Rajah Caruth: I’ve Had Pressure My Entire Driving Career

Summary

The Dale Jr. Download

Episode: Rajah Caruth – "I’ve Had Pressure My Entire Driving Career"

Date: October 22, 2025

Host: Dale Earnhardt Jr. | Guest: Rajah Caruth

---

Episode Overview

In this compelling episode, Dale Earnhardt Jr. sits down with up-and-coming NASCAR driver Rajah Caruth. The conversation delves into Rajah’s unconventional path to professional racing, beginning with a love of racing as a fan and gamer, and progressing through sim racing, late models, and into the NASCAR Truck Series. The discussion covers the challenges and pressures faced by young drivers, the evolution and impact of technology in motorsports, the mental and emotional journey required for success, and Rajah’s excitement (and humility) as he prepares to drive for JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series next year. Dale Jr. and Rajah communicate with candor, insight, and vulnerability throughout—a must-listen for anyone interested in the personal journey behind pro racing.

---

Key Topics and Discussion Points

1. Opening and Rajah’s Beginnings in Racing

• Rajah’s Unique Start:
  Rajah shares how, unlike most NASCAR prospects, he did not grow up in a racing family or start behind the wheel of a kart at a young age. Instead, his racing journey began with diecast cars, watching races on TV, the Cars movie, and extensive sim racing as a teenager.
  • “I had zero real life experience. I just said, hey, I raced rental go karts at an indoor place in Maryland and just sim raced and that was it.” — Rajah (01:04)
• First Real Race Experience: Rajah discusses getting his first real shot at age 17 through the NASCAR Drive for Diversity program, despite coming in with virtually no real-world experience.
  • “That was good enough to get a tryout at the combine in March of 2019.” — Rajah (01:04)

---

2. The Impact of Social Media and Fan Culture

• Changing Dynamics: Both discuss how fandom and criticism have evolved, with social media amplifying every result and fueling extreme swings in public opinion.
  • “One bad race, or one mistake… and it’s like, ‘oh, that guy should lose his ride over one race or one moment.’ It’s wild.” — Dale Jr. (06:40)
• Handling the Noise: Rajah explains balancing the positives—brand building and opportunities—with the pressures of constant scrutiny.
  • “It’s a matter of just keeping pushing and not being okay with getting the instant gratification… but also not getting discouraged in the shortcomings.” — Rajah (07:51)

---

3. Sim Racing as a Launchpad

• iRacing's Transformation to Credible Tool: Dale Jr. reflects on how sim racing evolved from being considered a “toy” to a trusted developmental tool for professional drivers.
  • “IRacing is a tool. A lot of drivers look at it as a very viable way to be fresh and understand racecraft.” — Dale Jr. (11:53)
• Personal Path via Simulation: Rajah credits iRacing and sim racing communities for giving him a door into real racing, citing William Byron as an example of what’s possible.
  • “That was the selling point to my parents of, like, ‘I know I gotta go to college, but I want to race.’” — Rajah (20:34)

---

4. Transition from Sim to Real Cars

• Learning Curves and Hurdles: Rajah shares the steep adjustments required when moving from sim to physical cars—managing car feel, visual cues, and mechanical feedback.
  • “Honestly, I had to relearn everything when I got to real life.” — Rajah (32:13)
• The Rev and Drive for Diversity Experience:
  Rajah describes his acceptance (and self-doubt) through the program, his rapid learning curve, and the support from mentors and teammates.
  • “They saw that, you know, I never driven anything and I was really up to speed pretty quickly.” — Rajah (27:14)

---

5. Climbing the Ladder: Legends, Late Models, and ARCA

• Legends Car Reality:
  Starting with the summer shootout in Legends cars, Rajah recounts his struggles, bangs, and breakthroughs, including how sim racing skills only partially transferred.
  • “That whole first summer, again, I thought I sucked. Like, I didn’t get a top 10 till halfway through the summer.” — Rajah (31:36)
• Late Model and ARCA Progression: Rajah explains how racing against local standouts was pivotal, and how quick adaptation enabled advancement to ARCA and Xfinity opportunities.
  • “You learn so much from running around those guys… of just taking care of your stuff.” — Rajah (44:42)

---

6. Early Truck Series and Uncertainty

• Adversity with GMS:
  Facing team closures and uncertain sponsorships, Rajah recounts months of not knowing if his career would progress.
  • “I didn’t know what was next until literally the week before Daytona of 2024.” — Rajah (43:35)
• On Persevering:
  Rajah reflects on the necessity of learning to bring the car home and the consequences of “trying for more and then destroying the thing” in underfunded programs.
  • “When I ran the late model stuff, you had just the one car, the one chassis... you really learned to respect the equipment.” — Rajah (48:00)

---

7. Winning and Its Relief

• First Truck Series Win—Las Vegas:
  Dale Jr. asks Rajah to relive the emotional closing laps and what the win meant after years of grinding for a shot.
  • “Just relief. Like, you do so much and for young drivers, right, you have a bad race and it feels like that’s the end of your career. And you just go so long without having tangible success or that gratification. So to have that moment, it just was a relief…” — Rajah (52:58)
• Advice to His Younger Self:
  • “Just to cherish it. Cherish it more.” — Rajah (55:02)

