Under the lights in Las Vegas, Rajah Caruth joined a very short list of NASCAR winners. The 21-year-old started on the pole for the first time in his career, putting him in a prime position to start the race. It was a relatively caution-free race that ended with a 62-lap green flag run. Caruth’s crew chief made the call to pit early during the final run, and his crew performed a flawless pit stop. He wound up in the lead once the pit stop cycle completed and coasted to the first win of his career.

Caruth took the lead on lap 114 leading the final 20 laps of the race and 38 total on the day. He finished nearly a full second before a fast-charging Tyler Ankrum for the win. It’s the second straight win for Spire Motorsports in the truck series. Kyle Busch won last week extending his record of most all-time truck series wins. The win moves Caruth from fifth to fourth in the series standings and puts secures him a spot in the truck series playoffs. Akrum’s second place finish helped him hold onto the series lead.

Drive for Diversity

Rajah Caruth graduated from NASCAR’S Drive for Diversity program which encourages drivers of any race, ethnicity or gender to pursue their racing ambitions. Caruth becomes the fourth Driver for Diversity driver to win a race in one of NASCAR’s top three series joining Kyle Larson, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suárez. Larson won the 2021 Cup Series Championship while Suárez won the 2016 Xfinity Series Championship. It’ll be interesting to see if Caruth gets to hoist one of the top three trophies in his career like Larson and Suárez have. Caruth is also the third Black driver, after Wallace and Wendell Scott, to win a NASCAR race.

Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 Top 10 Finishers

1. Rajah Caruth
2. Tyler Ankrum
3. Corey Heim
4. Taylor Gray
5. Christopher Bell
6. Christian Eckes
7. Matt Crafton
8. Zane Smith
9. Grant Enfinger
10. Ty Majeski

Craftsman Truck Series Top 10 Standings

1. Tyler Ankrum
2. Ty Majeski
3. Corey Heim
4. Rajah Caruth
5. Nicholas Sanchez
6. Taylor Gray
7. Matt Crafton
8. Bret Holmes
9. Christian Eckes
10. Grant Enfinger

Next Up for NASCAR

NASCAR continues its fun weekend in Sin City with two more races. The Xfinity Series hits the track Saturday in Las Vegas, while the Cup Series takes center stage Sunday. The Craftsman Truck Series takes its first weekend break of the season but will return in two weeks under the lights of Bristol.

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