For the Hub City Times

NEWTON, IA – Derek Kraus battled back from an early-race incident to come away with a fourth-place finish at Iowa Speedway on July 26 in the Casey’s General Store 150 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East-West combination race.

The 17-year-old NASCAR Next driver from Stratford was in third on Lap 35 when contact from another car punctured his left rear tire, sending his Bill McAnally Racing No. 16 Toyota Camry backwards into the Turn 4 wall.

He pitted for repairs under the subsequent caution and then got back on the lead lap when the yellow flag flew on Lap 52 for the first of two scheduled breaks. He restarted in 20th and charged to 10th in the next 10 laps. He steadily worked his way forward from there and was up to fourth when the checkered flag waved.

Despite his troubles, Kraus expanded his lead to 16 points in K&N West championship standings. Kraus has three wins, one pole, five top-five, and seven top-10 finishes in eight K&N West starts this season.

Kraus, who entered Friday’s event leading the championship standings in both divisions, slipped to second in the K&N East standings – six points behind race winner Sam Mayer.

The Iowa race will be televised to a national audience on NBCSN on July 31.

The next event on the K&N West schedule is at Evergreen Speedway in Monroe, WA, on Aug. 17.