Rajah Caruth joins Wendell Scott and Bubba Wallace as the only Black drivers to win NASCAR events.
Over the weekend, NASCAR truck series driver Rajah Caruth etched his name in the Black history books of America, becoming the third Black driver to win a NASCAR national touring event (NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series) following in the footsteps of Bubba Wallace and Wendell Scott.
What makes his story so unique is the fact that he is a college student at Winston-Salem State University, graduating this coming December, and a winning NASCAR driver simultaneously.
Talking about his victory, the Washington, D.C. native said, “It hasn’t sunk in to be honest, I think, all I can think about is the next race, but my times in school, my times as a younger kid, thinking about what this moment would feel like, um, if and when it would happen. So, I still feel kind of in disbelief.”
Caruth, 21, manages his career as a NASCAR driver and a college student by taking most of his classes online.
However, Caruth admits that he is “a little behind” in his classwork because of the time spent training for his races.
The racing champion thanked his sponsors, engineers and NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity for taking a chance on him and championing inclusion.
Caruth said, “At the end of the day, it’s cool to see representation changing, not just drivers, but as pit crew members, engineers, art departments, legal departments, hopefully it’ll be, like that won’t be the tagline anymore, it’ll be more commonplace in the years to come.”
Although Caruth yearns for the day that race will not be a tagline in a driver’s victory, it did not stop his predecessor from being on pins and needles as Caruth closed in on history.
On the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Wallace wrote, “What a massive win for little bro! What a monumental win for our sport! Proud is an understatement! LFG!!!!!!!”
In fact, Caruth and Wallace have enjoyed a brotherly/mentor relationship.
Jonathan Howard of On3.com reported, “A lot of people overreacted when Bubba Wallace and Rajah Caruth had a little interaction on pit road at Daytona. All it was was a mentor telling a young driver what he did wrong and what he needed to think about when he looked back on the race.
“For Wallace, it has to be exciting. He has believed in Caruth for years. Now it’s all coming to fruition. He was more than happy after the race was over.”
Undoubtedly, Caruth and Wallace both looked up to Scott.
According to The African American Encyclopedia, “A former World War II paratrooper, Scott was an integral part of Winston Cup Grand National racing from 1961 to 1973, despite regular harassment from spectators and promoters. Although he rarely drove the best machinery, sponsored and supported by the auto companies, Scott finished sixth in National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) points in 1966, tenth in 1967, and ninth in 1968. In 495 Winston Cup races, Scott won one, finished in the top five 20 times, and finished in the top ten 147 times. His only NASCAR win was in 1963, in Jacksonville, Fla. The promoter did not want to give a Black man the $1,000 purse, so he gave it to the White Buck Baker, who finished second. Scott filed a protest and was given his winnings, but he never got his trophy. He had hoped he could clear the way for other Black drivers, but that did not happen within his lifetime. Only two other African Americans, Willy T. Ribbs and George Wiltshire, started in a Winston Cup race before 1990. Scott retired from racing in 1973 after he broke his pelvis in a crash during the Winston 500.”
Scott died on Dec. 22, 1990 in Detroit.
In 1977, legendary comedian Richard Pryor portrayed Scott in the biopic “Greased Lightning.”
Although Scott did not live to see other Black drivers follow in his footsteps by winning NASCAR races, Wallace and Caruth have made sure his struggles did not go in vain.
In 2021, Wallace became the second Black drive to win a NASCAR cup race when he won in Talladega, Ala.
Two months before Wallace’s win, NASCAR finally presented Scott’s family with the trophy that was denied to him in 1963.
Like Caruth, Wallace wanted his win to represent more than a breakthrough for Black drivers.
However, he could not ignore the significance of his breakthrough in a sport with deep White Southern roots and Confederate flag waving.
At the time of his victory, Wallace said, “It’s definitely been tough going to some of the tracks this year, we get some of the boos now. Everybody says as long as they’re making noise that’s fine, but you know, I get booed for different reasons, and that’s the tough thing to swallow. I appreciate all those who were doing the rain dance with us, pulling for us, supporting me my whole career, but especially those who have supported me with everything that’s gone on the last 15-16 months.
In 2020, a noose was discovered in Wallace’s garage stall.
NASCAR discovered the noose a week after Wallace had urged them to ban Confederate flags at events.
However, investigations showed that the noose was not put in Wallace’s stall with racist intentions.
The FBI discovered that the noose had been in that stall for months and had been used to pull the garage door shut.
Infamously, White supremacists used nooses to lynch Black people throughout the country.
