“Thought I lost talent”: Bubba Wallace’s NASCAR prodigy gets real about his disappointment over an unforeseen twist

As Stage 3 of Saturday’s NASCAR Truck Series race was underway, Bubba Wallace’s friend and mentee Rajah Caruth spun out from second place. This collected several other trucks including the ones of William Sawalich, Tyler Ankrum, Daniel Hemric, and Andres Perez.

At first, Caruth wasn’t sure what happened and the most immediate explanation was that one of his tires had blown out. But that wasn’t the case. The Spire Motorsports driver took to X following the race and wrote:

“Well first I thought I cut a tire, then thought I lost talent, but come to find out there was oil on the racetrack… bummer.”

The incident also had NASCAR wave the yellow flag for the third time in the 135-lap event. Caruth eventually had to settle for a disappointing P29 and was handed his second DNF of the season.

NASCAR Cup Series regular Kyle Busch won the race against Stewart Friesen in an electrifying photo finish. Busch beat Friesen by 0.017 seconds at the finish line, thus recording his 67th series victory and eighth at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

When Rajah Caruth upheld the name of his community, following in the footsteps of Bubba Wallace

Just like Bubba Wallace, who drives for 23XI Racing in the Cup Series, Rajah Caruth too, is a product of the NASCAR Drive for Diversity Driver Development Program. His rookie season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series was with GMS Racing.

Last year in March, Caruth bagged his first career win at Las Vegas Motor Speedway and became the third driver of color to win a national series race after Hall of Famer Wendell Scott and Wallace himself.

Needless to say, Wallace was proud of his friend's achievement. Here is how intently he watched Caruth chase the win, thanks to Amanda (Bubba Wallace’s wife) for the footage:

Following the race, Bubba Wallace told Sportsnaut’s Matt Weaver,

“I just didn’t want (Rajah Caruth) to get ahead of himself. He had such a massive lead, and you could see him start to give it up a little bit, but that was more so him having a two-second lead and not needing to make a mistake."

But in the end, it all turned out well for Caruth. A happy Wallace exclaimed,

“I was really proud of that. (Tyler Ankrum) was closing in, but I was sure he was saving his stuff, and once he took the white, like, a sigh of relief. Once he made it through 3 and 4, home free, and that was really cool.”

Rajah Caruth will now prepare for next week’s race, scheduled for March 14 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Named Ecosave 200, the 134-lap event will be televised on Fox Sports 1 from 9 pm ET onwards. Fans can also listen to live radio updates on MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.