Rajah Caruth, a senior HBCU student at Winston-Salem State University and driver in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, is contending for a championship in one of NASCAR’s premiere series.
Caruth finished in the No. 12 spot in his most recent race at Texas Motor Speedway, maintaining the seventh position in the overall points standings. He qualified tenth to start the race but had to make an untimely pit stop early in the race to check damage after sliding by a spinning Thad Moffitt.
Caruth would end up at the back of the field and mired in the thirties position wise. He managed to keep his composure through the race and methodically worked his way back to the 12th place finish.
Thanks in part to his first career win earlier in the season at Las Vegas, Caruth has guaranteed himself a spot in the NASCAR playoffs later in the season. The ten round playoff series begins on August 25 at the Milwaukee Mile Speedway. Rajah Caruth spoke to HBCU Gameday after his big win in Vegas, you can see that video here.
Caruth is currently 54 points behind first place leader Christian Eckes. The No. 71 Chevrolet driven by Caruth is sponsored by industry giant Hendrick Motorsports under their Hendrickcars.com banner. Caruth’s truck is the fourth best Chevy in the series behind Eckes, Nick Sanches and Tyler Ankrum.
In seven starts this year Caruth has one win, two top five finishes and five top tens.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be off the track for a few weeks until the next race on May 4. Caruth will be back in action that weekend at the Kansas Speedway. The calendar is full for the month of May with stops at Kanas, Darlington, North Wilkesboro and Charlotte.
For more updates on Rajah Caruth’s chase for a championship in NASCAR, subscribe and follow us at HBCU Gameday.com
| POS | NO. | DRIVER | MFR | POINTS(STAGE) | BEHIND | STARTS | WINS | TOP 5s | TOP 10s | DNFs | LAPS LED | STAGE WINS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | +3 | 19 | CHRISTIANECKES | 287 (82) | 0 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 337 | 3 | |
| 2 | 11 | COREYHEIM | 285 (49) | -2 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 49 | 1 | ||
| 3 | -2 | 98 | TYMAJESKI | 275 (93) | -12 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 117 | 2 | |
| 4 | +2 | 2 | NICHOLASSANCHEZ | 260 (62) | -27 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 52 | 1 | |
| 5 | 17 | TAYLORGRAY | 249 (39) | -38 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | ||
| 6 | -3 | 18 | TYLERANKRUM | 244 (74) | -43 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 62 | 1 | |
| 7 | 71 | RAJAHCARUTH | 233 (24) | -54 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 39 | 0 | ||
| 8 | 88 | MATTCRAFTON | 195 (17) | -92 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 9 | +2 | 15 | TANNERGRAY | 171 (15) | -116 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 10 | -1 | 9 | GRANTENFINGER | 167 (31) | -120 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 0 |