NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series – Rajah Caruth’s Day of Firsts

Just days after HendrickCars.com signed on to sponsor Rajah Caruth for the entire 2024 season, he earned his first NASCAR national series victory in Friday night’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The 21-year-old became the third African American to win a NASCAR national series race, joining NASCAR Hall of Famer Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace.

Caruth’s victory is part of a string of wins from graduates of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program, who have won in each of the first three weeks of the NASCAR season:

• Nick Sanchez, Rev Racing (NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series) at Daytona
• Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing (NASCAR Cup Series) at Atlanta
• Rajah Caruth, Spire Motorsports (NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series) at Las Vegas
• Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports (NASCAR Cup Series) at Las Vegas

The win also gives Spire Motorsports affiliated trucks three wins in the first three races of the season as well as extends Chevrolet’s win streak. The OEM has won every race in 2024 across all three of NASCAR’s premier series.

In three starts this season, Caruth has tallied one win, one pole, two top fives, and three top 10s. The driver of the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet currently sits fourth in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series points standings. With a week off, the D.C. native will let his first victory sink in before he prepares for the first short track of the season – Bristol Motor Speedway.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series

Next Race: Weather Guard Truck Race

The Place: Bristol Motor Speedway

The Date: Saturday, March 16

The Time: 8 p.m. ET

The Purse: $761,274

TV: FS1, 7:30 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio

Distance: 133.25 miles (250 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 65),

Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 130), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 250)

Short track racin’ at Bristol Motor Speedway

After a historic weekend in Las Vegas, the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series will have a week off to regroup and go over strategy before heading to Bristol Motor Speedway for the Weather Guard Truck Race (Saturday, March 16 at 8 p.m. ET on FS1, MRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

There have been 26 NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races at the short track, producing 21 different winners and 19 different pole winners. Six races have been won from the pole or first starting position, most recently by Brett Moffitt in 2019.

NASCAR Cup Series regular and winningest NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series driver Kyle Busch has made the most trips to Victory Lane (five), won the most poles (four), and tallied the most top fives (seven).

Veteran driver Matt Crafton has made the most starts at Bristol (20). He also holds the record for most top 10s (14). Mike Skinner has led the most laps at the 0.533-mile track with 562.

Corey Heim is Bristol Motor Speedway’s most recent winner after making a late-race pass on Christian Eckes to get the victory last September.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series standings are heating up

Tyler Ankrum, at 22 years old, has once again extended his lead in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series points standings. The driver of the No. 18 McAnally-Hilgemann Racing Chevrolet finished runner-up at Las Vegas accumulating 42 points and retaining his position as the points leader in the series.

Looking to next week, the San Bernadino, California native has made five starts at Bristol Motor Speedway. His first venture to the track in 2019 netted him a 20th-place finish and when he returned in 2020, Ankrum scored a track-best seventh-place finish. Last season, Ankrum finished 23rd.

Sitting five points back from Ankrum is ThorSport Racing’s Ty Majeski. The driver of the No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford led a race-high 40 of 134 laps and swept both stages in Las Vegas. A speeding penalty on pit road on Lap 102 ultimately cost him the chance to win the race. In two starts at Bristol, Majeski has one win (2022) one top five, and one top 10 finish.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, Etc.

Jack Hawksworth set to join TRICON Garage at COTA – Vasser Sullivan Lexus standout and reigning IMSA GTD PRO Champion Jack Hawksworth will be joining forces with TRICON Garage to pilot the No. 1 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro at Circuit of The Americas on March 25.

In his eighth season of full-time IMSA competition, the 33-year-old has tallied 11 wins, 10 poles and 25 podiums while capturing championships in the IMSA GTD Sprint Cup and GTD PRO categories. The Lexus Racing factory driver has also secured high-profile victories in the RC F GT3, including Lexus and Vasser Sullivan’s first win in the GTD PRO category at Road America and the first endurance victory at the 2022 Petit Le Mans.

In addition to his expansive Sports Car résumé, Hawksworth competed in three full-time IndyCar seasons, earning a podium at the 2014 Grand Prix of Houston. The Bradford, U.K. native also made a NASCAR Xfinity Series start in 2019 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Joe Gibbs Racing, qualifying on the outside front row, earning a stage win, and finishing 15th.

“I’m super stoked to be joining TRICON Garage and piloting the No. 1 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra at COTA,” said Hawksworth. “The truck looks awesome. I’m looking forward to stepping back into the NASCAR world, working with the team leading up to the race weekend and then going out there and getting after it. COTA is a fun, technical track and one that should be challenging to tame a stock car at. A big thank you to everyone at TRD, Lexus, Mobil 1 and TRICON for making this possible. I can’t wait to get started!”

2024 CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year breakdown – Connor Jones has quietly moved ahead to lead the Sunoco Rookie of the Year standings following three races in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series.

The driver of the No. 66 ThorSport Racing Ford was the highest-finishing Sunoco Rookie contender at Las Vegas (14th) and now sits seven points over Thadd Moffitt and eight points over Layne Riggs.