Latest / Kenny Wallace Media / Rajah Caruth Discusses His First NASCAR Win
Transcript
- 0:00It's been pretty surreal to to be honest.
- 0:02I think one thing that was pretty cool honestly is just
- 0:05kind of the respect of my fellow competitors.
- 0:06Like guys I've had you know differences with or or raced
- 0:10hard with you know over the last couple years and and you know
- 0:13seeing them just say good job or or you know saying I I'd I I
- 0:18deserved it and did the right way.
- 0:19It was pretty cool so it was great.
- 0:21Got to spend some time with with some really good people in my
- 0:23life when I got back home and that's it.
- 0:27And now is is back to work. So it's pretty pretty special
- 0:30weekend for sure. Hey, Roger, congratulations on
- 0:33the win. Is it sunk in yet that you won
- 0:36the race and and and if it has, when when did it really kind of
- 0:38sink in that you've accomplished this?
- 0:41Man, it still hasn't. I think I'm just honestly more
- 0:45relieved than anything to be in the playoffs, but it it hasn't
- 0:49really sunk in, to be honest. I think it it's weird, 'cause I
- 0:53literally like one of the first things I do, like I oh, I want
- 0:55all the NASCAR apps to see our OS and points.
- 0:57So that was kind of cool that and it's funny to see that.
- 1:00But overall it hasn't really sunk in.
- 1:03But it's still pretty special for everybody involved.
- 1:07Good comment. And.
- 1:09Obviously you you probably received a bunch of, you know,
- 1:11calls and texts and everything. So I'm curious what what was the
- 1:14number you, well, approximately of the number of texts and calls
- 1:17and among the messages, what are a couple that stood out to you?
- 1:22So we're we're over 600 texts. I I'm pretty sure I've gotten to
- 1:28everybody for like a first reply.
- 1:30So I it's that's really a blessing the best one.
- 1:37I don't know. I mean it's it's funny I call my
- 1:39sister I call my girlfriend you know directly after.
- 1:41So that was that was a lot of lot of fun to celebrate with
- 1:44them and obviously my parents was there.
- 1:47I don't know. It's great because like, you
- 1:49know, friends of mine from from high school, former teachers,
- 1:56former teammates from former coaches like that.
- 1:58That's been really cool because like a lot of those guys from
- 2:01from back home, guys and gals from back home in DC, you know,
- 2:05they remembered when I was just a fan and just hoping to get to
- 2:07this point. So it was super special to to
- 2:10share those experiences and I'm ready for more.
- 2:13Very. Good.
- 2:14Thank you. All right.
- 2:18Our next question, we'll go to Davey Siegel.
- 2:21Go ahead Davey with your question.
- 2:23Hey Raj, congratulations man. We know how DC gets with their
- 2:28sports fandom, but we also know that DC is not really a
- 2:31motorsport top bed of sorts. What's the reaction been like
- 2:35you just mentioned from some of your friends and your family
- 2:38back home? And do do you think that they
- 2:40understand kind of the significance of what you
- 2:42accomplished? Man, I mean, I feel like it's a
- 2:46big deal because I I went to like the Washingtonian Instagram
- 2:49account and I was on and I was like that was pretty cool.
- 2:51That was pretty cool. So I mean, hopefully, right.
- 2:54I've realized that you know with with my success and or lack
- 2:59thereof, right. I impact the sport a good amount
- 3:03more than than other drivers, whether that's good or or bad,
- 3:06right. I I mean that's kind of obvious.
- 3:08So you know anytime I can do well for the sport and and get
- 3:13it to new places, I I feel good about it.
- 3:15So hopefully I can continue to perform well and you know get
- 3:20racing to be kind of the floor print in some of those inner
- 3:22cities, right. I think especially for me
- 3:25growing up right, thinking about you see basketball, you see
- 3:28football, you know, track and field, soccer, baseball, but
- 3:33racing isn't necessarily a readily available or or seen
- 3:36thing. So hopefully I can, you know,
- 3:38help that and continue to change the narrative.
- 3:41Something that stuck out to me, and I think some other people as
- 3:43well, was after you won, it was pretty much all business.
