DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Rajah Caruth had everything seemingly working in his favor during Friday’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at Daytona International Speedway, like being in a hurry and encountering nothing but green lights. He was in go mode … until he wasn’t.
A late-race crash spoiled Caruth’s best chance at victory in Friday’s Winn-Dixie 250 Powered by Coca-Cola, but the incident didn’t prevent him from securing the final spot in The Chase during his first full O’Reilly Series season. Caruth entered the regular-season finale 15 points below the cutline, but near-maximum stage points and misfortune for the other Chase hopefuls helped him advance by a scant five points.
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His post-race emotions were divided, with elation at clinching a championship berth tempered by the wreck with less than three laps remaining that severely damaged his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. Caruth was running between two JRM teammates, with Carson Kvapil’s No. 1 ahead of him and points leader Justin Allgaier’s No. 7 Chevrolet behind him. A push from Allgaier near the end of the backstretch sent Caruth sliding out of control, across the apron and into the outside retaining wall.
Caruth limped home 32nd in the 38-car field, two laps down, after his mishap sent the event to overtime. Post-race, he watched replays of the incident before team owner Dale Earnhardt Jr. pulled him aside. Allgaier soon joined the discussion about the ins and outs of superspeedway racing, and the three talked it all through.
“Yeah, just a little better decision-making there,” Caruth said when asked what Earnhardt had said. “You know, we were in a great spot us three, and I wanted to obviously go and race, and racing for my first win, but also realizing the situation. We were in a great spot with how fast our cars were. Just like it’s been for a lot of this year for me, just knowing the time and place to do things and the awareness. So lessons learned, but bummed about the end, but great, great lessons learned and things I can apply to Talladega.”
Caruth’s chances had brightened before the scheduled 250-miler reached halfway. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Brent Crews and William Sawalich both sustained heavy damage in early crashes, derailing their Chase hopes. Caruth, meanwhile, showed strength after winning the pole in afternoon qualifying and stockpiled 18 precious points with finishes of third and first at the stage breaks.
He needed nearly every bit of that cushion, which grew to 35 points as he moved into contention late. A wayward push as Caruth stepped out of line with two and a half laps remaining reduced his margin to just five points, leaving Allgaier deflated by the outcome.
“I mean, you line up just to the right of the bumper and try to do all the things right, and it really wasn’t even a hard push,” said Allgaier, who heads into The Chase as the top seed. “It was just trying to get our JRM Chevys out front and hopefully create a gap to fourth, right? We did it at Atlanta. We were able to really navigate that, and I think that’s the hardest part is obviously, the playoffs are at stake. I know the 88 and Rajah were doing a great job. I think that’s the most frustrating part about it is you’re trying to be as calm and as patient as you can right there, and really for us, it’s just get to the exit of (turn) four, right? At that point, as a company, you get to the exit of four, you kind of have whatever you have. I think that’s the hardest part.
“I felt like it was the perfect push. I was just to the right of center. It wasn’t a hard push. I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to Rajah about it. I mean, I feel awful, obviously. It doesn’t matter how a race car gets torn up, it still stings. Just thankfully, I think it’s five points in, so I mean, thankfully he’s in and we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
Caruth’s postseason path was all the more remarkable because he split time between a pair of teams this year. “I think that there’s something to say for that,” said Caruth, who drove in 14 regular-season races for JR Motorsports and the remaining 10 as part of a rotating cast in the No. 32 Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet.
The 24-year-old is slated to drive the No. 88 JRM entry for the duration of The Chase, where he’ll be seeded 12th in the 12-driver field for the nine-race homestretch.
“I think I’m very disappointed right now with the end of the race and things I needed to do better,” Caruth said, “but the big picture is that we’re racing for a championship, so can’t ask for more.”