Rajah Caruth wins NASCAR Truck race at Nashville in tense finish
Rajah Caruth has earned his first victory of the 2025 season and just the second of his career, fending off both Corey Heim and Layne Riggs in the closing laps at Nashville.
Driving the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, Caruth grabbed the lead on pit road at the end of the second stage. The driver made the most of what his pit crew did for him, never surrendering the race lead.
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"I didn't expect that at all," said Caruth. "Those guys were breathing down my neck the whole run. My pit crew won that race -- Jarius, Zico, Dawson, Josh, Cody -- they won that race for us. Thanks to them, thanks to everyone at HendrickCars.com, the men and women at Spire Motorsports. We've been off this year but good to get a dub tonight, man. I'm out of breath."
Heim is the winningest driver of the 2025 season with four wins in the first 11 races, including last weekend's event at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Speaking on the runner-up finish at Nashville, he said, "I feel like clean air was the thing (we needed) tonight. With the third stage being so straightforward, and the lack of strategy going green there, it was tough to come back from not having the lead. I slid through my box in the last stop and didn't do my guys any favors. Just something to reflect on -- on my part.
"But big congrats to Rajah. He did an awesome job managing from the lead and I was really free behind him and he made pretty much the right choice every time as for where I was gonna go. It's nice racing against people that aren't going to wreck you, racing for the race lead."
Layne Riggs finished a close third with Daniel Hemric fourth and Corey Day fifth. Kaden Honeycutt, Chandler Smith, Ty Majeski, Bayley Currey, and Grant Enfinger filled out the remainder of the top ten.
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Kyle Busch, who had to fight back from a penalty for a restart violation, finished 15th.
A straightforward race
Rajah Caruth, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Rajah Caruth, Spire Motorsports Chevrolet
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
Sean Gardner / Getty Images
The race itself got off to a slow start after Frankie Muniz's #33 truck dumped oil all over the track, with Muniz forced to pull out of the race without completing a single lap under speed. The only on-track accident occurred on Lap 55 when Jack Wood and Akinori Ogata spun.
Riggs went on to win the opening stage while Heim claimed the Stage 2 win, adding another playoff point to his impressive total.
While Caruth never lost the lead in the final 47-lap run, Heim certainly came close as he got to the outside of him with just six laps to go. Caruth ran him high and Heim chose to lift. From that point onward, he had his hands full with Riggs in the battle for second and never got back alongside Caruth.
Read Also:
Time to worry: Playoff hopes are slipping away for these NASCAR Cup drivers
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