“My fault and mistake”: HMS-backed Rajah Caruth looks back on pivotal moment at Rockingham
Rajah Caruth owned up to the multi-truck wreck on lap 117 in the returning race at Rockingham Speedway. The 22-year-old said the crash, which took three drivers out of the contest, was his fault for getting loose.
On lap 117 of the Black's Tire 200, Rajah Caruth, driver of the HendrickCars.com-backed #71 Chevrolet Silverado, got loose off turn four before making contact with the trailing #52 truck of Matt Mills. The crash collected Stewart Friesen and Tanner Gray, resulting in DNFs for all involved drivers except Caruth, who finished fourth.
The Spire Motorsports driver shared his perspective on the crash with veteran NASCAR reporter Bob Pockrass, saying [at the start of video]:
"I just got loose. I fell like that late in the corner. I knew Kaden (Honeycutt) was out there. Just didn't think I'd get sucked around with that much low in the center of the corner."
"Obviously, my fault and mistake, and hate to tear up trucks with that," he added.
When asked about putting the race behind, knowing he finished within the top five while others exited the race for his mistake, the Washington D.C. native responded [0:54]:
"I've been on the wrong side of it before. Today, I was on the side that caused it. It's part of it. It's sports. It's not anything malicious. I just got loose. That's all there's to it [...] At the end of the day, it's racing. Obviously, it's something I need to do better next time. I'll learn from it and not do it again."
While Rajah Caruth finished fourth at Rockingham Speedway, Tyler Ankrum earned his first victory of the 2025 season. Pole-sitter Jake Garcia finished second, followed by Daniel Hemric. Grant Enfinger completed the top five finishers' list.
NASCAR will return to The Rock for the North Carolina Education Lottery 250 (Xfinity) on Saturday, April 19. The Cup Series field, meanwhile, will enjoy a one-race break before the Jack Link's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway next week.
Rajah Caruth credited Spire Motorsports for fourth-place finish at Rockingham
Rajah Caruth gave the #71 Spire Motorsports team its flowers for a fourth-place finish at Rockingham Speedway. He pointed out the strategic calls that helped him recover from on-track mistakes, including the lap 117 incident off turn four.
In the same post-race interview with Bob Pockrass, the young driver said [0:18]:
"Thankful to my HendrickCars.com, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet team for bailing me out with the great pit calls and putting us in position."
After seven races, Rajah Caruth has amassed one top-five and four top-10 finishes. The Chevy pilot has also led the field for 110 laps, the third-most in the Truck Series standings. However, he had two DNFs from Atlanta and Daytona.
NASCAR's pickup truck-based series will take a break next week before hosting its eighth race of the year at Texas Motor Speedway. Caruth has yet to break the top 10 at the Fort Worth track after finishing 12th and 19th on previous visits.