WS Chronicle

By David Winship 

Rajah Caruth, who competes full time for Spire Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, joins Kyle Larson and Justin Allgaier as the faces of NASCAR in preparation for the triple-header weekend, April 17-19, at Bristol Motor Speedway, located in Bristol, Tennessee.  Appealing to a younger demographic, these drivers are the new faces of NASCAR, driven by ambition, speed and a truckful of talent. 

This is the first time that the spring race at Bristol has featured a triple-header. Caruth will compete in the Weather Guard 250 Truck Race on April 17, which will be followed by the SciAps 300 Xfinity Series, and the Food City 500 Cup Series. 

“Raj is a young, fast, up-and-coming star,” commented Drew Bedard of Bristol Motor Speedway (BMS). “He’s an exciting driver who we wanted to show. He’s popular, cool, and making noises in the sport. Drivers like Raj make the sport fun to watch.” The advertisement with Carruth, Larson, and Allgaier is one of several digital promotions that BMS is featuring this spring. 

Caruth is a graduate of Winston-Salem State University (WSSU), where he majored in Motorsport Management, and completed the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program. The 22-year-old driver is the 2024 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Most Popular Driver and drives the No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado. He made the playoffs with Spire in 2024 by winning his first race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200, taking both the pole and the checkered flag. With this win, he joined Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace as the African American drivers who have won NASCAR national series races. 

Following last year’s victory, Bubba Wallace, who has been a mentor to Caruth, sent him a message saying, “What a massive win for the little bro! What a monumental win for our sport! Proud is an understatement!” 

Caruth’s statistics from the 2024 season include finishing 7th in points and recording 12 top-10 finishes. He also won a pair of Cometic Gasket Pole Awards and five top-five finishes in 2024. His 12 top-10 finishes on the season tripled Caruth’s total of four in 2023, while his average starting position of 10.7 was four positions higher than 2023 and his 11.6 average finish is an impressive seven positions better than the season prior. 

Caruth continues this season with two top-ten finishes, a 7th at Las Vegas on March 14 and an 8th at Martinsville on March 28. His average starting position is 9th and his average finish is 19. He is ranked 17th in points after the Martinsville race. His ride with Spire is in a Chevrolet Silverado. 

“Raj is a great young man, a quality racer. He’s destined for great things,” commented Anthony Vestal, spokesperson for Bristol Motor Speedway. 

Caruth spent his rookie Truck Series campaign with GMS Racing and competed part-time for Alpha Prime Racing during the 2022 Xfinity Series season. Caruth was named the 2021 Wendell Scott Trailblazer Award recipient in the NASCAR Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series, an award based on a driver‘s final Weekly Series national standing and on-track performance, sportsmanship and community service. 

“A lot of people in the sport feel Rajah is going to be a star for years to come,” emphasized Bedard. 

 David Winship is a native and current resident of Bristol, Tennessee, and a life-long NASCAR fan. He is a retired public-school educator and consultant on education matters. He writes in many genres and is a member of Winston-Salem Writers.