At Daytona, Rajah Caruth had to make up at least 15 points to have a shot at the 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Chase for the championship.
Well, he started the day on a high note by securing pole position. After that, it seemed like everything was going his way. He scored 18 out of a possible 20 stage points, which was huge for his Chase hopes.
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Two of the drivers he was chasing also suffered significant damage in early wrecks (Brent Crews and William Sawalich), and now he suddenly had a shot at his first-career win without even having to worry about his position inside the Chase.
Caruth was running second in a JR Motorsports 1-2-3 with teammate Carson Kvapil leading and Justin Allgaier behind in third. But it all went wrong with three laps to go, as Caruth got sideways off a big push from Allgaier.
The No. 88 spun and slammed the wall, leaving Caruth with a torn up race car and a 32nd-place finish. Thanks to his work in the earlier stages, he still made it into the Chase by a mere five points, but there were few smiles to be had.
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Caruth and team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. spoke on pit road after the race, and were joined by Allgaier in a impromptu team meeting.
“I felt pretty calm all night and was in a great spot,” said Caruth after the race. “Coming to a white flag or two to go and don’t know if I just got a bad push or what. Looking at it here….yeah, he just got me in the tail a little bit and obviously wasn’t on purpose, just a bummer because we were in a really good spot. Thankfully, still able to make the Chase, and huge thanks to everybody at JRM. Like Carson [Kvapil] said, our engines have been super strong and really proud of the effort out of this whole company to have such fast cars. I hate that we tore this thing up because it was really good and I wanted to take it to Talladega, but that’s all right. I know my guys and gals at JRM will build a good bullet for the next one.”
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Caruth has spent the 2026 season split between the JRM No. 88 and the Jordan Anderson Racing No. 32 Chevrolet. He just earned a career-best finish of second at Iowa, but that first-career win still eludes him. With his Daytona effort, that means JR Motorsports has all four of its full-time drivers in the Chase.
Caruth is the No. 12 and final seed after the points reset, but he’s actually the No. 3 seed in the owner’s standings.
“There was a couple of times early in the year that I threw away some points, so glad it mostly capitalized tonight,” added Caruth. “In the moment, I’m pretty bummed about the end of the race because I felt we were in a great spot, but we’ll go to a new chapter tomorrow and get to work.”
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Watch: Florida native Chastain calls Daytona pole a ‘life achievement’
Read Also:
Ryan Sieg wins first NASCAR O’Reilly race after 13 years of trying
The official 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Chase for the championship field after points reset
NASCAR Cup Daytona starting lineup: Ross Chastain wins pole position
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