Rajah Caruth finishes fourth at Nashville; nets first top 10 since Martinsville

LEBANON, Tenn. — Highs and lows are bound to happen during a long NASCAR season, and that’s been the case for Rajah Caruth in his sophomore Craftsman Truck Series campaign.

After going six races without a top-10 result, the 22-year-old driver held a pretty wheel for 150 laps around Nashville Superspeedway Friday night to finish fourth, his best since his rousing victory at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in March.

“Glad to just kind of have something go our way there,” Caruth said after the race. “Not the best restarts all night. I’d be really loose on stickers and then after a heat cycle, I was just tight, especially in Turn 1. Everywhere else, I’ll be alright, so I just gave up a lot on restarts. My pit crew did amazing tonight, and I’m so proud of those guys. They’ve put in good work at practice the last month or so, and it really showed tonight. So we just got to keep improving and and put on for HendrickCars.com and Spire and everybody at Team Chevy.”

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While Caruth remained in the top five for most of the race, it was Christian Eckes putting on one of the most dominant races in series history, leading all 150 circuits around the 1.33-mile concrete oval. He’s the first driver in the Truck Series to lead every lap in an event since Timothy Peters at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2012.

“You know they did really good with their setup,” Caruth said. “I think a lot of the field went how we went last year. The McAnally trucks, we shared a lot of stuff at GMS, and I know we went similar, and the stuff’s fast, and he did a mistake-free night, so he definitely deserved it. I’m just fighting to get back into that conversation on a weekly basis.”

Despite not having a shot at battling Eckes for the race win, Caruth will take the result as much-needed momentum with the Truck Series Playoffs just three races away.

It will also allow for the No. 71 Spire Motorsports team to celebrate and bask in the upcoming Independence Day holiday next week.

“I’m just more pumped for my guys,” Caruth said. “Everybody worked so hard. You sit for a week, and to feel good about something for the Fourth of July for them to celebrate with their families. I feel pretty good about it.”

A month off the circuit will have any driver antsy to get back on track and find success. But Caruth added that he doesn’t walk into a track thinking ‘I’m owed’ given his recent results but Nashville puts Caruth back as someone to watch ahead of the 10-driver fight for the championship, beginning at the Milwaukee Mile in August.

“We’re not back. We’re better,” Caruth said. “So hopefully, we can take that into the playoffs.”