LAS VEGAS (AP) — Rajah Caruth was like any other 4-year-old boy the first time he watched the movie “Cars” and vowed to become his own version of Lightning McQueen.
He was, his family insists, obsessed with becoming a racecar driver. He just wasn’t sure he would ever get there.
Just days after HendrickCars.com signed on to sponsor the 21-year-old Caruth for the entire 2024 season, he earned his first career NASCAR national series victory in Friday night’s Truck Series Race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Caruth joined Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace as the only Black drivers to win at NASCAR’s national level.
Born in Atlanta in a Caribbean household and raised in Washington, D.C., racing cars wasn’t really within his reach, even after his first in-person trip to a track — Richmond Raceway in Virginia in 2014 — only fueled his desire.
Just like reigning Daytona 500 winner William Byron, Caruth taught himself to race on a computer. Five years after his trip as a fan to Richmond, Caruth had earned a spot in NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, where had made his debut in a legend car at Charlotte Motor Speedway at 17 years old.
“Man, there was a lot of days, especially in high school, that I did not think I could get here. I can’t tell you how many times I was at internship … working like at the basketball court, whatever, in the box office, just working on my website when I was just iRacing,” Caruth said. “A lot of those days, I didn’t think this would be at all possible.
He graduated high school the next year in 2020 and moved to North Carolina, where Caruth is in his senior year at Winston-Salem State. He is pursuing a degree in motorsports management while embarking on a NASCAR career that has landed him a full season ride in the Truck Series with Spire Motorsports.
Caruth thanked Rick Hendrick for the full season commitment of funding that is allowing him to run the Truck Series…
Read the full article here
