“It was a freak accident”: HMS prodigy Rajah Caruth reflects on key incident at Martinsville 

Rajah Caruth suffered a major setback in a race that he had entered in a must-win situation. Friday’s Truck Series race at Martinsville Speedway had the 22-year-old HendrickCars.com-sponsored driver, battle a brake issue. Despite starting 11th, Caruth could deliver only a P31 finish.

Visibly upset, the Chevy star opened up to Frontstretch on his feelings following his disappointing outing at the Virginian short track. Given that his equipment has been “great” throughout the year, Caruth was not sure how his brakes broke down.

“Just got an okay restart, got kind of run around the apron, and then had something break...I don't know...our equipment have been great this year and we haven't really had any failures or issues so it was kind of a freak accident tonight,” Rajah Caruth explained. “Frustrating because like, all those guys showed up and I? felt like we were getting better through the day. I've been trying to get better at this short track stuff but it just wasn't in the cards tonight.”

However, Rajah Caruth was the only driver who finished 28th or worse and did not get a DNF. He picked up six points on the way. As of today, Caruth sits seventh in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings with 2189 points to his name. He won one race this year and amassed five top-5s and 12 top-10s as well.

Christian Eckes won the 200-lap event and joined Grant Enfinger as one of the top 4 contenders for this year’s championship title. Ty Majeski and Corey Heim are in the mix as well.

Rajah Caruth on what makes him successful even if he doesn’t win a race

Rajah Caruth sat with The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck to answer the latter’s famous “12 Questions ”. The “12 Questions” is a set of the same questions that the veteran journalist asks different drivers each week.

At one point during the interview, Gluck asked Caruth how he measures his side when not winning races.

“For me, it comes down to my processes during the week. I make sure my personal stuff is in order so I can put my best foot forward at the simulator, workouts, the race shop with my team, on iRacing at home, at the go-kart track, at Millbridge," Caruth said.

Racing in NASCAR’s national series also calls for emotional intelligence. When about 40 cars go three or even four-wide trying to snatch positions from each other, keeping a cool temperament becomes crucial.

“Then in the car, there’s a lot of moments where your emotions are tested and it really shows what you’ve put in during the week in terms of you studying. It’s kind of like ball knowledge; there’s basketball IQ and there’s racing IQ. There’s a lot of moments where that’s evident on the racetrack. Success is managing those moments, whether it’s emotions or things don’t go your way, or not compounding situations,” Caruth further explained.

Caruth will start his engine next week at Phoenix Raceway. Fans can watch the coveted championship race on FS1 on November 8, 8 pm ET onwards. Radio updates will be available on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio