Rajah Caruth becomes third Black driver to win NASCAR series race
Rajah Caruth celebrated with a burnout.
(CNN) — Rajah Caruth became the third Black driver to win a NASCAR national series race after taking the checkered flag in Las Vegas on Friday, joining Hall of Famer Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace.
Caruth, 21, won his first career truck series race, the Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200, from pole position at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“It’s surreal,” the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet driver said in his post-race interview. “Glad to get the win for team Chevy, can’t thank my family enough. So many people helped me to get to this point. I can’t believe it.”
He continued: “I stayed cool. We lost track position in little portions of the race and we stayed in the game … My guys got me a great stop and we just executed. There’s more to come for sure.”
In the end, Caruth finished 0.851 seconds ahead of second-placed Tyler Ankrum, who was closing fast in the final stages of the race.
Caruth had won the first Truck Series pole of his career earlier on Friday, finishing 0.001 seconds ahead of Christian Eckes.
Wallace congratulated Caruth for the historic win on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter.
“What a massive win for the little bro! What a monumental win for our sport! Proud is an understatement! LFG!!!!!!!” Wallace said.
Fellow racing driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. added, “Incredible. Good job.”
Caruth, a Washington, D.C. native, is a graduate of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program.
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