Rick Hendrick has been particular about who drives his #17 Chevrolet. The four Hendrick Motorsports stars from the Cup Series had their chances to ride it and brought back three top-5s, four top-10s, and one pole finish. Following the positive results, the topmen decided to give the car another start in the Xfinity Series calendar, at Phoenix. But it wasn’t one of the proven stars who’d taken the wheel last week. It was the 21-year-old Rajah Caruth from the Craftsman Truck Series.

Taking the legendary wheel of Rick Hendrick, Caruth ran as high as P10 before committing to P14 at the end of the race day. As it appears, he might just have done good enough to impress the old man to sign him up full-time.

Rajah Caruth hints at joining Hendrick Motorsports with future hanging in the balance

When GMS Racing announced that it would be nullifying its operations in NASCAR at the culmination of 2023, it left its drivers yearning for their next stop. Amongst them was Rajah Caruth. Though he is a Truck Series regular, he has 19 Xfinity starts to his name after Phoenix. Not having a destination yet for 2024, Rick Hendrick might possibly grab the youngster to be a part of his roster. Veteran reporter Bob Pockrass revealed Caruth’s words that hinted at the same, on his “X” handle, writing, “Caruth did say yesterday he definitely will race a Chevrolet next season.”

For Caruth, driving for Hendrick Motorsports even once, was a dream become reality. As a teen, he was a big fan of the team and chanted the names of Dale Earnhart Jr and Jimmie Johnson. Fast forwarding from 2014 to 2023, Caruth has turned into one of the most potential-filled prospects in NASCAR. His start for Rick Hendrick proves the same. In all possibility, he could find himself back in one of the HMS cars very soon.

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Rajah Caruth has already earned the respect and admiration of HMS stars

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Before his Phoenix start on Saturday, Caruth had said to the Arizona Republic, “To have that opportunity for the first time [Driving for HMS], and hopefully not the last, it’s really special. I’m just making sure every day I’m doing something that parlays into being more prepared for this.”  Phoenix was a track of special importance for the driver. It was where he first met one of his heroes – Jeff Gordon.

The 4 time Cup Series champion and current vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports had quickly been drawn to the driver’s personality and skill. In his words about Caruth, “Just meeting him for the first time, it was like, ‘Wow, this kid seems very professional and very driven, well-spoken.’” As required by his role, Gordon has been watching the progress of Caruth very closely. Pleased about giving the driver the best equipment in NASCAR at Phoenix, he undoubtedly would have gotten his money’s worth watching him drive the #17.

Rick Hendrick’s Championship 4 star William Byron had been equally in awe of Caruth. Mentioning the equipment deficiency that gets nullified by his team, he said before Caruth’s start, “I think he’s done a great job. He’s really gotten good experience over the last couple of years. He’s not been in the best equipment as on the Xfinity side, so I’m excited to see how he does with this opportunity. I feel like he can really capitalize on it.”

Circling Byron’s words the youngster did have a good run at the finale. The bottom line is that not everyone gets a shot at driving for Rick Hendrick. Even fewer make use of that shot to its fullest capacity. Should Rajah Caruth’s performance have impressed Rick Hendrick beyond measure he might just be the first African American driver to race for the legendary racing outfit.

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