LEBANON, Tenn. – Mastering the unknown with his McAnally-Hilgemann Racing team, Derek Kraus sped to his first Cometic Gasket Pole Award during NASCAR Camping World Truck Series qualifying Friday at Nashville Superspeedway.
Kraus turned a lap of 29.833 seconds (160.493 mph) with his No. 19 Thorogood Toyota Tundra to secure the top starting position ahead of the inaugural Rackley Roofing 200 at the 1.33-mile concrete oval.
It’s the first pole for the Stratford, Wis., young gun in his 40th Truck Series start.
“We had a really good truck in practice, I felt like, and it rotated the center really well,” tipped Kraus. “Then in qualifying, I was able to stay on the throttle a lot and make sure this Thorogood Toyota Tundra was really fast. Ending up on the pole was really good and, hopefully, we can turn it into something tonight.”
Kraus will be joined on the front row by a fellow young gun Friday night, as 20-year-old Jack Wood qualified second for GMS Racing in just his third Truck Series start.
Wood turned a best lap of 30.121 seconds (158.959 mph) with the No. 24 Chevrolet Silverado.
Hattori Racing Enterprises’ Austin Hill and ThorSport Racing’s Grant Enfinger will share the second row of the starting grid, with Chandler Smith filling out the top five for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Ryan Preece starts sixth as the fastest Ford driver, followed by Tyler Ankrum, Johnny Sauter, Zane Smith and NASCAR Cup Series regular William Byron.
Truck Series point leader John Hunter Nemechek, who originally qualified 16th, has his time disallowed after encountering a problem coming off turn four to the green flag to start his timed lap.
Nemechek turned around and drove backward to the entrance of pit road to restart his warmup lap – a move that violated Rule 9.5.F.f of the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Rule Book, which states that vehicles cannot travel “in counter race direction” without approval from the series’ Managing Director.
As a result, Nemechek will start from the tail of the 36-truck field on a provisional Friday night as he seeks his fifth Truck Series victory in 12 races this season.
“I guess I was supposed to come down pit road,” Nemechek said. “They said to turn it around (on the team radio). We haven’t qualified in … I don’t know how long, so I guess I’m not up to date on the (right) procedures. Overall, though, it’s a solid day so far for the Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra team. Starting in the back is just going to make it more interesting. I’m sure that we’ll be up in the front and trying to win this thing by the end.
“I’m happy with all my guys. We can’t change the outcome; we can just move forward and go get another checkered flag.”
With 43 trucks on the ground for 36 starting spots, seven drivers – Keith McGee, Jennifer Jo Cobb, Spencer Boyd, Bret Holmes, Josh Reaume, J.J. Yeley and Clay Greenfield – failed to qualify.
Cobb withdrew her No. 10 entry prior to the start of the qualifying session Friday afternoon.
The Rackley Roofing 200 is scheduled for an 8 p.m. ET start, with live coverage on FS1, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.
To view complete qualifying results, advance to the next page.