---

8. Developing as a Driver and Confidence

• On Self-Growth and Comparison:
  Rajah discusses the challenges of comparing himself against peers with more experience, and how he's learned to focus on his own journey.
  • “It takes a lot of strength to keep focused on yourself.” — Rajah (59:52)
• The Importance of Confidence:
  • “Keeping the confidence in myself, I think, is the biggest thing.” — Rajah (56:33)
• On Late Start:
  Both acknowledge starting late doesn’t have to be a disadvantage long-term.
  • “I was 17 and did well enough in that test to make the program for the following year and get a full season of weekly series races on a late model stock.” — Rajah (35:13)
  • “Literally our body of work is very similar, honestly.” — Dale Jr. (57:29)

---

9. Technical Preferences & Communication

• Setup Communication:
  Rajah and Dale Jr. talk “shop” about their preferences for car setup adjustments and communication style with crew chiefs.
  • “I think for me, I’m super sensitive to rear spring stuff… it’s a balance of knowing what’s doing what, but also not psyching yourself out of it.” — Rajah (63:50)
• Preparation and Passion:
  • “I always have an old race playing on a TV at home or on my iPad or something like that. So I just have that enthusiasm for it.” — Rajah (62:14)

---

10. Mental Health and Therapy

• Seeking Support:
  Rajah openly discusses the benefits he’s gained from working with a therapist since college, emphasizing mental wellness as a key to sports performance and life balance.
  • “It was something that was recommended to me... For the longest I did not want to do it… but I think it’s important to have a person or vessel to talk through what’s going on.” — Rajah (66:01)
  • “You have so much information at your disposal but so many opinions thrown at you… it’s super important.” — Rajah (66:45)
  • “You can’t do it all by yourself.” — Rajah (68:23)

---

11. Racing Under Pressure: The Championship Hunt

• Handling High Stakes:
  Dale Jr. and Rajah discuss the mindset required for competing at the highest level, using examples from their careers and peers like Chase Elliott.
  • “It’s just a great chance, I guess, is what I’m trying to say. Like there’s worse things in the world to be really nervous about… I’ve had the weight and pressure of things my entire driving career, my short driving career, but not only that, my entire life.” — Rajah (80:08)
• No Regrets, Only Opportunity:
  • “I dreamed of being in this position, and my dream has come true.” — Recalling Chase Elliott’s words (77:46)

---

12. Looking to 2026 and JR Motorsports

• Excitement for Next Year:
  With a seat secured for 2026 at JR Motorsports in the Xfinity Series, Rajah expresses optimism and gratitude for the opportunity—not as a “carrot,” but as an earned next chapter.
  • “This is the earliest I’ve ever had a contract plan or a plan of what’s going on. Right. And it’s kind of a new feeling … now to have that somewhat set in stone is just… a great opportunity to go and do my best.” — Rajah (81:20)
• The Dale Jr. Perspective:
  • “You knew coming into this deal that you really had to accelerate the learning curve, and you’ve done that. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you. I can’t wait till next year.” — Dale Jr. (82:39)

---

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Relentlessness and Growth:
  “You have to eat, sleep, and breathe this stuff if you want to be successful, because the guy that you’re racing door-to-door with… they’re doing the same thing.” — Rajah (10:47)
• On Validation and Relief:
  “Just more relief there than anything.” — (after his first truck win) — Rajah (52:58)
• On Therapy:
  “It’s like taking your car in for a tune up.” — Dale Jr. (65:33)
• Cherishing the Moment:
  “Just to cherish it. Cherish it more. Right. And I think that I did that this year, like, when I had that opportunity again, I definitely cherished it more...” — Rajah (55:02)
• On Comparison:
  “It takes a lot of strength to keep focused on yourself.” — Rajah (59:52)
• On Opportunity vs. Pressure:
  “I know this is… not the fate of the world is not relying upon the outcome of the next two races, right. And it’s just a great chance for another great step in the journey of chasing my ultimate dream.” — Rajah (79:22)

---

Key Timestamps

• [01:04] – Rajah’s sim racing beginnings and first real-world trial
• [06:40] – Social media’s pressure, then vs. now
• [11:53] – Evolution and validation of sim racing in motorsports
• [20:34] – William Byron as inspiration and “proof of concept” for sim-to-real career
• [31:36] – Humbling first summer in Legends cars
• [35:13] – Advancing to late models and the learning curve
• [43:35] – Facing uncertainty after GMS shutdown, getting the Spire opportunity
• [52:58] – Emotional reflection on first truck win
• [55:02] – Advice to himself on cherishing racing victories
• [56:08] – On the mental aspect of racing and building confidence
• [66:01] – How therapy has impacted Rajah’s personal and professional development
• [80:08] – On pressure, opportunity, and taking the next step
• [81:20] – Looking ahead to JR Motorsports

---

Episode Tone

The conversation is candid, personal, and inspirational—balancing technical shop talk with emotional honesty and practical advice for young drivers and fans alike. Dale Jr.’s mentorship and curiosity meld with Rajah’s humility, gratitude, and drive, making for an engaging and enlightening behind-the-scenes look at a modern NASCAR career.

