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I Am Sport: No license, but 14-year-old NASCAR hopeful winning races

Tim Johnson
USA TODAY Sports Network
Contributed photo
Derek Kraus, 13, of Stratford will be participating in the Midwest Truck Tour, the American Ethanol Super Truck Series, selected ARCA races, as well as making some Late Model appearances at Marshfield Super Speedway and Wausau?s State Park Speedway.
Racing sensation Derek Kraus, 13, of Stratford, will be participating in the Midwest Truck Tour, the American Ethanol Super Truck Series, selected ARCA races, as well as making some Late Model appearances at Marshfield Super Speedway and Wausau’s State Park Speedway.

Derek Kraus won his first stock car race last summer in Wisconsin. It came three days before he turned 14.

The Stratford, Wis., middle school student has made a name for himself on the short-track circuit  across the country even though he is not old enough for a driver’s permit. In December, he was the youngest driver to ever qualify for the Snowball Derby in Pensacola, Fla., a prestigious 150-mile race Super Late Model race which has attracted some of the top NASCAR drivers over the years. His dream is to one day be competing at the top level of stock cars as well.

“The biggest goal would be to make it to NASCAR,” Kraus said. “But first, we have to focus on everything that is down here in Super Late Models and win all the stuff that we can in that.”

Kraus made the jump to stock cars last year in the progression of a career that has had him go from racing  go-karts to  Bandoleros to trucks, finally, when he turned 12.

“I like the adrenaline rush,” Kraus said of racing. “You can feel it on your body, the speed.”