Derek Kraus (born September 1, 2001) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West, driving the No. 16 Toyota for Bill McAnally Racing.
Video Derek Kraus
Racing career
Kraus started racing in go-karts and bandoleros. He won the GSR Kartway championship in 2012 and 2013. Kraus also competed in bandoleros at State Park Speedway in 2013 and won the track championship. In 2014, he won the State Park and state bandeleros championship. He moved up to Midwest trucks and super late models before he turned fourteen. He began the 2015 season by traveling far across the United States to compete in seven Super Late Model races in Florida's New Smyrna Speedway. He began racing in the American Ethanol SuperTruck Series in 2015; he became the youngest driver to win a full-bodied vehicle feature at Rockford Speedway at age 13. He also competed full-time in the Midwest Truck Series, he won that series' 2015 championship. In 2016, he competed full-time in the ARCA Midwest Tour, finishing fourth in the standings and surpassing Matt Kenseth as the youngest driver to win a race in the series.
In January 2017, it was announced that Kraus would drive full-time in the 2017 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West season for Bill McAnally Racing, driving the team's No. 19 Toyota. The announcement came after Kraus tried out for the ride at Kern County Raceway Park over the winter. He won the pole at Iowa midway through the season and thanked his team for good equipment to keep him ahead of the learning curve. Kraus first led for an extended period at Meridian and won the season's final race at Kern County for his first win, beating teammate and series champion Todd Gilliland. Kraus credited his spotter for telling him to save tires on the final run to clinch the victory. He also won the KNPSW Rookie of the Year award in 2017.
Kraus began the 2018 season by transporting his Super Late Model 2,000 miles (3,200 km) from Wisconsin with Ty Majeski to California to compete in the Winter Showdown at Kern County. Kraus entered the 2018 NASCAR K&N Pro Series West season considered by some as the favorite to win the championship. He won the season-opening race at Kern County after making contact with dominant driver Kevin Harvick on the final restart, moving both drivers back and ceding the lead to Cole Rouse in the process. Kraus eventually caught Rouse and passed the fellow Bill McAnally Racing driver while both were running in lapped traffic, taking the win.
Maps Derek Kraus
Personal life
Kraus' father, Mark, raced Super Late Models with NASCAR driver Paul Menard in the early 2000s. That connection led to Menard becoming a fan of Derek's racing career.
Images
Motorsports career results
NASCAR
(key) (Bold - Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics - Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * - Most laps led.)
K&N Pro Series East
K&N Pro Series West
* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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