For Hub City Times

LAS VEGAS, NV – An early-race incident left Derek Kraus battling to work his way from the back of the pack in the Strat 200 NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Feb. 21.

The series rookie, who started 16th on the grid in the No. 19 ENEOS Toyota Tundra, rebounded half way through the field – but ended up finishing 22nd after pitting for a flat right rear tire with less than 10 laps to go.

That marked the second of two unscheduled pit stops he made in the 134-lap event. The first followed an incident on Lap 2 when his Tundra got sideways and brushed the wall going into Turn 3. Kraus restarted at the tail end of the field, but still on the lead lap.

He steadily worked his way forward and was in the 19th spot on a restart, with 39 laps remaining. He battled mid-pack through the remaining laps, until slowing with tire trouble late in the event.

“I made a mistake and just lost it. I’m not really sure what happened. We will take what we learned here in Vegas and move on to Atlanta,” Kraus said.