Rajah Caruth, a student of NASCAR, names the driver he idolized

One of the bright young stars of NASCAR is Rajah Caruth. The Spire Motorsports Truck Series driver is on the rise. With a win on the season, Caruth is set to make the playoffs for the first time in his career.

It wasn’t that long ago when Rajah Caruth was a fan, going to his first race, and cheering on his favorite drivers. A well-documented Jimmie Johnson fan, Caruth is now sponsored by HendrickCars.com and Ally. Two prominent Hendrick sponsors, Johnson’s old organization.

Recently, Caruth was on CBS Sunday Morning and talked about his idol growing up as a NASCAR fan.

“I was just a huge fan of the sport, period,” Caruth said. “Of just being a student of it, I got this encyclopedia when I was seven. … I just was obsessed with it. So, my first favorite driver was Jimmie Johnson. He just carried himself like a champion so that was really infectious and I got to spend a little time with him and his family last year and so, that was really special. Because it’s like the man you grow up watching and idolizing on television to have a personal relationship with him is cool.”

Rajah Caruth was able to spend time with Johnson last season. In the final year of GMS Racing’s Truck Series program, Johnson was technically Caruth’s boss. Johnson became co-owner of Legacy Motor Club in 2023 and GMS was under the Legacy umbrella.

Already in the 2024 season, Caruth has shown improvement. But it has been a reminder that the grind never stops, either.

Rajah Caruth hoping to turn things around after break

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season is on a break at the moment. In the last race for the series, Rajah Caruth put up a decent showing at Gateway. If he hadn’t been on the wrong side of a pit cycle, Caruth would have had a top-10 result.

However, he had to take a P16 into the two-week break. Caruth has not recorded a top-10 result since Martinsville. Despite that, he has just a single finish outside of the top 16, a P30 DNF at Darlington.

The win from Las Vegas is going to be nice to lay back on. However, Caruth wants to be a championship contender. The results have to start reflecting that sooner rather than later. Good news, when the Truck Series returns, it will be at Nashville Superspeedway.

Rajah Caruth is strong on the intermediate tracks. Last year in his lone start at Nashville, he finished P32. But this is a new year and a new Rajah. I expect him to be quick next week in Music City and have a solid bounce back on his path to the postseason.