Ross Chastain was actually the first driver peer to reach Rajah Caruth in Victory Lane on Sunday.
“Because we’re buddies,” Chastain said.
It was also the embodiment of why so many reached out with something positive to say in the aftermath of his first career victory on Friday night at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“I’ve seen the work and even when it hasn’t gone well,” Chastain said. “That’s the first win I’ve seen him get from ARCA and his entry into Chevrolet and the (Josh) Wise (physical fitness) program. He’s one of the first ones there and his perseverance through all the losing, and there’s a lot of it for all of us, because we lose way more at this stuff than we win.
“I was just so happy for him that I wanted to tell him in person. A text wasn’t enough.”
There was a lot of that over the weekend, in person, and through text messages. Specifically, there were over 600 texts for Caruth to go through and digest while also balancing his senior year at Winston-Salem State University.
What stood out to Caruth is that many of those texts even came from racers he had previous and recent run-ins with on the track.
“One thing that was pretty cool, honestly, just kind of the respect of my fellow competitors,” Caruth said during a media call on Monday. “Like guys I have had differences with or raced hard with over the last couple of years and seeing them just say ‘good job’ or saying I deserved it and did it the right way.”
Kyle Larson, who went on to win the Cup Series race on Sunday, echoed what Chastain said about the work ethic and diligence.
“Really happy for him,” Larson said. “I get to work out with him at the Chevy gym and he is such a good guy. He works really hard too. I remember Bristol last year, and I always go to the bathroom downstairs, he was down there in the cafeteria, watching the replay of the truck race from the night before, had a notebook out and I’m like ‘what are you doing?!’ I thought that work ethic was so cool.”
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Even a guy like Chase Elliott, who hasn’t spent a lot of time around Caruth took time over the weekend, to express both to him and the larger racing community his excitement over the victory.
“He’s a super nice dude every time I’ve been around him,” Elliott said. “I don’t know a lot about his history or his past. I do know that he came onto the scene quick, at least from my history, not knowing him.
“But, he’s a guy that’s reached out to me in the past, trying to seek advice in different areas. I’ve tried to help when called upon and I appreciate him reaching out. He’s tried hard and put a lot of effort in and its cool to see a guy come in and put the effort in, with a good attitude, and get a good result. I hope it continues for him.”
Former NASCAR and Formula 1 driver Scott Speed (pictured above) tweeted for the first time in four years just to offer his congratulations.
There’s a reason there is a lot of Hendrick Motorsports excitement around Caruth. He is sponsored for the full season by HendrickCars.com and his Spire Motorsports team has a working relationship, even if marginally, with Hendrick.
Caruth drove the Hendrick Xfinity Series car last fall at Phoenix and the relationship has only grown since. The now 21-year-old says he first met Hendrick and Chad Knaus in 2020, but he is convinced they don’t remember it.
“The relationship first began through Sunoco, who wanted to support me through their 20th anniversary program, and it turned into a partnership with Chevrolet and the Hendrick Automotive Group,” Caruth said.
Caruth only had a part-time season secured with Spire until Hendrick signed on for the full campaign last week.
Caruth used the word ‘surreal,’ both during the post-race press conference on Friday night and again during his media availability on Monday. A childhood devotee of the sport, and an avid sim racer, he hadn’t strapped behind the wheel of a real-life race car until he was 17 — almost five years ago.
He’s only here thanks to the aforementioned work ethic, and the support of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program, which rewarded that diligence at various steps of the ladder system over that stretch.
And now he’s a winner at the third highest level with the NASCAR Hall of Fame even asking for a piece of race worn equipment to display at its building in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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Surreal isn’t a strong enough word but he isn’t letting the texts or the accomplishment get to his head. He still has school work to complete this week, all towards graduating in December with a Motorsports Management degree.
He has a week off from racing in the Truck Series before returning in two weeks at Bristol but he intends to keep doing everything that got him here in the first place.
“Just keep my head down and do the work,” Caruth said. “It’s the first of many to come but you have to keep doing the work that got you here too. I’m relieved that we’re in the playoff more than anything but winning a race wasn’t our primary goal. It’s one step but we want to compete for a championship.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.