Via NASCAR Media

TUCSON, Ariz. — Tucson was twice as nice for the Derek Kraus Saturday night.

The Stratford, Wisconsin, native swept the Port of Tucson Twin 100s for his third and fourth K&N Pro Series victories of the season and first wins on the West coast.

Coming off a win in the second 100-lap championship race last week at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway — giving him two NASCAR K&N Pro Series East wins — Kraus and the No. 16 NAPA Auto Parts Toyota established a goal to win both NASCAR K&N Pro Series West races and take command of the championship standings coming into Arizona.

They did exactly that.

“That was the goal coming into this race,” said Kraus in Victory Lane at Tucson Speedway. “Now we got the points lead going into the next K&N West race. That was really good and we’ll look to stay consistent the rest of the season. We just had to stay patient and it paid off at the end.”

In the first Tucson race, Kraus took the lead from pole sitter Tanner Gray going into Turn 1 and never relinquished the top spot, leading all 100 laps.

Gray, Hailie Deegan, Jagger Jones and Brittney Zamora rounded out the top five finishers in Race No. 1. Matt Levin, Trevor Huddleston, Todd Souza, Dustin Ash and John Wood completed the top 10.

Race No. 2 was a different story for Kraus, who didn’t grab the lead until past the halfway point. But once he did, it was smooth sailing to another victory.

“This one we had to work a little harder on,” he said following his fourth win this season and ninth of his career. “We didn’t get the lead until Lap 60 or so, but it was definitely a little more challenging than the first race. We saved a little bit of tires and them guys jumped out and used a little bit too much of the tires, they wore them out. And at the end we took advantage of that when we had good tires left.”

Gray came home second for the second consecutive race, with Zamora finishing a career-best third after leading 26 laps from the pole.

Trevor Huddleston and Matt Levin completed the top five, with Jagger Jones, Dustin Ash, Travis Milburn, Takuma Koga and Bill Kann rounding out the top 10.

Hailie Deegan, who entered the night leading the points, finished 15th after contact with Huddleston going into Turn 2 that spun her around and forced her behind the wall for repairs.

Kody Vanderwal finished 11th and 12th, respectively in the twin 100s, after sweeping the twin races last season at the 0.375-mile track.

Kraus, who leads the K&N Pro East standings by four points, has an 18-point cushion over Sunrise Ford/Bruncati Racing teammates Huddleston and Jones. Deegan fell to fourth, another five points back.

Port of Tucson Twin Race 1 is scheduled to be broadcast on NBCSN on Wednesday, May 22 at 4 p.m., with No. 2 scheduled to be broadcast the same day at 7 p.m.

The next K&N Pro Series West event will take place on Saturday, June 8 at Colorado National Speedway.

Contact:
Jason Christley
NASCAR Integrated Marketing Communications
(386) 310-6094
jchristley@nascar.com

NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES WEST-Port of Tucson Twin 100s Race 1 Results
Saturday
At Tucson Speedway
Tucson, Ariz.
Lap length: 0.375 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (2) Derek Kraus, Stratford, Wis., Toyota, 100 laps, 60.838 mph.
2. (1) Tanner Gray, Artesia, NM, Toyota, 100.
3. (5) Hailie Deegan, Temecula, CA, Toyota, 100.
4. (4) Jagger Jones, Scottsdale, AZ, Ford, 100.
5. (3) Brittney Zamora, Kennewick, WA, Toyota, 100.
6. (11) Matt Levin, Tucson, Ariz., Chevrolet, 100.
7. (6) Trevor Huddleston, Agoura Hills, Calif., Ford, 100.
8. (10) Todd Souza, Aromas, Calif., Toyota, 100.
9. (7) Dustin Ash, Las Vegas, Nev., Ford, 100.
10. (14) John Wood, Eagle, ID, Chevrolet, 100.
11. (9) Kody Vanderwal, LaSalle, Colo, Ford, 95.
12. (18) Ron Jay, Victoria, BC, Ford, 93.
13. (16) Bobby Hillis Jr, Phoenix,Ariz, Toyota, 92.
14. (15) Austin Thom, Dundee, OR, Chevrolet, 89.
15. (13) Takuma Koga, Nagoya, Japan, Toyota, 87.
16. (8) Travis Milburn, Eagle, ID, Ford, 68, accident.
17. (12) Bill Kann, Scottsdale, Ariz., Chevrolet, 65, overheating.
18. (17) Billy Kann, Scottsdale, Ariz., Chevrolet, 0, dns.

Race Statistics
Time of Race: 0 hours 36 minutes 59 seconds
Margin of Victory: 4.433 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: T.Gray * (89.725 mph, 15.046 seconds)
Caution Flags: 2 for 15 laps.
Lead Changes: 0 among 1 drivers.
Lap Leaders: D. Kraus 1-100.
Standings: 1. D. Kraus, 131; 2. H. Deegan, 127; 3. J. Jones, 123; 4. T. Huddleston, 121; 5. M. Levin, 109; 6. T. Souza, 108; 7. B. Zamora, 108; 8. K. Vanderwal, 99; 9. T. Milburn, 95; 10. T. Gray, 85.

NASCAR K&N PRO SERIES WEST-Port of Tucson Twin 100s Race 2 Results
Saturday
At Tucson Speedway
Tucson, Ariz.
Lap length: 0.375 miles
(Start position in parentheses)
1. (2) Derek Kraus, Stratford, Wis., Toyota, 100 laps, 58.772 mph.
2. (7) Tanner Gray, Artesia, NM, Toyota, 100.
3. (1) Brittney Zamora, Kennewick, WA, Toyota, 100.
4. (8) Trevor Huddleston, Agoura Hills, Calif., Ford, 100.
5. (6) Matt Levin, Tucson, Ariz., Chevrolet, 100.
6. (3) Jagger Jones, Scottsdale, AZ, Ford, 100.
7. (10) Dustin Ash, Las Vegas, Nev., Ford, 100.
8. (9) Travis Milburn, Eagle, ID, Ford, 100.
9. (13) Takuma Koga, Nagoya, Japan, Toyota, 100.
10. (15) Bill Kann, Scottsdale, Ariz., Chevrolet, 100.
11. (11) Austin Thom, Dundee, OR, Chevrolet, 100.
12. (4) Kody Vanderwal, LaSalle, Colo, Ford, 98.
13. (14) Ron Jay, Victoria, BC, Chevrolet, 97.
14. (16) Bobby Hillis Jr, Phoenix,Ariz, Toyota, 96.
15. (5) Hailie Deegan, Temecula, CA, Toyota, 95.
16. (12) Todd Souza, Aromas, Calif., Toyota, 0, electrical.
17. (17) John Wood, Eagle, ID, Ford, 0, dns.
18. (18) Billy Kann, Scottsdale, Ariz., Chevrolet, 0, dns.

Race Statistics
Time of Race: 0 hours 38 minutes 17 seconds
Margin of Victory: 2.612 seconds
Fastest Qualifier: B.Zamora * (85.823 mph, 15.73 seconds)
Caution Flags: 4 for 20 laps.
Lead Changes: 3 among 3 drivers.
Lap Leaders: B. Zamora 1-19; D. Ash 20-54; B. Zamora 55-61; D. Kraus 62-100.
Standings: 1. D. Kraus, 179; 2. T. Huddleston, 161; 3. J. Jones, 161; 4. H. Deegan, 156; 5. B. Zamora, 150; 6. M. Levin, 148; 7. T. Souza, 136; 8. K. Vanderwal, 131; 9. T. Milburn, 131; 10. T. Gray, 127.