- 3:47I mean, we see a lot of people after they went for the first
- 3:49time. They're emotional, they don't
- 3:51know what to say, they don't know what to do.
- 3:53But it seemed like you expected this to happen, I guess.
- 3:57Is that true? And what were the reasons for
- 4:00the emotions that you had after the race, or maybe in some cases
- 4:02lack thereof? Man, I don't know.
- 4:06I honestly, I I mean, as a kid, right?
- 4:09You always think about, oh, if I win or when do I first win, you
- 4:11know, it's going to feel like this.
- 4:13I thought I was going to cry like a baby.
- 4:14And then I I took the white flag.
- 4:16I'm like this is like real, you know, and get out on the front
- 4:20church like that, that it just didn't sink in, you know?
- 4:24And like, you know, like I'm a pretty docile, like low key kind
- 4:29of dude. Anyway, so I I don't know why I
- 4:33I it just didn't feel real. But like you said, it's
- 4:37definitely feel like business as usual because I feel like really
- 4:40obviously not having the right situation sorted out till late
- 4:44in the season or late in the off season.
- 4:45But I definitely feel like I've been written off, you know, with
- 4:48how things went last year and I feel like I showed a lot of
- 4:51potential. So feels good to get going and
- 4:57hopefully we can put together some more and make a good
- 4:59playoff. Thanks, Raj.
- 5:02Thanks, Amanda. All right.
- 5:04We're going to go ahead and go to Dustin Long and then after
- 5:07Dustin, we'll go to Matt Weaver. Go ahead, Dustin.
- 5:09Thank you. Hey Raj, I want, I got you a
- 5:11couple things. I remember sitting down with you
- 5:14a couple years ago at Rev Racing and you showed me your notebook
- 5:18where you used to keep track of all your races and I'm curious,
- 5:21do you still have that? Did you put anything down off of
- 5:24this race yet? Or or what did you write about
- 5:27this if if you if you do still keep that notebook?
- 5:30Yeah. So I'm that specific one that is
- 5:33on my bookshelf at home, but I'm I'm now like four or five
- 5:37notebooks in over the last couple of years.
- 5:39It's actually Josh if you want to, if it's over the period,
- 5:43y'all want to see it. It's that great book over there.
- 5:46We literally just had a comp meeting and I just typed up my
- 5:49poster. So I've kind of like take a
- 5:52taken a step back from it this year.
- 5:56Honestly cars and hoswar has helped me a good bit like OK,
- 5:58thank you. So here it is.
- 6:01I'll say notes but this is just for 2024.
- 6:03But anyway, I think because of my background in academia and my
- 6:09parents being professors, right, like naturally I will look at
- 6:13things in a student type of manner.
- 6:15So I definitely have tried that for my years of racing, late
- 6:21models, Arca and then my my first stuff, my first times in
- 6:24Xfinity and trucks. And it definitely helped a
- 6:26little bit. But I think I'd kind of gotten
- 6:29to a rabbit hole of just trying to student it too much and
- 6:33versus just like driving the thing as far as I can within
- 6:36reason and seeing what happens. And that's kind of how I've
- 6:39approached this year. I'll just, you know, I'll do my
- 6:42notes. I'll do my due diligence after
- 6:44it. But in the moment, you know, at
- 6:45the racetrack, like I'm going to be plugged in and just drive the
- 6:49thing as hard as I can and communicate it right and not
- 6:52just think about, OK, how am I going to, you know, write it
- 6:54out? I'm not sure if that makes
- 6:55sense. Yeah, I understand that.
- 6:57I didn't know if you'd like said it.
- 6:58I knew it'd been a couple years. Hey, I'm curious.
- 7:00Obviously this is a a meaningful win for a lot of reasons.
- 7:04Do you take anything that gloves, uniform, helmets, and
- 7:08don't use it again? Keep it?
- 7:11Or I don't know if the Hall of Fame's asked for, or if
- 7:13anybody's asked for it, or you're just going to use it the
- 7:16next time you've got the that's the next race.
- 7:21Well, it's not free, so I kind of don't want to get rid of any
- 7:23of that stuff. It's funny you say that, though.