---

Summary by: The Dale Jr. Download Summarizer
For listeners old and new, this episode is a masterclass in rising through motorsports by harnessing passion, preparation, mental resilience, and humility—regardless of where or when you start.

Transcript

[Bubba Wallace]

Bubba Wallace here from 2311 Racing.

[Rajah Caruth]

You know what's slower than a pace.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Car waiting at the car wash?

[Rajah Caruth]

That's when I fire up Chumba Casino. It turns these slow minutes into fast fun. With new games every week, you'll never get bored.

[Bubba Wallace]

Next time you're stuck in the slow.

[Rajah Caruth]

Lane, speed up with Chumba. Play [e-mail] let's Chumba.

[Bubba Wallace]

No purchase necessary.

[Rajah Caruth]

VGW Group void where prohibited by law. CTNC's 21 plus, sponsored by Chumba Casino.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Community coffee just came out with new great tasting coffees. New their first light blend and iced coffee K cups. This is a family owned coffee company that's been around since 1919 and they are now the official coffee of Dirty Mo Media.

[Quince Brand Representative]

First light is bright, delicate and a light roast with notes of honey and brown sugar. Their iced coffee K cups are rich and refreshing and they stand up to ice so your coffee isn't watered down.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Available in classic black and vanilla sweet cream. Get 20% off these new community coffees by using the code [e-mail] that' code DALE D A L E20 for 20%.

[Rajah Caruth]

Off [e-mail] I had zero real life experience. I just said, hey, I raced rental go karts at an indoor place in Maryland and just sim raced and that was it. And that was good enough to get a tryout, you know, at the combine in March of 2019.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What's the combine look like?

[Rajah Caruth]

Go and race. I guess it was rotax karts maybe or maybe kas. And that was my first time in an actual kart ever. Ever. I thought that that was my shot and I blew it and I didn't do good enough. Got the message a couple weeks later that they had picked me to run a legend car that summer.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

The following is a production of Dirtymo Media. Hey everybody, it's Dale Jr. Back again for another episode of Dale Jr. Download. And this guest today is Raj Akaruth, the race car driver of the number 71 in the truck series for Spire. Going for an opportunity to race in the championship final at Phoenix. I've known him for several years and had some communications and text messages and conversations and been kind of watching this young guy work his way through the ranks and really getting a bit of a late start but you know, fast forwarding through late models, arca in the truck, becoming a winner at the truck level, showing what he's capable of. And I think the ceiling is still way up there. There's still a Lot of growth to be had. Next year, he's going to drive here at Junior Motorsports, so we're going to have a lot of fun getting to know him even more over the next 12 months, and we're excited about that. But let's get him in the room and see what this is all about. So what's going on?

[Rajah Caruth]

Nothing much. Just still being salty about Sunday. Why the. The football game?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, my gosh. Yeah, I was thinking maybe from your. From your race.

[Rajah Caruth]

No, no, race was cool, but, yeah, I was. I was depressed watching the football game, so.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, we'll just jump right on top of that. Man, you're a commander's fan. Being from D.C. me too, and we've talked about that a lot. This year ain't turned out like I thought it was going to. We've got a lot of problems.

[Rajah Caruth]

Well, I mean, honestly, I mean, we've dealt with worse.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Sure.

[Rajah Caruth]

For. For me, like, growing up, I grew up, like, with RG3 and like Santana Moss and. And all those guys, and. And then with Dwayne Haskins and Sam Howell and Alex Smith. So there's been worse. And I still got faith in the year. But, yeah, like you said, for me growing up in dc, I was a big, big sports fan, so. Basketball. The Capitals won a championship when I was in high school. Same with the Nats and all that. So great to see the ebbs and flow of sports. Right. It's.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It's.

[Rajah Caruth]

It's always circles, and hopefully it's not the downside of the circle this season.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I know. I find it interesting that, you know, I've been watching Washington since around 1982, and, man, there was a lot of good years, a lot of championships. So I've experienced that as well as what we've dealt with since the early 90s, and we've struggled, and we, you know, things got turned around last year. And the. The conversation that the fan base has now is so unique compared to what it used to be like, you know, and this is a cliche thing to say, but before social media. So, like, we. We got Jayden Daniels and we had a really good year last year. And. And it was, you know, you probably experiencing one of the best years ever.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That I can remember, period. Right. And I'm sitting there going, man, this reminds me of what it was like in the 90s when we were really good and this is great. And, man, new ownership knew this, knew that, and we're all heading in the right direction. And then this year, we've had nothing but struggles. Injuries, a lot of injuries. Jaden's kind of got banged up and it's, it's nerve wracking kind of to watch them because of, you know, how hard he's trying and how much he's trying to make happen.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And how dangerous that's, you know, been for him to sort of have to be that guy. I was worried going into Dallas game. I'm like, man, without any receivers and him not being able to be as mobile as he wants to be with the brace on his leg. This just sounds like a, this is going to be tough.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And, and, and then unfortunately he had a hamstring injury in the middle of the game. And I'm like, that's exactly what I thought would happen.

