Rajah Caruth kicked things off with a bang at the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway last Friday, snagging the pole position for the first time ever in his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series career. He didn’t just start strong; he finished strong too, nabbing the win and making history as the third black driver to clinch a NASCAR national series race.

And before Caruth celebrated his big win, he made sure to give the first shoutout to Rick Hendrick during his victory lap interview, thanking him for believing in him.

Rajah Caruth shared his secret sauce

Earlier this evening, he snagged his first-ever pole and then went on to lead a whopping 38 laps, pocketing 17 stage points in the process, all while going toe-to-toe with big names like Zane Smith, Kyle Busch, and Christopher Bell. After the last pit stop, he took the lead, dominated the final 21 laps, and cruised his #71 Chevrolet right into the winner’s circle for the very first time.

As Rajah Caruth was soaking up his emotional win alongside his dad, just a few seconds later, after getting out of his truck, he couldn’t help but tip his hat to Hendrick Cars and Mr. Rick Hendrick for their support. Caruth said, “It’s, uh, surreal.” And the next thing he said was,” Thank you so much to Hendrickcars.com and Mr. H for putting me in this thing all year, along with the men and women at Fire Man; they’ve had a lot of work this winter, and uh, the decal shops have been working very hard too, so glad to get the win for Team Chevy.”

Further extending his gratitude to his family, Rajah Caruth thanked his family and the people around him who helped him get to the winning stage.

The race was so full of consistency for Rajah Caruth, and the last round of pit stops was a game-changer. Caruth and his crew nailed it without a hitch, unlike some of their competitors. While Kyle Busch was out there making risky moves trying to grab the win, which backfired and got him tangled up in a safety snafu, dropping him down to finish 15th, Caruth stayed chill.

He mentioned, “I just stayed cool. You know, we lost track position at little portions of the race, and we just stayed in the game. And it was just one step one one punch, one round at a time, and my guys got me, had me a great stop, and we just executed. So, there’s more to come, for sure.”

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