NASCAR Inability to Control Truck Series Drivers Could Have Cost Taylor Gray His Life After Shameful Daytona Carnage

Published 02/17/2024, 12:15 PM EST

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series opener at Daytona was an ugly and gruesome watch. With racing etiquette seemingly missing, Friday night’s race was more than a wreck fest. To make matter worse, the chaos that unfolded nearly cost driver Taylor Gray his life in a freak accident.

The No. 17 from Tricon Garage found himself on the receiving end of some aggressive driving during the last lap of the race. Rajah Caruth was the one who initiated the accident as he bumped into third-place running, Mark Wood, who then turned the No. 17 sideways, and Gray was flipped in the air by oncoming Daniel Dye. Gray was even in contention to win the race just behind Nick Sanchez. But following the unfortunate accident, he was lucky to escape a near-death accident during the final laps.

During Friday’s race, a total of 12 cautions were flagged, and those included 10 accidents. In fact, before this carnage, NASCAR Truck Series managing director Seth Kramlic had a sit down with the drivers in a bid to curb such incidents. However, going by the wreck fest, his briefings and talks seem to have fallen on deaf ears.

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NASCAR’s intervention not enough to curb rash driving by Truck drivers

The winner, Nick Sanchez, was among the two drivers who escaped the final lap massacre. For Taylor Gray, it was a double jolt as it not only cost him a fighting chance for victory, but also he came off second best in the accident. Aside from picking up a DNF, he could have potentially been fighting for his life after the nasty accident.

Interestingly, NASCAR did intervene to settle the nerves ahead of the feisty clash. Daniel Dye described what went down in the meeting with Seth Kramlic. He was quoted by Sportsnaut, saying, “He said, you don’t want to view Truck Series as a demo derby in NASCAR. And while it is a learning step for the drivers to make it to the top. We’re also in a top three division of NASCAR and we need to show.”

For the time being, it is Rajah Caruth who is being painted as a villain, but he’s just a piece of a larger puzzle. However, in response to the allegations aimed at him for causing the accident, he explained, “Corey was doing a good job of pushing me and I felt like someone was on my right rear, which made me even more tight. It’s the last lap and I hate it happened. I hate to see people flying through the air and getting destroyed. Taylor is a buddy of mine.”

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Something’s got to give after such a display at Daytona, right? But going by Caruth’s words, the trend of racing in Truck Series will continue in the upcoming races.

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“We’re going to race hard” – Rajah Caruth

There’s a fine line between spirited, aggressive racing, often known as “hard racing” in NASCAR, and dirty driving. Unfortunately, the drivers in the Truck Series have seemed to be done with clean and entertaining racing, and are willing to push their boundaries to get the desired results at all costs. Caruth seemingly has made up his mind about hard racing.

We could see Caruth only play by the rules that are preached and practiced by his competitors. “Obviously, we had that talking to this week and look how much stuff we tore up tonight. We’re truckers. We’re going to race hard. Most of us aren’t stupid. Some of us. Not all of us.”

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Hopefully, NASCAR will intervene and curb the aggressive racing aspect of the Truck Series; if not, then they are only awaiting a major catastrophe.

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Written by:

Chintan Mahesh Devgania is a NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. As someone who likes to dive deep into the sport, he often takes up less explored topics to eventually see them make their way into top stories. His report on Toyota’s young recruit, Jade Avedisian, sharing her thoughts on Late Model Racing, was an example of that.

Edited by:

Rohan Karnad

NASCAR Inability to Control Truck Series Drivers Could Have Cost Taylor Gray His Life After Shameful Daytona Carnage

NASCAR’s intervention not enough to curb rash driving by Truck drivers

“We’re going to race hard” – Rajah Caruth

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