[Rajah Caruth]

You know, and like you said, it's going to be probably a tough couple games coming up in Seattle, crazy Detroit play.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And so. But you'll. We came out of last year. This is kind of a bigger conversation around just social media and the conversation on, on that we have these days and how fast the news cycle is. We come out of last year and, and there's all this positivity and then we have like these every week. Washington social media, like the, the, the fan social media is. They are all over the place.

[Rajah Caruth]

Like from one extreme, fair weather. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So from one extreme to the other, this, this, these last couple of weeks, man, it's just been noisy. Yeah.

[Rajah Caruth]

But I feel like that's more. You mentioned social media. I think everything's good. Everything's like sized a little bit for clicks and stuff. And it is funny.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. Well, I mean, it's just, even in general, in, you know, my algorithm just sends me all kinds of like, just regular fans, you know, just saying whatever they want to say right into the middle distance. And.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And, and it's like, wow, you know, everybody's got so many opinions about, like, we gotta fire this guy. We gotta get rid of this guy after one game. One game. One game can have them. Like, we're great. Everything's fine. To like the sky's falling.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah. I mean, you see the same thing in our sport. Like have one bad race or one mistake, one pick call, one tire slipper hitting the fence one time. And it's like, oh, that guy should lose his ride over one race or one moment.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It's wild. I'm glad, I guess, that I am not. I'm no longer the performer in that type of an environment. Like I, when I was racing at the end of my career, social media was just kind of starting to really spool up and become something. When I was finishing my racing career, social media was still very, I would say generally fun and new and we were all still like taking pictures of our lunch and posting our favorite songs and just being, talking about all that stuff. But now it feels like it's kind of developed into this place where it's news and it's criticism and it's constructive and non constructive but it's very now very loud and very noisy and I'm kind of glad that I'm not still a racer with that going on because it's a new, it's a new thing to navigate for a professional athlete.

[Rajah Caruth]

I think that's a good point especially for a driver like myself that is a grown up with, in this age of technology but also like trying to build a brand and build a name for yourself. It's, it's crazy because it's your, you're up for scrutiny, you're up for criticism, but also you know, for the good side of things. So it's a matter of just keeping pushing and not being, you know, okay with getting the instant gratification and yeah you know, building out a body of work but also not getting discouraged in the shortcomings.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I did that. So when I was, that's what social media had become to me was instant gratification in terms of man, if I had a bad race I had to go on there and make sure everything was okay. Right? Yeah.

[Rajah Caruth]

And in a certain way I had.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

To find some sort of response there for me to feel okay. Right. And oh man, yeah, I, I just, you know, I'm amazed at what the driver has to do today compared to what it was like when, when I was racing. And not only, you know, social media, it's a, there's a ton of opportunity there, brand building, you know, if you got projects, other things you're working on outside of what you're driving, what you're doing there, being able to easily quickly reach out to people and get to a bunch of people immediately about these things you're working on. Whether it's a podcast or products or whatever business you may be starting on the side, but also sim, studying, meetings, prep. So I don't even, I don't know if you're aware but like when in 2014, you know, feels like yesterday, it's quite a ways away but in the grand scheme of things that's not many years ago there wasn't any sim. If I told people it's the craziest thing about it there was no sim. Everyone like Chad Canals, Steve Latart, they thought that iracing was a toy. It was not to be used as a tool. They wouldn't tell their driver to go home and run a track on iracing. They'd think that that was the silliest idea ever. It was not going to be beneficial in any way. There was one meeting, the comp meeting on a Tuesday that was an hour and we didn't meet much before or after that as a team. I'd maybe go sit in Steve's office for some conversation, but that was not. There wasn't the prep that you guys do today. It's all day, every day.

[Rajah Caruth]

I love it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. I mean I don't know that you don't know any different. Right, right. But like for me it seems so foreign to learn like what you and all of the other drivers in the top three levels are having to commit to. I don't know how else to say it, but it doesn't sound appealing. What do you love about it?

[Rajah Caruth]

I think for me that's a great point because you have to eat, sleep and breathe this stuff if you want to be successful. Because the guy that you're racing door to door with, the guy or gal, they're doing the same thing. For myself, I didn't grow up racing at all and I just was just a pure racing fan and I have had such an appreciation for it that I really just longed for the opportunity to grind and study this stuff. Like I mean in high school I'd be doing my work and have in cars playing in the background just for fun on the computer. You know, it was to me it's not work and it's not a grind in the sense it's more of just an opportunity to chase a dream.

[Bubba Wallace]

Yeah.