- 7:26Wendy from the Hall of Fame shouted her.
- 7:28She's awesome. She asked me.
- 7:29She just shot me a text the other day.
- 7:31I guess it was yesterday asking for something.
- 7:33So I got to figure out what I would give to her.
- 7:36Maybe. I don't know.
- 7:37Because like I said, that stuff is not free.
- 7:38It's expensive. So I don't know, maybe eight
- 7:41stars can give me some new shoes or some gloves.
- 7:43But yeah, I don't know. I mean it I I hate to It feels
- 7:50weird to say right? But it doesn't feel like there
- 7:52was anything special. Like we just executed a a
- 7:55weekend and and it just worked out for us.
- 7:58It feels weird, right? But But yeah, so I answered your
- 8:02question probably something, but like I said, it ain't free, so I
- 8:06don't know if I want to give much of it away.
- 8:08And last thing real quickly, I know talking with him a couple
- 8:10years ago, you used to always have a 164th die cast car, I
- 8:15think in your backpack that you when you take one for each
- 8:18season. And I didn't know if you were
- 8:20still doing that and What Car you had, if you still were doing
- 8:23that and what the significance of that car was for this year.
- 8:27Yeah. So I did not do that.
- 8:29I've not done that this year just because I wanted to kind of
- 8:32just kind of do my own thing and like not try to follow like one
- 8:36person's legacy or anything, just kind of just do my own
- 8:40thing. So yeah.
- 8:42Thanks a lot. Appreciate it.
- 8:46All right. Matt, go ahead.
- 8:50Thanks for coming today. My question is kind of totally
- 8:55know it gets to bear with, but like I know how important going
- 8:59to an HBCU is to you Caribbean Heritage, curious, we in the,
- 9:05the media, the sanctioning body, we're the ones that kind of
- 9:09emphasize the history of you winning, tying it back to
- 9:13Wendell Scott and Baba. And I'm curious, how do you view
- 9:19your place in that history? And is it something that's still
- 9:22really important to talk about with each achievement that a
- 9:26black driver makes in NASCAR? Oh, that's a that's a good
- 9:30question. I think honestly, right, it's
- 9:34authentic to my personality how I grew up, right.
- 9:36But it also doesn't necessarily define me, right.
- 9:38So hopefully we we continue over the years to continue to grow
- 9:42more more representation because we see it on our pit crews.
- 9:45We are starting to see it you know in race teams whether it be
- 9:48through our engineering, our PR departments obviously at NASCAR.
- 9:52So hopefully you start to see it more through the drivers.
- 9:56So that way like that's not the headline before it's just like
- 10:00how good are our drivers. So just because, I mean, you
- 10:03don't see it in any of the sport, right, Like for the most
- 10:05part and naturally, right. That's kind of through of the
- 10:11origins of the sport, but it's continuing to change.
- 10:14So I I mean, I don't really know.
- 10:15I think again it's it's authentic to me, it's part of my
- 10:20MyHeritage and I'm proud of it. But also it's it's not like a
- 10:23whole personality trait of myself, you know?
- 10:26And then a unrelated question, I'm curious about your kind of
- 10:31the genesis with with Mr. H and hendrickcars.com.
- 10:36I know it started last year at Phoenix, but where was that kind
- 10:38of point of entry for you and then Mr. H and how did that turn
- 10:43into a full time opportunity this year?
- 10:47So it it The man. So him and I first met at
- 10:54Daytona 2020. I've said this before I do not
- 10:57think he remembers that same with check announced.
- 10:58I don't think they remember it but I I do.
- 11:01And so really though relationship started last year
- 11:05Sunoco wants to support me for their 20th anniversary and
- 11:11really worked out to getting partnered with Chevrolet and and
- 11:14Mr. H and he wanted to do it and everybody was was behind it at
- 11:17the Andrew Automotive Group. So there's some really cool
- 11:20people I got to meet there for the first time at Down in
- 11:23Daytona and there's some awesome individuals over there.
- 11:25So I decided to represent them this year and hopefully that's a
- 11:28a partnership and and relationship to go for for years
- 11:32to come. Thank you.
