The hunt for Derek Kraus’ maiden victory in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series will carry over into Thursday’s event at Bristol Motor Speedway, as the Stratford, Wisconsin-native makes his 70th career start.
Piloting the McAnally-Hilgemann Racing No. 19, Kraus will start from the pole in Thursday’s UNOH 200 at the half-mile oval, capturing his fourth career pole position with a time of 15.276 seconds (125.809mph).
Derek Kraus has captured his fourth pole in the NASCAR Truck Series at @BMSupdates.
All four of them have come at tracks sharing a name with a Tennessee city, but only two of them were won in the state of Tennessee.
You're welcome for that useless fact.#NASCAR
— Joseph Srigley (@joe_srigley) September 15, 2022
Kraus’ pole-winning lap looked to be in danger late in the session, as Chandler Smith was the final truck to take to the track, posting a lap just three-thousandths of a second slower than the driver of the No. 19, to take the second-place starting spot.
Stewart Friesen, the second-quickest of the eight remaining playoff drivers, posted the third-best time in the session, while Grant Enfinger, and Corey Heim also recorded starting spots inside the top five.
Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes, Bayley Currey, Matt DiBenedetto, and Carson Hocevar completed the top-10 qualifiers in Thursday’s single-car session.
Ben Rhodes, the series’ defending champion will start in 11th, while Taylor Gray will start from 17th in the David Gilliland Racing No. 17, which is involved in the series Owner’s Playoffs.
John Hunter Nemechek and Zane Smith, both drivers still involved in the series post-season, ran into troubles during practice, with Smith suffering a mechanical issue, while Nemechek pounded the outside wall in turn two.
Nemechek’s team was thrashing to get the backup truck prepared so that Nemechek could salvage some points out of tonight’s 200-lap contest at Bristol.
Lots of thrashing going on by John Hunter Nemechek's team to get his backup ready. Race in about three hours so still plenty of time. pic.twitter.com/hmq8Q3Dw4q
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) September 15, 2022
Full Results:
Qualifying Results: 2022 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series UNOH 200