[Rajah Caruth]

And like you mentioned with our technology, with the DIL and iRacing and YouTube like that information is available at our fingertips. Like I can pull up one of your in cars from, you know, from the 8 car to 88 and or old Jimmy clips and stuff like that and have it, you know, in 30 seconds. And it's great that that info is available because if you want it, you can get it and put what you want into it. So for me it's, it's just a great opportunity. I enjoy doing that stuff because this is, you know, pretty much all I've ever wanted to do.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So it's insane to me that now fast forward 10 years. IRacing is a tool. A lot of drivers look at it as a very viable way to be fresh and understand racecraft. I already knew that for years. Like I could, I could A person, an individual, just a regular consumer with no aspirations of becoming a race car driver. Was learning racecraft on a sim, on iracing unknowingly. Right. Becoming better at getting to the end of races, not crashing, not being foolish, not making mistakes.

[Rajah Caruth]

How much you pick up from that stuff.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And so the rest of the our industry, nascar has now embraced that as a, as a, as a legitimate tool. You have manufacturers spending millions of dollars on sim rigs, static and motion sig sim rigs. And so that's really the platform of your existence in motorsport. Like you, you don't come from a racing family. You did go to races as a young kid, but you learned how to drive a race car on a sim rig.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, I didn't get into a legend card, So I was 17.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So take me. Let's go all the way back. What's the first thing that you remember about motorsports racing of any kind, where you went? I like that. I want to know more about this.

[Rajah Caruth]

For me, it was two things. For one, it was the cars movie when that came out and I was a little kid. But also my dad traveled a lot and still travels a lot, but traveled a lot for work and the music industry and sports through his years, really just doing a lot of cool stuff. And when he travel, he'd bring back cool stuff for my sister and I. I've got a sister, she's well, 20 now, little sister, but not really little sister. And he'd bring back cool diecast for me. And it was not anything of like, hey, trying to get me in racing. It just would be from a place he traveled. And that was the first thing that sparked of like, oh, this is cool. And then from then on, I would just watch races on tv. I remember watching old nationwide race at Michigan that Brax Keselowski won. And then I'd watch stuff on YouTube like old stop motions and NR2003 videos and would watch like NASCAR now and Wind Tunnel and just everything I could get my hands on on ESPN and Race Hub when it was a thing and the Speed Channel and I just would intake all that stuff. So that was really my first exposure to racing was through that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

When, when did you learn or when did dawn on you that you could, you could race? I mean, you know, iracing. We don't call iracing a video game, but I remember, so I remember. I'll, I'll try to help you understand what I'm trying to get To. I remember when Papyrus came out with the first NASCAR game on PC and like, you know, I couldn't believe that this, I could do this in my house. This was different than, you know, playing on a console. Consoles in the 90s weren't, you know, weren't what they are today. And I had to, I had to get a computer. I had to, I had to get a computer. I had to get a thrustmaster wheel. Everybody used a, you know, thrustmaster tsw. And so I could, I mean, it was just, it blew my mind that this technology existed, that they had made this game that I could play on this computer and could race against, you know, either in single player or I could call. We called a phone line in Massachusetts. It was called Hawaii. Had you ever heard about this? Oh, God. So this is Myers about it, I guess. Yeah, this is all the same people that created Irace and built this Papyrus game. That was who they worked for the brand. The company was called Papyrus, owned by Sierra and they made NASCAR, I think it was 94 or 95 when this came out. And they had an online component. And to race online you had to have a dial up connection. And it called a phone number in Massachusetts long distance. And so you didn't pay for like a monthly plan. You just called this number and it charged you. My. My first phone bill after a month having a month of racing online was $400. It was a $20 residential bill. That turned into the real problem for my roommate and who was my brother at the time. And I stayed up all night long racing on what is called Hawaii. I don't know why they call it that, but that was the online component for the NASCAR game back then. And man, it was crazy. You couldn't believe that there was an actual human driving the car in front of you. It just, that was. That technology was just like brand new. And I was sitting there going, wow, this is the greatest thing ever. And I couldn't. I stayed up all night. I would get done. My brother would come out of his room going to work. I worked at the dealership with him changing oil and he'd get out, he'd come out of his room dressed for work and I'd still be on that thing racing. And I'd run into my room and get my clothes on and go straight to work and then run home and jump right back on there. And so like, take me to that. Take me to that moment for you when you said, hey, I can actually do this on, on simulation at home. And it really became this, this, this hobby or something you really enjoyed for sure.

[Rajah Caruth]

