Derek Kraus will make his Cup debut March 3 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Kaulig Racing, the team announced Thursday.
The 22-year-old will run five other Cup races this season in the No. 16 for Kaulig Racing: Phoenix (March 10), Kansas (May 5), Darlington (May 12), World Wide Technology Raceway (June 2) and Phoenix (Nov. 10).
“I’m really excited to make my first Cup Series start with Kaulig Racing, the team that I also made my Xfinity Series debut with!” said Kraus in a statement from the team. “I’m thankful to (owner) Matt Kaulig and (Kaulig Racing President) Chris Rice for believing in me, as well as Western States Flooring, a partner that has supported me throughout my career. I can’t wait to get to work with Travis Mack’s group and see what we can do in Las Vegas.”
This won’t be Kraus’ first time in a Cup car at a track. He practiced and qualified for AJ Allmendinger last year at Richmond while Allmendinger was competing in the Xfinity race at Road America.
Kraus drove eight Xfinity races for Kaulig Racing last season. He had three top-10 finishes. He has 76 career Truck starts.