By Cole Cusumano, Staff Writer
Rajah Caruth was forced to wrestle with the aftermath of a lackluster showing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series playoff opener for over three weeks before strapping back into his Spire Motorsports No. 71 and getting a shot at redemption in Thunder Valley. After essentially a month of dwelling on a performance that put the team below the points cutoff, the 22-year-old appears primed to advance into the next round, having seemingly found his groove once again.
Entering the UNOH 200 presented by Ohio Logistics at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Caruth sat four points below the cutoff, following an 18th-place effort at the Milwaukee Mile, in which he was the lowest-finishing playoff driver with the least amount of points earned from the 10-team postseason field. To make matters worse, this marked his second consecutive finish outside of the top-15.
Fortunately for the notoriously level-headed youngster, he was hardly stressing about his status going into the 200-lap bout at “The World’s Fastest Half-Mile.” Seeing as he’d racked up three-straight top 10s prior to his two-race dry spell, in addition to his self awareness of not having the best grasp on Milwaukee, being less than five points out of a spot in the Round of 8 with two races remaining wasn’t the end of the world.
However, what did weigh on Caruth was the lack of consistency behind the wheel in between his first-two starts in the opening round.
“It’s tough to manage off weeks, especially when your last race didn’t go or end ideally the way you wanted to,” Caruth told Kickin’ the Tires. “I know schedule making is an intricate process, but I can’t say I’m the biggest fan of having your playoff opener, then being off for a month. It’s really important to have a rhythm. Thankfully, I’ve got a little bit more experience now, but compared to everybody else, I only started racing when I was 17, so, it’s super important to be behind the wheel driving something.”
During the downtime between Milwaukee and Bristol, Caruth kept busy with media obligations and the typical weekly prep, such as time in the simulator and team debriefs. He was also fortunate enough to race a Late Model at Florence (S.C.) Motor Speedway in the CARS Tour alongside legends like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kevin Harvick, who actually spoke with him about the importance of extra seat time.
Following weeks of preparation, Caruth and the No. 71 team led by crew chief Chad Walter arrived at “The Last Great Colosseum” ready to battle their way from below the points bubble.
Caruth had himself a podium-perfect day in Tennessee, beginning with a 124.186 mph (15.451-second) hot-lap around Bristol fast enough to qualify his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado right behind the front row in the third-position. Not only was he able to lead a handful of laps, but he also wound up the winner of stage one, racking up the second-most stage points of the day with 18.
While it was non-playoff driver Layne Riggs who played spoiler for a second-straight race, Caruth finished the event as the second-highest scoring competitor in the postseason with the second–most points on the evening (both to Corey Heim), finishing the UNOH 200 where he started in third. Additionally, he maintained an average-running position of third throughout the race, dipping only to 13th at his lowest point.
As a result, Caruth now has a 35-point advantage going into the Round of 10 finale at Kansas Speedway, where he finished 13th earlier this year and a career-best 12th in his 2023 playoff appearance, with much needed momentum on his side.
“The outlook going into Kansas is that I really think I can just go into it preparing to be a threat to win with no doubt in my mind. I think Milwaukee was the only question mark I had going into the playoffs,” Caruth concluded.
Caruth will look to keep his NASCAR Truck Series title hopes alive in the Round of 10 cutoff race at Kansas Speedway on Sept. 27 with the Kubota Tractor 200 at 8:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.