- 11:37All right. Our next question will go to
- 11:39West W Go ahead with your question all.
- 11:44Right. Here we go.
- 11:45All right. Hey, Ross, thanks again.
- 11:47Thank you again. Amanda.
- 11:50What what does it mean to you? Obviously, where you know the
- 11:53history of you connected with Bubba, but he went ahead and
- 11:56just gave you complete support. The moment that you know you
- 12:01were just achieving what you achieved is where he even called
- 12:05you little brother. Can you share obviously how that
- 12:07connection is special to you? Yeah, I mean it's it's it's
- 12:12great, right, Because I mean he he understands a lot of the same
- 12:15things we go through you know from a performance standpoint,
- 12:18from a moving the goal boys, moving the goal post standpoint.
- 12:22I mean you you you get it. So I mean that's that's been
- 12:26great because he's been there every step of the way, right.
- 12:28And he's held me accountable for things that I need to clean up
- 12:31and also he's been there to support me whenever you know I
- 12:34do stuff correctly. So you know obviously I think
- 12:36about this weekend, right. I think about last year where I
- 12:39messed up at Kansas and he let me know that hey, like don't do
- 12:42that again. And then they also Nashville
- 12:44when I literally did nothing wrong and and I broke while
- 12:46leading and you know he was there for me then.
- 12:49So it's been cool to have that relationship with him and I just
- 12:52feel really thankful because I've got a really awesome
- 12:55village, not only here at Spire, but you know, with friends and
- 12:58family in and outside of the sport.
- 13:01And and for you, you believed a while back that it it starts
- 13:06with one race. So how does this build a
- 13:10foundation for you? Just as one waste alone winning
- 13:14it. I think it helps with with
- 13:18legitimacy. I guess like internally feeling
- 13:21that, but also like relief that the process, there's nothing
- 13:25like wrong with my process because I've been doing a lot of
- 13:28the same things in terms of my daily routine, the the ways I
- 13:32practice, how I train, how I study that there wasn't anything
- 13:36wrong with the process. They're just smaller or minor
- 13:39tweaks and you know things just kind of had to fall in place.
- 13:43So that's the thing for me. I think I feel it's just like
- 13:47the process wasn't the issue and so that's kind of how I'm
- 13:50feeling moving forward so well. I I have to see how we replicate
- 13:54that over a season, right. You don't win every race, but I
- 13:58think we can be fast every race and over.
- 14:00If we're not, then you know make the most of of that day.
- 14:03Congratulations Raja, and thank you for your time.
- 14:07When you look back at your career, what role did NASCAR's
- 14:10diversity program play in your career?
- 14:14Well, it's it's really the only reason why I was able to to go
- 14:19from SIM racing to real life, because I did well enough in the
- 14:23Ignite series on there. But besides that, I didn't have
- 14:26any sort of pathway to race and real life, right?
- 14:28Like my my friend Daniel Silvestri, I tested his legend
- 14:32car one time. But besides that, I I didn't
- 14:35have a outlet at all. So they not only gave me my shot
- 14:38in 2019, they also like gave me the time to develop right?
- 14:41Because you see a lot of these programs like they get a kid,
- 14:44they get somebody to pay for a ride for a year or however many
- 14:47races and they just go to the next person and don't give them
- 14:49time to to figure it out to learn to see if they're going to
- 14:53do the right things to try to learn and get better.
- 14:57So they they did that for me. They they allowed me to grow.
- 15:00You know I showed up every day trying to get better at working
- 15:03on the cars learning how to race and you know that that they're
- 15:08the only reason why I got to this point now.
- 15:10So I'm super thankful for the for Red.
- 15:13How did you find out about the program and did you go to them
- 15:16or did they come to you? I I knew about it for years.
- 15:20Like seeing, you know, Suarez, Bubba, Kyle, you know, Sergio,
- 15:24Pena, the Cadbury's all go through that program.
- 15:28I knew that was the that was the thing that I was shooting for.
- 15:31I didn't know what was after that, but I knew if I could
- 15:34somehow get into that program, like we could start to get
- 15:37somewhere. So that was it for me, Like, I
- 15:43that was it, honestly. So, OK, Thank you.
