Rajah Caruth is now fully engulfed in his second full-time season in the Craftsman Truck Series and is currently competing in his first NASCAR Playoff appearance, eyeing a shot at making the Championship 4 to take home the coveted trophy at Phoenix Raceway when the series holds its finale on Friday, Nov. 8.
While Caruth has admittedly had an up-and-down year, the 22-year-old is still laser-focused on the tasks at hand and ensuring he is as prepared as possible when the time comes.
“It’s been an up-and-down year for sure, I think,” Caruth told NASCAR.com. “There have been a lot of solid times, but there have also been times where there are things that are left to be desired. I think what I’ve learned from the grind of the year so far is that truck racing isn’t as jam-packed as the Xfinity Series or the Cup Series, so I have just been trying to use my time wisely.
“I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of fun and cool things off of the race track, but at the same time, just using my time wisely and being present at the race shop and with my team and kind of learning what it takes to be a contending driver on and off of the race track.”
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Caruth will enter the Round of 8 playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway (Saturday, Oct. 26, Noon ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) just five points below the elimination line after a fourth-place finish at Talladega, his third top-10 finish in the last four races.
Confidence is high for the Washington, D.C. native, returning to a 1.5-mile race track. Earlier this year, a win at the 1.5-mile oval at Las Vegas Motor Speedway propelled Caruth to a postseason position.
“I think Homestead is just a really fun race track,” Caruth said. “I’ve only raced there once, but I feel like it’s kinda right in my driving style. I feel really confident in my ability to run against the wall or be disciplined to a line but also, at the same time, be flexible to change where I need to be.
“I honestly think it is going to be business as usual, but you never know. It’s obviously playoff racing, so things can happen, but fortunately, we have had good and bad luck this year but really had some good luck at Talladega. Hopefully, we won’t need to rely on it and just take it to them when we get to Homestead.”
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The calmness and level-headed mindset can be felt just by how Caruth speaks and conducts himself. He blocks out the noise of everything around him and stays focused on what he and his No. 71 Spire Motorsports team can control. He intends to maintain this mindset as he stares down the opportunity at his first championship in the Craftsman Truck Series.
“To be honest, I don’t really care what the external view of it is,” Caruth added. “I am more focused on my team and the things we need to do on the race track. Just be invested in each other work-wise and in our personal lives as well. Really, for me, I feel like, why not us? We have shown potential, we have put in the work, and we have put ourselves in a position to get really good finishes. There is no reason why we can’t be one of the four in Phoenix.
“For me, if and when we get there, I guess the rest is just gravy. The goal is to get there with a shot, so I am confident in our chances to do so in about a month from now.”
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