Derek Kraus will be road racing in a special event this week, behind the wheel of the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing No. 19 ENEOS / NAPA Toyota Tundra, competing in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series inaugural race on the famed road course at Daytona International Speedway.
The truck series will be part of the historic weekend as NASCAR’s three national series compete for the first time on the 14-turn, 3.57-mile road course at Daytona on Saturday and Sunday.
The trucks are slated to take the green flag at the famed layout on Sunday at noon ET – a day after the NASCAR XFINITY Series race on Saturday and prior to the NASCAR Cup Series race at 3 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Kraus, an 18-year-old rookie, will be competing in his first truck series road race. He gained experience on road courses, racing the past three seasons in the annual NASCAR K&N Pro Series West event at Sonoma Raceway in Northern California. He finished fifth in his first visit there in 2017 and followed that up with a 10th-place finish in 2018 and came home 19th in 2019.
In addition, last year Kraus grabbed the overall win at Sonoma in the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli – while making his first appearance in that series.
He is coming off an eighth-place finish at Michigan, his seventh top 10 in 11 races this year. He is ninth in the championship standings, 30 points above the cutoff for making the playoffs.
Derek Kraus – Thoughts About Daytona Road Course
Looking ahead to the race
“The truck race on the road course at Daytona is going to be very interesting and fun. I’m going to have to learn as much as I can throughout the race. Luckily, I have tools like iRacing and the Toyota simulator to help going into the race.”
Preparing to go road racing
“I know that the guys at MHR have been working hard to prepare my Tundra to be the best that it can be. I’m really looking forward to racing on such an historic track.”
NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Event:
Race: Sunoco 159 (44 Laps) (Race 12) Aug. 16, 2020
Location: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Fla. (3.57-mile road course)
Television: FS1 on Aug. 16 at 12 p.m. ET
Derek Kraus
No. 19 ENEOS / NAPA Toyota Tundra
Age: 18
Hometown: Stratford, Wisc.
Career series starts: 16
Most recent series finish: 8th – Michigan (8/7/20)
Best career series finish: 4th – Daytona (2/14/20)
2020 Series stats:
Races: 11 starts, 2 top fives, 7 top 10s
Average finish: 10.3
Laps completed: 1,313/1,317 (ranks 1st)
Series standings: 9th
McAnally-Hilgemann Racing