So I guess I'll go back a little bit. Yeah. I was born in Atlanta, but grew up in Brooklyn. And really D.C. is where I spent, you know, I was from 7 to, you know, graduating high school in D.C. and when I was in D.C. we'd have, you know, family and stuff coming up from Brooklyn and New York and. Or Brooklyn and Atlanta. And my family is from the Caribbean, so that's where, you know, they came to the states. And one of my aunts actually gave me a NASCAR encyclopedia. And that was really cool because it really just spurred the interest. And like I mentioned, would watch NR2003 videos, NASCAR0708, you know, on YouTube. And it was always like, I want to start, you know, driving, you know, playing video games. And it wasn't like, I think I can go and race because of it. It just was like, oh, it's cool, it's fun. It's something tangible I can do to, you know, further this passion. And I actually got the NASCAR game on the weed. NASCAR 2011, I believe, was my first video game and played that and it was a lot of fun. And then got my first PlayStation around the time that I went to my first race, which was at Richmond, and I was around 12 and got a PS3. Got NASCAR, NASCAR 14 at the time. And that was the first experience of playing games. And it was great because they'd have different leagues on there that I did. And it was just a matter of that something tangible I could do to that. I felt like it was making me a driver, but it. Yeah, sure, yeah, yeah. And. And it was a lot of fun. From then on, I would see people make iracing videos because I guess that would be 2014, 15. In that time, racing with the Coke series becoming a thing and watching like PJ Sturgills. And did you think all those guys.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You know, was a lot of people in their mind when they start seeing or learn about iracing, they think, man, how expensive is that?

[Rajah Caruth]

Yes. Especially for my parents, for sure, because I didn't see it yet as a pathway to go and race. It just was like, oh, it's the cool game. It's the next thing to get.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You gotta get a PC.

[Rajah Caruth]

Gotta get a PC.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I had to get my sister to put it on credit. I didn't have any credit. I had to beg my sister to put it on her name. And I had to pay her a hundred dollars a month to pay off that PC I bought in the 90s.

[Rajah Caruth]

My first computer I had iracing on was my school laptop.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Okay.

[Rajah Caruth]

It was a MacBook, and I had to split the hard drive to put Windows on it. Yeah, I KN that thing.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Wow.

[Rajah Caruth]

For sure. And connected it with the HDMI to, like, a small monitor that we had in the house. But that was my first time iracing. And at that point, to get my first, like, PC, we did a fundraiser with, like, family and friends to get, like, a PC$80 Thrustmaster wheel from best Buy. And that was my first, you know, time getting on iracing.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. And so you become a regular on iracing. Um, you were in. When you were 16, you raced in the NASCAR ignite series. So, you know, is. Is it ever at that point, starting to become like, this idea of, man, how do I get. I really.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yes. At that point.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Tell me what your thoughts were. I suppose when you were like, man, I think I really want to.

[Rajah Caruth]

Well, I think it cleared up. Like, it was. This was what I wanted to do. Right. I wanted to be a. I want to be a, you know, Sunday guy. And at that point, William had won his championship over here.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And you felt like that William was the example.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, he was the example.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

He had that background. Yep.

[Rajah Caruth]

That was the selling point to my parents of, like, I'm gonna, you know, I know I gotta go to school and go to college, but I want to race. And this is what I'm passionate about, and this is my dream. That was the perfect example. So. Yeah. And I think at that point.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Have you ever told William that?

[Rajah Caruth]

Actually, I've never told him that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So William has ebbed and flowed about his. How much iracing or, you know, coming from simulation as a kid influenced his. His career. Right. And, you know, I. I feel like that it's no different than you. Him racing on the computer, on iracing at home. Absolutely. Helped him develop and become and. And find a route right into where he is today. But at times, he's a bit standoffish or to promote that publicly outwardly. Right. And he didn't want to kind of be branded as that guy that was like a sim racer, which it's much. Maybe even a couple years ago, it was maybe not the way you wanted to do it, but I think it gets cooler as we go down this road and everybody realizes how much of how realistic iracing is. But I think he would really appreciate knowing that he was that example for you. He probably is. He's probably that example as you have become now for. That's crazy to think thousands of customers like Iracing has hundreds of thousands of active customers, paying customers that are probably sitting there going, I wonder if I could do that as well. Right?

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, I think, I mean, that's really the only reason I was able to start a driving career at all. I think if not, I'd have gone to school and I still went to school, but I've gone and would have been in the sport in a marketing role or something like that, or a business side of things. But I got on iracing the summer of 2018 and I did the Ignite series like you mentioned. I was 16, I had a summer job. I was running track and field. I played sports in high school, so I was doing that in the summertime.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What sports besides track and field?

[Rajah Caruth]

Basketball and soccer. But really, really track was. Was what I did the most. And that's really helped with the training side of things now, as you know, with Josh and everything. And that summer I would be get up, go to the job, which was a summer youth employment program in D.C. where it was cool, we'd do different things to learn about finances and stuff like that. And I'd do that, then go to track practice, which would either be at this place called Rock Creek park in D.C. where just go and do cross country workouts and stuff and then go home. And similar to like you were saying, race really all through the night and repeat again through that summer. And I mean, I got on, I turned 16 and then a week later got on iracing and then the Ignite series started and played that whole. Or raced that whole summer trying to learn quickly. Yeah, I had to do it in a short, you know, couple months before the playoffs started.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Like jumping on iracing and like understanding how to be fast and it's not easy, is not easy. Like even I'll take breaks. Like, I haven't been on iracing in quite a while, honestly. And I had a large break from like 2012 to 2017. And man, it isn't something that's very easy to like, anyone can jump in there and do it, but like to be a top 20% of the users on the service, it's something you have to really work at for sure, to find real speed.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah. And it really comes down to time. And that's why you see a lot of the guys that are coming up through the Coke series now are on the younger side of things. Right. And they're able to test and, you know, log hours when they're not working or not in school and stuff. And like I said, that summer I had the time to do that. So it was kind of a great the stars aligning moment for sure of when that competition came out. I mean it was only a thing.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Tell me about the competition.

