Kraus Dominates K&N West Finale; Deegan Wins Pole, Captures Rookie Title
Derek Kraus finished off the 2018 season with a dominant win at Kern County Raceway Park on Saturday, taking the victory in the NAPA AUTO PARTS 175 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame – while his BMR teammate Hailie Deegan captured the pole award and went on to clinch the rookie title for 2018.
Derek Kraus wheeled the Bill McAnally Racing No. 16 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry to Victory Lane at Kern County Raceway Park for the third consecutive NASCAR K&N Pro Series West race at the high-banked, half-mile track – winning the NAPA AUTO PARTS 175 presented by the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame on Saturday, as the series closed out its 2018 season.
It was a season-leading fourth win this year for Kraus, and marked his fifth career series victory.
His BMR teammate, Hailie Deegan, finished the season off strong, as well – winning her second pole award in the No. 19 Mobil 1/NAPA Power Premium Plus Toyota Camry and capturing the Rookie of the Year title. She was in contention throughout the race, but ended up sixth after contact from another car in the final laps.
Their teammate, Cole Rouse, ran strong early in the event in the No. 99 NAPA Filters Toyota Camry – then battled back from a couple of unscheduled pit stops to finish seventh.
Kraus, who started second on the grid, charged out front early – as BMR’s trio of NAPA drivers ran 1-2-3 in the early laps. He went on to pace nearly all of Saturday’s 175-lap event.
“Our NAPA Toyota was really good,” Kraus said. “It had really good drive off the corners and fired off on the restarts really well, too. It’s great to get the last win of the season and go into the off season with a lot of confidence and momentum.”
BMR’s three drivers finished third, fourth, and fifth in the championship standings for the year.
Derek Kraus
Start / Finish: 2 / 1
Points Earned: 48
Points Standing / Total (final): 4th / 543 pts.
Derek Kraus: @derek9kraus
NAPA Racing: @NAPARacing
Bill McAnally Racing: @BMR_NASCAR
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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.