Rajah Caruth Returns to Hendrick Motorsports

What’s Happening?

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series regular Rajah Caruth will race for Hendrick Motorsports for the first time since 2023 during next weekend’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Kansas Speedway.

• The 23-year-old driver last piloted the No. 17 at Phoenix Raceway’s 2023 season finale, bringing home the car in 14th. After this one-off start, Caruth shifted his focus to his sophomore full-time Truck Series season with Spire Motorsports.
• While Caruth has not driven an HMS car since then, he has maintained a close relationship with the Hendrick brand, having full-time sponsorship from Hendrickcars.com on his No. 71 truck. Notably, Caruth did not make any starts in the part-time No. 17 last season, nor did he enter any Xfinity races at that.
• This season, Caruth has continued racing with Spire, and a win at Nashville in May locked him into the playoffs for a second year in a row. He also made his Xfinity Series return at Dover Motor Speedway and Daytona’s August race, driving Jordan Anderson Racing’s No. 32.
• Caruth joins Alex Bowman, Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott, Corey Day, Jake Finch, and William Byron in driving the No. 17 this season. So far, the car has two wins from Byron and Larson, though 19-year-old dirt prodigy Corey Day has piloted the car for the majority of the season.
• After this season, most fans suspect that Caruth could be promoted to full-time Xfinity Series action, though it seems this could be with a different team, as some rumors suggest Day will be with HMS full-time next season. The rumored Spire Motorsports Xfinity Series car, or a ride at an HMS-affiliated team like JRM, might be a landing spot for Caruth if he is promoted.

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