- 15:47Congratulations again. Thank you.
- 15:51All right. Our next question will go to
- 15:52Tacoma. Tacoma.
- 15:54Tacoma. Yes, Robeck, go ahead.
- 15:57Yes, hi. Congratulations, Raj and Deb
- 16:01actually still took my Thunder on that question.
- 16:04That was a good question. But what I wanted to ask you is
- 16:08what do you think your victory as the 4th member of alum from
- 16:12the Drive for Diversity program, what do you think to win this
- 16:16year? I'm sorry, what do you think
- 16:19that means for the program, and how does that make you feel,
- 16:22learning that this program is churning out, you know, solid
- 16:27drivers? I think it's it's special
- 16:32because it gives the program more eyes and and shows its
- 16:37legitimacy. But also, I mean, I feel pretty
- 16:41proud of it, to have played a small role and that's really it.
- 16:45I think. I I hope it continues to to live
- 16:48right and give kids like myself. AI don't know as a kid, right,
- 16:52Because now I'm an adult, an adult, but inner city kids in
- 16:56particular, but also like people in general that otherwise would
- 16:59not have a ride, a chance like to even try to to learn how to
- 17:03race. So I I hope it continues to live
- 17:07because it's the only reason why I'm here.
- 17:09I know Bubbo, you know, he was going to probably be done if it
- 17:12wasn't for the diversity program.
- 17:13And you know, other guys have have kind of used it as
- 17:16launching pads with, you know, funding they've had elsewhere
- 17:18and stuff like that. But for me personally, it's
- 17:22helped elevate me to where I'm at now.
- 17:24And lastly, what would you say to kids who may not have that
- 17:27traditional pathway into racing, who comes from a background like
- 17:31yours? What would you say to them about
- 17:35where they're at and where they could potentially be in racing?
- 17:41I would really say just, I mean there's nothing special about
- 17:45me. Like I don't know how else to
- 17:48say it. Like I I just showed up.
- 17:50I I did the little things. I I listened, I paid attention,
- 17:54I did the work within reason and I got fortunate with
- 17:58opportunities that were given to me and presented to me.
- 18:00But it worked out. So I guess the biggest thing is
- 18:04that it's it's nothing crazy. You just have to pay attention
- 18:08and and listen and learn and work and you know, hopefully it
- 18:12can be your day. Thank you.
- 18:17All right. Our next question we'll go to
- 18:19Greg Engel. Go ahead, Greg.
- 18:22Hey, pal, I would, I would say there's one thing you can tell
- 18:26yourself and you're a NASCAR winner, so there's that.
- 18:28So yeah. So it's only Monday.
- 18:33You've got, you know, you had your, you know your your
- 18:36competition meeting you had to eat lunch on the run, here you
- 18:38are with us so, So it may not have a lot of time to sink in
- 18:42yet but has this win brought you any, any new sponsorship
- 18:46opportunities and and maybe you know people are tapping on your
- 18:49shoulder and said we're going to talk to the sponsor or the
- 18:51sponsors approached us, anything like that or is it just kind of
- 18:53too soon for that? Definitely, definitely too soon.
- 18:57Not nothing that I know of, right?
- 18:59I my head's pretty in the sand right now just because of.
- 19:02I'm just trying to like make it make it out a little bit because
- 19:06this is honestly a new experience for me, but none,
- 19:11none that I know of right now. I'm just grateful to have the
- 19:14support of of hendrickcars.com for the season and hopefully I
- 19:17can continue to make him proud. You you met you said you met Mr.
- 19:20H and and Chad down in down here in Daytona in in 2020 and and
- 19:25you took a Hendrick Carr's sponsorship to Victory Lane on
- 19:30Friday that must have been that must have been one of the cool
- 19:33highlights that in in a in a weekend full of highlights.
- 19:37For sure. I mean looking at my chest,
- 19:38looking at the side of the truck and it's like looking at people
- 19:42lined up like it's it's such a surreal feeling.
