Rajah Caruth has won a NASCAR race for the first time in his career after delivering a career performance at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Caruth, who won his first career pole earlier in the evening, led a career-high 38 laps and scored 17 stage points while facing off against such drivers as Zane Smith, Kyle Busch and Christopher Bell.
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Caruth took the lead after the final set of pit stops, led the final 21 laps and parked the No. 71 Chevrolet in victory lane for the first time. He will now have a spot in the playoff field.
Tyler Ankrum crossed the line second. Corey Heim, Taylor Gray, Bell, Christian Eckes, Matt Crafton, Zane Smith, Grant Enfinger and Ty Majeski rounded out the top 10.
The final set of green flag pit stops played a role in the outcome of the race. Caruth and his team executed the sequence without mistake while other drivers had issues.
Busch received a penalty for a safety violation and had to serve a pass-through penalty. He fell one lap down and finished 15th.
Daytona winner Nick Sanchez received a speeding penalty, as did Majeski who won the first two stages of the race. Heim had a pit stop that lasted 22 seconds.
“I just stayed cool,” Caruth said about his performance to Fox Sports’ Josh Sims. “We lost track position at little portions of the race and we just stayed in the game. It was just one step, one punch, one round at a time. My guys had me a great stop and we just executed.”
Caruth is the third Black driver in NASCAR history to win a national NASCAR series race. He joins Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace.
