RICHMOND, Va.: With a spot in the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series Playoffs up for grabs, Derek Kraus turned to Thursday night’s ToyotaCare 250 at Richmond (Va.) Raceway as an opportunity to overthrow either Todd Gilliland or Tyler Ankrum.
And at the end of Stage 1, Kraus threw himself and his No. 19 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team into the spotlight by finishing sixth on fresher tires and collecting valuable stage points over Gilliland and Ankrum who failed to score a point during the opening 70-lap run.
But as quick as Kraus and crew chief Kevin Bellicourt bolted themselves into the hopeful Playoff picture, they found themselves just as quickly dialed out.
Taking a gamble on new tires for the end of Stage 1 paid off, but the lack of grip during Stage 2 saw the handling roll south and Kraus plummeting through the field without the benefit of cautions to not only attempt to put them back on strategy but keep adjusting their truck.
By the end of Stage 2, Kraus was scored 20th, while Gilliland and Ankrum placed ninth and 13th respectively.
Unfortunately, Stage 3 didn’t fare better for Kraus even with adjustments.
Despite an effort to improve the handling on his truck, Kraus continued to fall through the field as he chased the handling on his No. 19 Gates Hydraulics | NAPA Belts & Hoses Toyota.
And just one caution to the finish didn’t help either. An ill-handling truck only worsened the team’s night with Kraus clinging to a 23rd place finish when the checkered flag waved, four laps behind race winner Grant Enfinger.
After the race and puzzled by their performance, the team was confident that something broke on their truck.
“We are thinking something broke,” Kraus said. “My NAPA Toyota guys never gave up on it. They tried their best to do what they could do, but something was probably broke. It was on the splitter the whole race. Nothing they did kept it off of it or made it any better.”
Kraus, 18, explained that he believed the problem developed at the end of Stage 1 while challenging for fourth but ended up sixth.
“We kind of knew right away,” Kraus explained. “The first two laps it took off fine. I was able to roll the top really well. I think I was passing for fourth or something, and then all of a sudden, it just started laying on the splitter and hitting the race track really hard. It kind of threw out the parachute after that, and just kind of went to the back.
“It was just on the splitter really hard, and I couldn’t do anything about it. Kevin (Bellicourt, crew chief) made a good strategy call to get us a few stage points, putting on those tires right at the end of the stage. It kind of felt good with those tires on, but once everyone else got their tires on it just kind of laid on the splitter again and did the same thing. That’s what it did all race. We struggled with it all race.”
On the heels of a career-best second-place outing last weekend at Darlington (S.C.) Raceway, the team’s morale was high, but Richmond sent the team back into reality on just how tough the NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series is.
Finishing outside the top-20 for just the third time this season, the finish forces the team to look ahead and go for wins over the final seven-race stretch of the season.
“We still had a really good season,” added Kraus. “The season is not over yet just because we are not in the Playoffs. We are going to race as hard as we can and try to get wins as good as we can and just bring the best Tundras we possibly can to the race track and just have a solid last seven races.”
Long night. Didn’t make the playoffs but we still have 7 more chances to get in victory lane!👍🏻
— Derek Kraus (@derek9kraus) September 11, 2020
Follow Chris Knight on Twitter @Knighter01.