[Rajah Caruth]

So it was for 13 to 16 year olds so I was right at the age limit for it and it was eight week kind of prelim series and you had to be in the top 50 total whatever your region was to make the playoff deal. And I did that and I had some friends that I had known from racing NASCAR 15 on the PlayStation. They kind of showed me the ropes of like alright, this is like the settings you don't need to look at your speed. That's what you have to do for running the, you know, running the official series and testing and all that stuff. And luckily it was a fixed series so didn't have to do much, just have to learn how to drive and yeah, made the playoffs, made the final race and I didn't end up winning the whole deal obviously. And I thought man, that was my one shot to race. I thought that was it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And I was if you won the whole thing, what happens?

[Rajah Caruth]

It was I think Zach Novak won it or either Zach or Briar, I can't remember but you got a test and I think a scholarship or something like that and what I think it was a late model, I'm pretty sure. And yeah, I didn't win that and I thought that was it for me. And at that time we had my dad through his. He's a teacher at Howard University now in the school of Communications and through a connection he had one of his students came through the NASCAR diversity interns program and her name is Karen Grant. She's not with NASCAR anymore but she actually got us to able to get some passes for my first time to go to go to a race and have hot passes and I can send you the pictures. It's pretty funny like seeing like pictures with Drew Blickensturfer and Billy Scott and stuff. And at that time I just was trying to introduce myself to people of like hey, I'm an iracer and I've been wanting to be a fan or be a racer for a long time and I've been a fan forever and hopefully this, this gets somewhere and I met the folks at REV in the NASCAR Drive for diversity program right after that that series ended. So but yeah, I didn't win the deal and I thought that was it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So how did the deal with REV come about?

[Rajah Caruth]

So I applied for the, for their program and those that are over there with with Mark Green and Tusan Hamilton and all that, and applied Jefferson Hodges was there at the time. He's at Penske now. And I applied and they gave me a tryout and I was the only iracing kid that they had ever got to give a tryout for for their youth deal. And it was go.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What was that like?

[Rajah Caruth]

Well, for starters, I didn't even think I did good enough to get it. And I submitted the application online and I had zero real life experience. I just said, hey, I raced rental go karts at an indoor place in Maryland and just sim raced. And that was it. And that was good enough to get a tryout, you know, at the combine in March of 2019.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What's the combine look like?

[Rajah Caruth]

It was go karts. Well, first it was a physical training and marketing side of things. We went to the hall of Fame. We went and did like a push up test and baseline fitness. And then after that, the next day was going over to track house, which was GoPro Motorplex at the time, and go and race. I guess it was Rotax karts, maybe or maybe Kas. And that was my first time in an actual cart ever. Ever. And I thought I sucked. But from those that were there, they, they saw that, you know, I, I never driven anything and I was really up to speed pretty quickly.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Do you remember anybody else that was there?

[Rajah Caruth]

Isabella Robosta was there, Lavar Scott, some other drivers that were there? Nick Sanchez was there. He wasn't driving, but he's one of the driver coaches and liaisons and stuff. Yeah, yeah, I've got pictures of it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What happens after that?

[Rajah Caruth]

I thought that that was my shot and I blew it and I didn't do good enough. We drove straight back from there, the six hours back to D.C. and you know, was going back to start applying to colleges and finish out my junior year of high school, but got the message a couple weeks later that they had picked me to run a legend car that summer.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Just one race, multiple races.

[Rajah Caruth]

Oh, for the. Sorry. For the, for the entire summer. The summer shootout series.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Really?

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, that was my first.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Were you one of how many?

[Rajah Caruth]

One of four. Me, Isabella, Blake Lothian and one other driver. I can't remember. And yeah, I made that. Made the team for, for the summer of running the shootout and a couple other races.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Whether it was legends, cars are a handful.

[Rajah Caruth]

Handful. Especially to go and drive it for the first time.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, no. No weight and a lot of power.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yep.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And not a really great. I mean, not a terrible tire. Just not a, you know, not a.

[Rajah Caruth]

Pure twitchy steering and all that. My first time driving was at the Concorde, the small little track behind Concord. Before it's, before it got torn down. Did I pretty much blew the clutch out because I had no clutter. Here's a clutch. Nick was there and helped me figure out how to drive it with, with, like I said, Mark and Mac or Mark Green, Matt Booker and all that.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Imagine how nervous you must have been.

[Rajah Caruth]

Honestly, I wasn't nervous because I didn't know what I was.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I don't want to say I didn't.

