HMS-backed NASCAR prodigy sends a one-word message on Aric Almirola and Alex Bowman getting physical in Phoenix race

Rajah Caruth sent a one-word response to Aric Almirola dooring Alex Bowman’s No. 48 Chevy Camaro on the last lap of Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Phoenix Raceway. Almirola bagged his first win of the season, while Bowman settled for a runner-up finish.

Caruth currently drives the No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports with backing from HendrickCars.com in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. A product of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program, Caruth earned his first win last year at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. That year, he finished seventh in points, picking 12 top-10 finishes on the way.

Reacting to Aric Almirola’s antics at Phoenix, Caruth took to X (formerly known as Twitter) and wrote,

“Bruh.”

Alex Bowman started the race as the pole-sitter and led every single lap until the end of Stage 1. But that was it. On the final restart, the HMS ace attempted to go three-wide and ultimately got loose in turn one. He veered to the top groove after that and found himself squeezed into the wall.

"Just trying to capitalize on that restart, trying to win the race and got shoved into fence and the race car is destroyed," Bowman said during a post-race interview (quoted by Hendrick Motorsports). "Hats off to the HendrickCars.com crew. Everybody did a great job.”

Last Sunday, Alex Bowman’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, William Byron, placed second at COTA. Bowman’s finish at Phoenix marked the organization’s second runner-up finish in consecutive weeks.

NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Aric Almirola revisits his contact with Alex Bowman

Aric Almirola knew he would need to go all out to clear Alex Bowman following that last restart. According to him, there wasn’t anything wrong with what he did.

Speaking of the same, Almirola told CW,

“I knew I was going to use him up a little bit, but we’re trying to win the race. I feel like it was warranted. I didn’t think I did anything overly egregious; I just throttled up, and I knew it was going to be a drag race to the finish line."

It was Almirola’s first win since his reunion with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2025. Almirola made his Xfinity Series debut with the North Carolina-based outfit back in 2006.

Bowman didn’t point fingers at Almirola, either. During a post-race interview with renowned FOX journalist Bob Pockrass, he said (0:07),

“I'm not going to like it. I got drove straight into the fence on exit. But he won the race. I get you've got to do what you've got to do."

Next up for Alex Bowman is the Shriners Children’s 500 at Phoenix, scheduled for March 9. Fans can catch the race live on Fox Sports 1 or listen to radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio from 3:30 pm ET.