Corey Heim is dominating the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The Toyota driver has clinched a record-tying nine victories in 2025, with no signs of stopping his streak of glory. This presents golden possibilities in the run towards the championship. However, up next is an intimidating racetrack, and Heim possesses no prior experience on it. His rival, or Bubba Wallace’s mentee, is in a better position – and also carries optimism.

The Craftsman Truck Series is entering its Round of 8 opener this weekend. And it is doing so grandly, heading to the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval for the first time. In preparation, teams are getting 50 minutes of practice – something that Bubba Wallace’s junior is sure to capitalize on.

Rose-tinted glasses for Bubba Wallace’s mentee

Well, Bubba Wallace is in a tight spot, as the Cup Series is heading to its Round of 12 elimination race at the Charlotte Roval. Meanwhile, however, Wallace’s mentee, Rajah Caruth, is in a far more optimistic place. In New Hampshire, the Spire Motorsports racer collected 11 stage points and a 10th-place result to stay above the playoff cutline and advance to the Round of 8. Now, Caruth and his rivals will get ready for the Roval, whose 17 turns make for surgical braking, an easy recipe for wrecks. Caruth said, “Oh, it’s straight chaos! I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but it’ll be entertaining for sure. They knew what they were doing with the schedule.”

However, Rajah Caruth is not intimidated. Bubba Wallace‘s mentee wheeled the No. 44 Chevy in a 2023 race, finishing 19th after dodging mishaps. What is more, some of Caruth’s first race car experiences came in U.S. Legend Cars International competition on the Concord, N.C., venue’s infield road course. So Caruth boldly declared to Bob Pockrass, “I feel confident there.” He continued, “I ran Xfinity, got some great experience with Alpha Prime Racing…Last year, I ran in ’23, so didn’t like the new hairpin turn 8, Turn 7. But I’ve run it in a Legend car. So, the end of another course is pretty much the same as in 2023. So I feel A little bit leg up getting prepared for that race.”

Furthermore, Bubba Wallace’s mentee is prepared to tackle the chaos of the Roval. The complex turns and high-speed oval section make it a tricky venue for drivers. In the October 2024 Cup race, for example, a stack-up in Turn 7 sent Tyler Reddick flying through the air after Austin Dillon spun ahead of him. Yet Rajah Caruth welcomes that with a daredevil attitude. He said, “I love the chaos, I love the lights, I love for intensity to pick up and those moments where you gotta elevate and put it all on a line, put in your shoulders. So, I love getting ready for moments like that…Our sport is different than others, obviously. But I guess that’s the quirk, right? You got everybody else racing, only a handful of guys are racing for something greater.”

Hence, the determination is shining brightly for Rajah Caruth. To add to his motivation, Bubba Wallace’s junior has a special teammate for this weekend.

Driving with a generational talent

While no driver dominates the star power in the Cup Series right now, both Xfinity and Trucks have their own stars. Corey Heim, as we know, is the leader in Trucks. In Xfinity, on the other hand, it is Connor Zilisch. The rookie JR Motorsports driver has clinched nine victories already in 2025, with solid chances of grabbing the Xfinity Series championship. Yet his signature talents are at road courses – in 7 starts on these tracks, Zilisch has grabbed 5 wins, 7 top fives, and 7 top tens. Hence, Truck drivers are in for a challenge as Zilisch will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado in Friday’s EcoSave 250 race.

Bubba Wallace’s mentee, Rajah Caruth, will be more motivated to finish well, given his new teammate’s dazzling stats. What is more, even Truck Series leader Corey Heim is rolling up his sleeves to face Connor Zilisch. The Tricon Garage driver said, “I’ve always been a believer in ‘if you want to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best,’ right? So, Connor coming down is definitely a challenge. He ran well at Watkins Glen, especially for coming in last-second for Kaden (Honeycutt). I’m sure that was pretty tough to kind of prepare for. So, definitely going to probably have my hands full with him this weekend.”

Evidently, Rajah Caruth has many reasons to be optimistic about the Charlotte Roval. Let’s wait and see how Bubba Wallace’s mentee fares.