Kris Wright delivered his career best 11th-place result on Friday afternoon at Talladega Superspeedway in his second start with McAnally-Hilgemann Racing. The driver of the No. 16 F.N.B Corporation Chevrolet Silverado RST executed a smooth and consistent outing in his second NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks Series (NCTS) start at ‘Dega to record the second-best finish for the MHR organization on the day.
Wright started the day strong by narrowly missing out on the second round of qualifying and took the green flag from 13th position. Shortly after the green flag flew, Wright was able to navigate his way through two multi-truck accidents that slowed the opening stage and was scored 23rd at the end of Stage 1 on lap 20.
Crew chief Darren Fraley brought Wright to pit road for service under the stage caution which allowed him to restart 19th on lap 27. Similar to Stage 1, Wright was able to keep the F.N.B. Corporation Chevy clean and was scored 21st at the end of the second segment on lap 40.
As the event’s second half went green on lap 46, Wright maintained position in the lead draft and came to pit road under green with several Chevrolet teammates on lap 56. As a caution slowed the field on lap 65, Fraley elected to top off Wright’s fuel tank to ensure they could reach the checkered flag in the event of an overtime restart. That call paid off as the yellow flag waved on lap 84, two laps shy of the scheduled distance. Wright restarted on the bottom lane for the green-white-checkered finale and effectively stayed committed to the bottom lane to record a career best 11th-place finish.
Kris Wright Quote:
“Just a solid, smooth day all around. Darren (Fraley) called a smart race today and we were able to avoid some of those early wrecks. Just really pleased with how smooth our day race was and how clean we executed things. It’s nice to have a run like that for F.N.B. Corporation and everyone at MHR that helped with these two races.”
MHR PR