It has been an eventful 2022 for Rajah Caruth as he leads the ARCA Menards Series standings after five races and has two NASCAR Xfinity Series starts to his name. On Saturday, he can add the Camping World Truck Series to his résumé as he drives the #7 Confluence Music Festival-sponsored Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
“Rajah Caruth is a rising star and we’re thrilled the help him take the next logical step in his career this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway,” commented Spire Motorsports co-owner Jeff Dickerson. “Rajah has a tremendous upside and he’s proven that on multiple occasions in the ARCA Menards Series. He has the kind of talent Spire Motorsports looks for and this type of opportunity is exactly what my partner T.J. Puchyr and I had in mind when we decided to field a NASCAR Camping World Truck Series team.”
After finishing third in the 2021 ARCA Menards Series East standings, Caruth graduated to the national series in 2022. Five races in, he has top tens in all but the season opener at Daytona (where he finished eleventh) and leads the championship by five points over Nick Sanchez. He is also running a part-time schedule in the Xfinity Series for Alpha Prime Racing, finishing twenty-fourth at Richmond in his maiden start.
Caruth is one of five Black drivers to attempt at least one NASCAR national series race in 2022, and he was named to NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity programme in 2020 and 2021. Accounting for this, Gateway is a fitting location for his début as the track’s naming rights holder World Wide Technology is the largest Black-owned company in the United States.
“I’m thrilled to make my NASCAR Camping World Truck Series début this weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway with Spire Motorsports and Chevrolet,” said Caruth. “To drive the Confluence Music Festival Chevrolet Silverado and represent the Steward family and World Wide Technology is truly an honor. I’m grateful to represent them on and off the racetrack. This is the big break I’ve been striving for and I’m going to make it count.”
Spire Motorsports, primarily a Cup Series team, opened a Truck arm for 2022 with Austin Hill, Alex Bowman, William Byron, and Chase Elliott making one-off starts; all but Hill and Caruth drive for Spire ally Hendrick Motorsports. Byron won for the team at Martinsville.