“A lot of fun”: Bubba Wallace’s NASCAR prodigy recalls Dale Jr.’s 2015 Daytona 500 charge

Rajah Caruth, famously mentored by 23XI Racing driver Bubba Wallace, reminisced about the time he had a watch party to witness the 2015 season-opening Daytona 500 with his friends. It turned out to be one of the most fascinating and competitive races at the time as Joey Logano took his first and only victory to date.

This season also marked Jeff Gordon's final full-time NASCAR Cup Series challenge. The race had multiple lead changes between nine drivers and Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a remarkable recovery in the final stages. Highlighting this, Rajah Caruth shared a post on X, writing:

"We had a watch party for this race with some of my friends and neighbors back in DC. A lot of fun. I remember @DaleJr going from outside the top 15 to P3 somehow."

Dale Earnhardt Jr. had been a strong driver on restrictor plate tracks, and the Daytona 500 proved to be the perfect ground for him to assert dominance. After a late caution, the green-and-white checkered was triggered. The pack was then led by Joey Logano and Dale Jr. was placed down in seventh place.

However, in the final two laps, he managed to move up and finish the race in third place, right behind Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick.

This was quite a marvel for Bubba Wallace's protégé Rajah Caruth, who was just 13 at the time. He currently races in the Craftsman Truck Series with Spire Motorsports, backed by HendrickCars.com. He will return to the 2025 season as the driver of the #71 Chevy.

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Bubba Wallace mentee Rajah Caruth looks forward to continuing with Spire Motorsports in 2025

Caruth will continue with his current team in the upcoming season, as mentioned. Last year, he won his first race in the series in Las Vegas. He emerged victorious in the Victoria's Voice Foundation 200 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, becoming only the third African-American driver after Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace to win a race in one of the three NASCAR premier series.

As the team signed him again for the next season, he mentioned it was "great to have a home," and is getting into the preparations ahead of the season.

“It is great to have a home and stability heading into next year. I believe this is the first time in my career I won’t be with a new team or competing in a different series at the start of the season. I really appreciate the opportunity Jeff (Dickerson) and T.J. (Puchyr) have given me, and I’m excited to continue preparations for 2025." Caruth said via a press release.

Other than his victory at LVS, Caruth also finished within the top 10 on 11 occasions during the 2024 season.