Rajah Caruth earns his first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series win
Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Rajah Caruth made a promise after taking the checkered flag in the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“There’s more to come, for sure,” said the 21-year-old Spire Motorsports driver moments after securing his first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win from the pole position in Friday night’s race.
An alumnus of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, Caruth is the third African-American driver to win a NASCAR national series race, joining Hall of Famer Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace.
It was a day for firsts for Caruth, who earlier on Friday won the initial Truck Series pole of his career by 0.001 seconds over Christian Eckes.
But it was Caruth’s pit crew that helped decide the issue. During a 62-lap green-flag run to the finish, crew chief Chad Walter called Caruth’s No. 71 Chevrolet to pit road early in the cycle.
The over-the-wall crew performed a flawless stop, and after other contenders made their stops during the cycle, Caruth inherited the lead on Lap 114 with an advantage over Taylor Gray of nearly two seconds.
That margin enabled Caruth, who led 38 laps, to finish 0.851 seconds in front of fast-closing Tyler Ankrum, who passed Gray for the second spot on Lap 120.
“It’s surreal,” said Caruth. “Thinks so much to (sponsor) HendrickCars.com and Mr. H (Hendrick) for putting me in this thing all year, and with the men and women at Spire.
“So many people have helped me get to this point, and I can’t believe it. I just stayed cool. We lost track position in little portions of the race, and we stayed in the game… My guys got me a great stop, and we just executed.”
A lack of execution ruined the chances of several contenders. Ty Majeski, who led a race-high 40 of the 134 laps and swept the first two stages, drew a penalty for speeding on pit road on Lap 102. So did Daytona winner Nick Sanchez, snuffing out a late rally.
Defending race winner Kyle Busch’s crew was guilty of a tire violation, preventing Caruth’s Spire teammate from contending for the victory. But with Busch winning last week at Atlanta, Spire now has two straight victories.
In the closing laps, Ankrum could see Caruth tantalizingly in front of him, just out of reach.
“I wish we would have had 10 more laps, and I think we could have gotten it,” said Ankrum, who retained his series lead by five points over second-place Majeski. “But we tend to say that a lot in racing. I wish we would have been able to do it, but I think our time is coming.”
Corey Heim finished third as is seven points behind Ankum in the standings. Caruth climbed one spot from fifth to fourth, 10 points out of the series lead.
Gray ran fourth on Friday, followed by Christopher Bell. Eckes, Matt Crafton, Zane Smith, Grant Enfinger and Majeski completed the top 10. Busch finished 15th, one lap down.
Notes: Chevrolet won its second straight race at the track, after breaking a streak of seven straight Toyota victories last year… Caruth’s win was the 11th from the pole position in 32 Truck races at LVMS—a remarkable percentage of 34.4.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 3
Race Results for the Victoria's Voice Foundation 200 presented by Westgate
Resorts - Friday, March 1, 2024
Las Vegas Motor Speedway - Las Vegas, NV - 1.5 - Mile Paved
Total Race Length - 134 Laps - 201. Miles
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Friday, 3/1/2024 @ 11:03 PM Eastern
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Stage 1 Pos Stage 2 Pos Pts Status Tms Laps Playoff Pts
1 1 71 Rajah Caruth HendrickCars.com Chevrolet 134 2 3 57 Running 2 38 5
2 5 18 Tyler Ankrum LiUNA! Chevrolet 134 4 42 Running
3 25 11 Corey Heim Safelite Toyota 134 5 2 49 Running 2 18
4 19 17 Taylor Gray Mobil 1 Toyota 134 7 4 44 Running 2 4
5 14 1 Christopher Bell(i) Mobil 1 Toyota 134 6 0 Running 1 2
6 2 19 Christian Eckes NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet 134 31 Running 1 7
7 15 88 Matt Crafton Black Label Bacon/Menards Ford 134 10 10 32 Running
8 7 91 Zane Smith(i) Instacoat Premium Products Chevrolet 134 8 0 Running
9 10 9 Grant Enfinger Champion Power Equipment Chevrolet 134 9 7 34 Running
10 6 98 Ty Majeski Curb Records 60 Years Ford 134 1 1 47 Running 5 40 2
11 12 13 Jake Garcia Quanta Services Ford 134 26 Running
12 20 32 Bret Holmes Precision Garage Door Chevrolet 134 25 Running
13 13 99 Ben Rhodes Kubota Ford 134 24 Running
14 26 66 Conner Jones # Cincinnati Ford 133 23 Running
15 4 7 Kyle Busch(i) Group 1001 Chevrolet 133 8 5 0 Running 3 13
16 11 77 Chase Purdy Bama Buggies Chevrolet 133 21 Running 1 1
17 8 2 Nick Sanchez Gainbridge Chevrolet 133 6 25 Running 1 5
18 3 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Toyota 133 3 9 29 Running
19 18 45 Connor Mosack Chevy Accessories Chevrolet 133 18 Running
20 24 15 Tanner Gray Dead On Tools Toyota 133 17 Running
21 29 02 Mason Massey Anderson Power Services Chevrolet 133 16 Running 1 6
22 21 38 Layne Riggs # Love's RV Stops Ford 133 15 Running
23 28 33 Lawless Alan AUTOChargit Mobile Ford 133 14 Running
24 9 43 Daniel Dye NAPA Nightvision Chevrolet 132 13 Running
25 30 46 Thad Moffitt # South Point Hotel & Casino Chevrolet 132 12 Running
26 16 25 Ty Dillon Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 132 11 Running
27 31 22 Keith McGee More Core Ford 131 10 Running
28 17 41 Bayley Currey Niece Chevrolet 129 9 Running
29 32 76 Spencer Boyd Nor-Cal Equipment Rentals Chevrolet 128 8 Running
30 23 5 Dean Thompson Thompson Pipe Group Toyota 125 7 Running
31 22 42 Matt Mills J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet 125 6 Running
32 27 56 Timmy Hill Coble Enterprises/UNITS Toyota 75 5 Electrical
Time of Race: 1 Hrs, 32 Mins, 50 Secs. Average Speed: 129.91 MPH Margin of Victory: 0.851 Seconds
Stage 1 Top 10: 98, 71, 52, 18, 11, 1, 17, 7, 9, 88
Stage 2 Top 10: 98, 11, 71, 17, 7, 2, 9, 91, 52, 88
Caution Flags: 4 for 19 laps; Laps: 4-7 (#41 incident backstretch [None]); 32-36 (Stage 1 Conclusion [22]); 62-66 (Stage 2 Conclusion [22]); 68-72 (#5 incident turn 4 [46]).
Lead Changes: 19 among 10 drivers; C. Eckes 1-7; K. Busch(i) 8-13; T. Majeski 14-16; K. Busch(i) 17-18; T. Majeski 19-33; R. Caruth 34-50; T. Majeski 51-63; T. Gray 64-66; K. Busch(i) 67-71; T. Majeski 72-76; N. Sanchez 77-81; C. Heim 82-85; T. Majeski 86-89; C. Heim 90-103; T. Gray 104; C. Bell(i) 105-106; C. Purdy 107; M. Massey 108-113; R. Caruth 114-134.
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
Next Race: March 16, 2024 - Bristol Motor Speedway
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