeah, we had a pretty good ENEOS Tundra. We started in the back and we were able to make our way up to eighth in that first stage. Then, we came in and had a good pit stop. We came out 12th and were able to get back to eighth again at the end of the second stage. We had a really good truck tonight, and I really wish we could have got going again, but coming home eighth isn’t that bad.”
Bill McAnally Racing PR
