Kraus Battles Back to Finish 13th in Atlanta
Derek Kraus had a fast No. 19 NAPA AutoCare Toyota Tundra at Atlanta Motor Speedway on Saturday, scoring the most green-flag passes in the Fr8Auctions 200 and coming away with a 13th-place finish. Driving for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, the nineteen-year-old from Stratford, Wisc., earned stage points and gained ground in the championship standings.
Starting 29th, Kraus quickly drove into the top 20. After a pit stop for fresh tires, he again was on the move and claimed the sixth position at the end of Stage 1. Stage 2 was a success as well, with a 10th-place performance.
A penalty during the following pit stop–for a crew member going over the wall too soon–put him 27th for the restart. Kraus steadily worked in way forward in the final segment of the race, with 63 laps of green-flag racing, to finish 13th.
“Our NAPA Toyota was fast today. We made up a lot of ground after starting so far back. We used strategy and battled our way into the top ten to get some valuable stage points. We just couldn’t overcome that penalty late in the race.”
MHR welcomed a special group of guests from NAPA Belts and Hoses/Gates with VIP treatment at the speedway on Saturday.
Start / Finish: 29 / 13
Points Earned: 30
Points Standing / Total: 15th / 69 pts.
Next Race: March 27, NASCAR Camping World Truck Series – Pinty’s Dirt Race, Bristol Motor Speedway
How to Watch or Listen: 8:00 pm ET on FS1
Derek Kraus: @derek9kraus
NAPA Racing: @NAPARacing
Bill McAnally Racing: @BMR_NASCAR
Bill McAnally Racing View All
Bill McAnally Racing (BMR) holds the ARCA Menards Series West (AMSW) record with 11 championships and eclipsed the 100-win mark in 2022. The team has piled on six titles in the last eight seasons with four different drivers since 2015. Loomis, California, native Jack Wood takes control of the No. 16 NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet for the 12-race campaign in 2024 and looks to add another title trophy to the BMR archive in his first full-time AMSW campaign.