With Spire Motorsports, Rajah Caruth is ready to take next step toward NASCAR stardom

Rajah Caruth has a new opportunity with Spire Motorsports. It is a pairing that should help him take the next step to being a NASCAR star. Right now, Caruth is just a second-year Craftsman Truck Series driver. Soon, he could be a household name.

Ever since I saw Rajah Caruth race in the ARCA Menards Series, I knew he was the real deal. With a background in iRacing, Rajah is not the typical driver. Being a Black man from Washington D.C. doesn’t fit the typical narrative either.

But it doesn’t matter where he came from or who he is, what matters is what you see on the track. Often in sports, there is talk of the eye test. One look at Rajah under pressure and you will see he passes that and more.

Whether he’s splitting the middle of two trucks at Darlington or sawing the wheel and avoiding a major spin after contact, Caruth can stare the difficult in the face and drive through it.

It’s the reason why his crew chief Chad Walter said, “There was no other option for me,” when given the chance to move from GMS to Spire with Caruth. Walter, a NASCAR veteran and Cornell grad who won two Daytona 500s with Michael Waltrip as an engineer, said that the 21-year-old driver “changed my life.”

His rookie Truck Series season with GMS Racing was up and down. It took him a while to get his handle on the series. In his final seven races of 2023, Caruth came away with three top-10s and four additional finishes in the top-15.

Rajah Caruth knows he has momentum. Not only based on how 2023 ended but based on his new Spire Motorsports team and sponsorship with HendrickCars.com. That sponsorship is a massive nod from Rick Hendrick and company to the young driver.

“I think I just want to continue that momentum we have from last year with some new personnel, some of the same personnel, and better equipment,” Caruth said in an interview with 5GOATs. “So, I think I have a really good chance to continue my upward trend and be a consistent contender every week.”

Confidence is the biggest addition in 2024 for Caruth.

Fastest NASCAR driver on two feet

There’s more than iRacing to Rajah Caruth’s background. Caruth didn’t grow up racing go-karts and Legend Cars. Outside of iRacing in high school, Caruth was on a different kind of track, a running track.

Being an athlete prior to getting in a race car certainly has its perks. Caruth wishes he could get more real-life time behind the wheel of a Late Model or a dirt car, but he has his own skills. He isn’t afraid to flaunt his athletic abilities.

When I asked Rajah if there was anyone in NASCAR – Trucks, Xfinity, or Cup, who could beat him in a 400m sprint, he was quick to answer. In a rather serious tone, all he had to say was, “No.”

Then, I asked him to build his own 4x400m relay team using any driver from NASCAR he wanted. It was interesting, as Rajah named his former ARCA teammate Nick Sanchez. He also included Ross Chastain and Connor Zilisch, both Trackhouse Racing drivers, as well as himself, of course. Daniel Suárez almost made the cut, too.

Outside of being a fun thought experiment, it shows Rajah Caruth is working with top drivers. He’s working out with them, picking their brains about racing. This brings us to the Spire and Trackhouse connection, which has multiple examples. The most obvious is Zane Smith being loaned out to the former by the latter in 2024.

That third Cup Series charter for Spire makes this deal for Caruth that much more interesting. But he’s set on staying in the moment.

A few of his peers may have had better results in 2023. They might have new opportunities in 2024. For Rajah, he’s staying focused on himself as best as he can.

“I think I just try to focus on myself because it’s also easy for myself I think, to compare to others,” Caruth said. “I may have not had the same opportunity or things may have not fallen out for other people and vice versa. So it’s hard not to compare but I’ve just been trying to stay in my own lane and be present of the fact that I’ve got a ride.

“I think last year I kind of, I don’t want to say took it for granted, but I think was always focused on the next thing and not really realizing that this… Nothing further in the future is guaranteed, but I have this chance. So, that’s kind of the mentality I’m taking to this year.”

With Spire, there is room to grow, but it doesn’t have to happen right now. Caruth can build with this team. He has time and room to truly get comfortable and find his place in NASCAR. If that leads him to the Cup Series roster at Spire, or elsewhere, then it will be because of the work he has put in and will put into his career.

Rajah Caruth knows his success is NASCAR’s success

Talking to Rajah Caruth, you can tell he understands his place in the sport. He represents a new generation of not just drivers but fans as well. They are on social media, they watch and play iRacing, they’re on Twitch – and that’s where Rajah connects with them.

The thing is, like every driver, he used to be a fan. Before he started running virtual laps, Caruth was dressing up as Jimmie Johnson for Halloween and cheering on Hendrick Motorsports. Now, he knows he is one of the drivers fans come to watch, get autographs from, and take pictures with.

“I remember being a kid and wanting to be a part of the sport,” Caruth said. “So, to be years removed from that, to be the person that people are watching on television, watching compete, I really cherish that. I know that my success only helps the growth of the sport, so I’m willing to do almost anything to help continue that.”

The best way to accomplish that is by running up front and winning races. At times in 2023, Rajah had winning speed. He had winning trucks. Rajah’s teammate Grant Enfinger made the Championship 4! Mechanical issues and wrecks plagued those top runs more times than not. Rajah admits he made mistakes as well.

Rajah underwent a year of learning and maturation. Now he’s ready to apply what he learned as a rookie to this new opportunity at Spire.

“For me, it’s just continuing on that progression, and I know that will result in my first win and a playoff berth,” he explained. “We’ve got a whole season and I still got, I think, a lot of work to do. Hopefully, I’ve got the assets that I need to be successful and I’m confident in my personnel, and hopefully, the stars align for us.”

When those stars align for Rajah Caruth, it will be his next step on the way to being not just a NASCAR driver, but a star of the sport.