Derek Kraus was finally able to take all the virtual laps he’s made for Kaulig Racing to the real racetrack Saturday at Richmond Raceway.
The Cup newcomer practiced and qualified in the No. 16 Chevrolet ahead of Sunday’s race. He did so for AJ Allmendinger, who is at Road America competing in the Xfinity Series race but will be back at Richmond to drive the car Sunday.
It was the first time Kraus has run a Cup Series car, at least outside the simulator.
“I thought today went pretty well,” Kraus said. “It was definitely a learning experience with how these cars drive compared to Xfinity and Trucks, but I had fun. I can’t thank Matt Kaulig and Chris Rice enough for trusting in me. Hopefully, I did my part and helped get AJ a good car for tomorrow.”
Although it was shared publicly earlier this week that Kraus was going to be in the car, the call-up was not a surprise to him, having been told a few months ago by Rice — the team president — he would be getting behind the wheel this weekend.
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The 21-year-old does a bulk of the simulator work for Kaulig Racing and ran four Xfinity Series races with the team earlier this year. Dover, in late April, was the last time the young driver was behind the wheel of a stock car in a competitive race.
Going into Saturday, part of the anticipation for Kraus was seeing how the simulator translated to real life. He’s run many sim laps for Kaulig, work that includes trying to get the right feel for the tire combination, but has been doing so without real-world experience.
“I feel like this will just help overall from my side to be able to take what I learn here to use it toward the sim with making sure things are right,” Kraus said. “Before, I really had no idea what they drove like. Now I’ll have an idea and be able to take that to the simulator.”
Kraus does not have a full-time ride this season. In addition to his limited races with Kaulig Racing in the Xfinity Series, he made one start in the Craftsman Truck Series (Daytona) after having been a full-time Truck Series driver for the last three seasons.
“I feel like it’s a big confidence booster for them to have faith in me and trust me to drive the No. 16 car for AJ,” Kraus said. “It’s a big confidence booster for me and hopefully we can put something together for them at the end of the year.”