LAS VEGAS: When Maury Gallagher announced last August that he was shutting down GMS’ NASCAR CRAFTSMAN® Truck Series operation, Rajah Caruth was just finding his groove in the No. 24 Chevrolet.
After a limited run with Spire Motorsports in 2022, the 21-year-old Washington D.C. native thought he had found a home at GMS. Yet with six races remaining on the truck schedule, Caruth found himself auditioning for his next ride.
He wasn’t on the sidelines for long—but probably longer than Caruth would have liked. On February 7, Spire announced Caruth would return behind the wheel of the No. 71 Chevrolet.
“It’s pretty special,” Caruth said. “To be racing for Spire and staying with Chevrolet this year—not only this year but for years to come—and also have HendrickCars.com across my chest, is really special.”
HendrickCars.com had initially agreed to a 10-race sponsorship with Caruth. On Wednesday, the automotive retailer agreed to be the primary sponsor for the affable racer for the entire 2024 truck season. In a one-race Xfinity opportunity with Hendrick Motorsports in the season finale at Phoenix Raceway last November, Caruth finished 14th, his second top 15 result in 12 starts.
“Building that relationship with Mr. H (Hendrick) and Miss Linda (Hendrick’s wife)—not only the Hendrick family and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports but with Hendrick Automotive has been pretty special,” Caruth said
The announcement comes after Caruth finished third in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway and eighth last week at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Caruth, who is currently a senior at Winston-Salem (N.C.) State University, sits fifth in the NASCAR truck standings.
After surviving the first two events, Caruth is thrilled to be racing at a traditional intermediate track such as Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He believes with his current team he can show his potential
“I feel honestly relieved because Daytona and Atlanta are such wild cards for us with the rules packages, surfaces and nuances of those tracks,” Caruth said. “I’m really excited for today because I think it will show that we’ll be one to compete with this year throughout the entire season. I’m really excited to get going.”
In qualifying for the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 on Friday, Caruth earned his first career truck pole with a lap at 177.043 mph, beating Christian Eckes for the top starting spot by 0.001 seconds.
“I felt like I did my part coming to the green, did all the things that I could control,” Caruth said. “Hopefully, I’ll have a good race tonight.”
Working under the direction of veteran crew chief Chad Walter has proved beneficial for Caruth. The pair started their relationship last year at GMS. Once Caruth discovered his career path was changing, he posted an average finish of 10.6 over the final six races.
Walter describes his relationship with Rajah as life-changing.
“I don’t know of anyone else who I’d want to work harder for, or have wanted to work harder for, over the last 15 years of my career,” Walter said after signing with Spire. “He’s so uplifting in so many ways. He works hard and wants to get better.
“I’ve worked with some really good drivers in my past, but Rajah really stands out. He goes about things the right way, and his passion for this has really made an impact on me. I jumped at the opportunity to work with him again.”
And when times became tough following a faux pas by Caruth that triggered a 12-truck wreck at Daytona, Walter was there to lean on. Caruth put his “blinders” on and kept digging.
“It’s cool because I’ve gotten to know Chad pretty well over the last year-and-a-half,” Caruth said. “Knowing his wife, his kids, his extended family is nice because I can call him any time of the night and talk to him about or job. It’s cool to do. It’s not work—I don’t think—because we get to travel the country and race with our friends.
“It’s cool because I also get to talk to him about life. So it’s pretty special to have that relationship with him. We hold each other accountable, and I thrive off of relationships like that. So it’s great for my development so far. I really think we can have some success this year.”
Follow Lee Spencer on Twitter @CandiceSpencer or email her at: [email protected].
