Getty Derek Kraus will join a new team at Richmond Raceway.
Kaulig Racing is bringing back its star car for a NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Richmond Raceway. It will feature a new driver as Derek Kraus joins the team.
According to an announcement on March 21, Kraus will take over the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro while working with Kaulig Racing for the first time. He will make his Xfinity Series debut at the Virginia short track, and he will control the entry that has featured multiple Cup Series drivers.
🚨 We’re excited to have @derek9kraus make his #XfinitySeries debut in our No. 10 Chevrolet starting at @RichmondRaceway next weekend!! ✍
Kraus, who won the 2019 K&N Pro Series West championship after winning five races, has spent the past three seasons competing full-time in the Craftsman Truck Series. He drove for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing until the team replaced him with Christian Eckes.
Kraus has since made one national series start in 2023. He joined Young’s Motorsports at Daytona International Speedway, and he started 11th overall in the No. 20 Chevrolet Silverado. He ultimately finished 18th as rain brought the race to an early end.
Kraus Has Made 3 Starts at Richmond Raceway
GettyDerek Kraus spent 3 full seasons in the Craftsman Truck Series.
As someone set to make his first-ever Xfinity Series start, Kraus has no experience at Richmond Raceway in a Chevrolet Camaro. However, he does have three starts from his full-time Truck Series campaigns.
Kraus made his debut at the short track in 2020. He started sixth overall but finished 23rd. He then returned to Richmond the following season and finished 15th after starting 29th.
Kraus’ final Truck Series start at Richmond Raceway took place in 2022. He delivered his best performance at the track by finishing 12th overall.
Kraus has made 74 career starts in the Craftsman Truck Series, and he has delivered 26 total top-10 finishes. His best career outing is a runner-up at Darlington Raceway from the 2020 season.
Kaulig Racing Has Not Captured Any Trophies Just Yet
GettyKyle Busch competes at Phoenix Raceway.
When sponsorship issues led to Landon Cassill losing his full-time ride, Kaulig Racing made a change with the No. 10 Chevrolet Camaro. The team switched the entry to an All-Star car, one that could potentially deliver multiple trophies.
Three drivers have taken over the No. 10 so far in 2023. Justin Haley delivered 10th-place finishes at Daytona International Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway while Austin Dillon finished eighth at Auto Club Speedway with a damaged vehicle.
Kyle Busch finished fourth at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and ninth at Phoenix Raceway. He was in a position to potentially fight for another top-five finish in Arizona, but contact with teammate Chandler Smith disrupted his final lap. This led to some comments from Busch about the lack of respect in the NASCAR garage.
“I had a teammate that I talked to — kid that raced for me for two years in the Truck Series real recently — who I got into it last week with and tried to talk to him about those exact same issues,” Busch told media members ahead of the Atlanta race weekend. “And lo and behold, it happened to me three races into a new year somewhere else. So, I’m done talking to them.”
AJ Allmendinger will be the next driver to control the No. 10 while going trophy hunting. He will make his third Xfinity Series start at Circuit of the Americas after finishing second and first in his first two starts, respectively.
Allmendinger will be one of the multiple guest drivers in the Xfinity lineup at Circuit of the Americas. He will join reigning champ Ty Gibbs, road course ace Miguel Paludo, Aric Almirola, and Alpha Prime Racing’s Sage Karam.