- 19:46So I just feel a lot of pride knowing that, you know, we we
- 19:49had a Hendrick car suite. Hopefully they can run that
- 19:52expanding car a little bit more than we can speak the whole
- 19:54weekend. Thanks dude.
- 19:56I appreciate it. Enjoy.
- 19:57It, yeah. All right.
- 19:59We'll have one follow up question here and we'll go to
- 20:01Jordan for that. Jordan, go ahead with your
- 20:03question. Thanks again.
- 20:06As you if you've had, you're starting to have success now.
- 20:08How do you keep this in perspective and and not get, you
- 20:12know, get pulled in all these different directions and
- 20:13everything and you talk about keeping your head down, but how
- 20:15do you do that with all of this going on?
- 20:20I think just staying through the process, not changing my
- 20:23routine, right? Like I'm still getting up at the
- 20:25same time every morning to go to the gym.
- 20:28Still going to the shop every day still eating some of the
- 20:31same foods. I think keeping that
- 20:33consistency, talking to my same people in my life.
- 20:37Still like playing eye racing sometimes still trying to do
- 20:39homework whenever Like I think that's the things that will help
- 20:43me keep keep the same energy. I think because it.
- 20:45I mean it's been hard today like having to figure out how to
- 20:49navigate, you know getting around and scheduling and
- 20:52personal things I have to accomplish and then all OK then
- 20:55we know we got to travel this day and stuff like that.
- 20:56So just trying to keep as much of the same routine as in place
- 21:00as possible has been you know what I've been trying to do
- 21:03there we. Go.
- 21:04Thank you again. All right.
- 21:08A big thank you. Oh, squeeze then.
- 21:10One more here. Dustin, did you have a follow
- 21:12up? Yes, real quickly.
- 21:14Thanks. OK.
- 21:16Raj, obviously I know senior at at Winston Salem State
- 21:19Motorsports management degree is what you're pursuing.
- 21:22What was there? Is there a project you're
- 21:24working on or something you still got to do?
- 21:26Or is it something you're trying to balance along with, like you
- 21:28say, all these things that you've got to do for homework
- 21:31this week? Well, I've got.
- 21:33So I have four classes this semester.
- 21:35They're all, they're all online, but there's like modules due
- 21:38every like week or two. So yeah, I haven't even looked
- 21:43at it to be honest, man. I because The thing is like, you
- 21:46can't, like I almost said my word, but like you you have to
- 21:49like put in like actually like be actually what's the word like
- 21:52mentally plugged in to doing the work.
- 21:55I can't just like like not be like paying attention and do the
- 21:59work. So that's one thing that's
- 22:01really hard because you have to be fully like mentally there for
- 22:05for racing, right. But you also have to do that for
- 22:07school. So that's been one thing that's
- 22:08been really hard for me as I continue to thankfully get hired
- 22:12through the racing ladder, but once I graduate in December,
- 22:16I'll really be able to let the rains loose.
- 22:19OK, so it's December's when you'll graduate.
- 22:21December yeah, I I was going to graduate in May but literally re
- 22:25raced Arlington and I'm, I want to walk across the stage so I'll
- 22:28just do in December. So what's your next project or
- 22:30what's the next thing that you have to do for your for class
- 22:33work or something in the next week or two?
- 22:36I can look on canvas so you probably tell me just stand by.
- 22:49In my physical science I have what day?
- 22:524th? I have something to do on the
- 22:568th and then for this one class I have another module due on
- 23:02Thursday I have for accounting. I have something to do on
- 23:10tomorrow. Great.
- 23:12Yeah. So, yeah.
- 23:13Hey. Sorry to be the bearer of bad
- 23:16news. So what's due tomorrow?
- 23:17No worries, I need to look at it at some point, so it's probably
- 23:19a good thing that I've looked at it just now.
- 23:21So what's due for tomorrow? What do you what do you have to
- 23:23do for tomorrow then? Chapter assignment for
- 23:26managerial accounting. Are there any accounting people
- 23:29that would like to do my homework?
- 23:30I'm kidding. That's a joke.
- 23:31That's a joke. All right.
- 23:33Thanks. I appreciate it, man.
- 23:35Yeah.