The future continues to look bright for Winston-Salem State student and professional race car driver Rajah Caruth. He ended his 2022 racing season last night in Phoenix with a 17th place finish in the Xfinity Series finale.
Caruth flashed as high as tenth place on the leaderboard at lap 171 of the 200 lap event. Caruth finished 20 spots ahead of his starting position at no. 37 rolling off the grid.
It was a night of consistent improvement on the track as Caruth advanced to 28th after stage one and 23rd after stage two. Ty Gibbs went on to win the race and claim the 2022 Xfinity Cup Championship.
“Notched another solid top 20 in 17th to end the year with @TeamAlphaPrime and @MarketRebels. Unfortunately, we got wrecked out of the top 10 last night in our @SpireMotorsport and @circle Silverado,” Caruth tweeted.
Caruth talked about the finish on Twitter after the race but still seemed to be smarting about the previous night’s race outcome in the truck race. He was caught up in a wreck at lap 106 on Friday night and finished 32nd in his no. 7 Chevrolet.
Caruth has shown that he belongs on the circuit with the top racers in the world. With spot appearances in the higher ranks he showed the propensity to be a top 20 racer as a rookie. He led the points standings for a significant portion of his rookie season in the ARCA Series before finishing third. His success on the track there led to many opportunities in the Camping World and Xfinity Series for him to showcase his abilities.
The race weekend in Phoenix will crown champions in all three major divisions of the NASCAR circuit. Zane Smith won the Camping World Truck Series title on Friday night. On Sunday the NASCAR Cup Series will crown its champion in its premium tier.