[Rajah Caruth]

Know what I was doing. I didn't know what I didn't know. So I had a test day there. I went to Shenandoah Speedway with a buddy of mine, Daniel Silvestri. You may know him, he raced his car store and he's up from around me in Virginia and I tested his car at Shenandoah, I guess a couple weeks before the shootout started. And off to the races. Let's start the summer.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. The NASCAR playoffs are here and so is your chance to bring the intensity of home. Celebrate every pass, pit stop and photo finish with a collectible car from Lionel Racing, the official die cast of nascar. Built for fans who live for the chase, Lionel Racing die casts are the ultimate trophy. Each car is precision crafted featuring authentic paint schemes and hand applied decals. Plus, each 1:24 scale die cast is part of a limited edition run, making every piece a must have for true collectors. Whether you're riding with Team Larson, backing Team Hamlin, or watching to see if Logano can win it all again, Lionel Racing has a die cast that reps your favorite playoff driver@lionel racing.com Cooler days.

[Quince Brand Representative]

Call for layers that last and Quint is your go to for quality essentials that feel cozy, look refined and won't blow your budget. Think $50 Mongolian cashmere, premium denim that fits like a dream and luxe outerwear that you will wear year after year. Their wool coats look designer but cost a fraction of the price. Because Quince partners directly with top tier ethical factories and cuts out the middlemen, they have delivered luxury quality pieces at half the price of similar brands. It's a kind of wardrobe upgrade that feels smart, stylish and effortless. So my favorite pieces that I have in my wardrobe for fall are all of their cashmere sweaters. I do have some pieces from the summer that like my knit dresses and skirts that I can layer which is one of my favorite things about Quince because all of the pieces are light, cozy and soft and I love are very Easy to layer together. They also are kind of a one stop shop. They have home pieces, pieces for baby men. So whether it's something for your closet or around the house, Quince has what you need. Find your fall staples at quint's. Go to quince.comdalejr for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com Dell Jr. To get free shipping and 365 day returns. Quince.comdeljr do you remember your first moment.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

When you're like in the car battling with other people on the track going, is this like really happening? Are you having that sort of surreal.

[Rajah Caruth]

Moment or it's more of like I didn't know what I didn't know.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Right.

[Rajah Caruth]

I remember my first race, I'm like, oh, I saw a gap and try to get to somebody's right side and then I stuffed myself on the fence and I still have the ball joint of that, of the legend car just sitting in my house just as a cool reminder. But yeah, that whole first summer, again, I thought I sucked. Like I didn't get a top 10 till like halfway through the summer and was having to run the B main to make the feature and everything. And it was a tough experience because I had such high expectations of like, I was decent on sim racing and I was, you know, knew how to make speed and race and thought it would translate immediately and it did not. I honestly had to relearn everything when I got to real life.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What do you mean?

[Rajah Caruth]

Well, just in terms of the visuals, feeling it in the car, feeling the tire, the steering and as you, as, you know, like the higher you go, the more advanced everything gets. But honestly, the further I've gone along on the relay side of things, the more iracing has been able to kind of come back and meet in the middle and be a really good tool for me.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. So, yeah, I find that. I know I think that's really hard to explain to somebody and I think you're a great person to be able to do that because you've experienced it. But I always feel like when, when I think about. So I think from this moment going forward we got to look at iracing as a tool. Right. So it's, it's, it's, it's check that box and gain that respect. When you put somebody who's never driven a car before on iracing, you can tell them, I would say, all right, man, if you Want to try to make this a career and instead of taking you to a racetrack and putting you in a race car for the.

[Rajah Caruth]

First time, start there.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I'm going to put you on iracing for a year or two. Great idea. But what you're going to try to do on iracing is I'm not worried about how like fast you win or how many races you win or your winning percentage. It's all about, like racecraft, wouldn't you say?

[Rajah Caruth]

I agree. Like you do try not trying to.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Stay out of crashes.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Or try not to drive yourself into.

[Rajah Caruth]

Crashes because that's the way you. You rank up is by just not having a lot of incident points. That's one thing I really learned the hard way my first two, three years on iRacing of like, I'd be fast, I could qualify well and. But like, racing was where I would not do good at, you know, whether it was like putting myself in bad spots, going for tight holes and just racking up the incident points and damaging the cars I was driving. But I really learned really what it takes, like you mentioned from a racecraft perspective because the margins aren't as good. Right. With netcode and all the different things that they have on the sim. And honestly, that helped me from a common sense standpoint.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And that's a real life. That's an expensive bit of experience to gain in real cars.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, exactly. If you don't have to do it in real life, it's gonna, like, once you figure out the basics of like, you know, the garage flow and using the clutch and shifting and all that stuff, like the common sense is gonna kick in at a certain point.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, for sure. So after the, you know, the, the little stretch of racing in the Legends car, what was next?

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, I got 15 races and I thought I again didn't really do. Do very good and actually got the invitation to try out for the late model deal. And that was my first time driving a late model where we went to New Smyrna and it was with Kendall Sellers and yeah, drove a late model stock for the first time, then tested it for the combine, which is the same process of physical and marketing side of things, mock interviews and then, you know, lap times, testing and stuff like that. And that was my first time in late model. It's October 2019. So I guess similar to you, I know you mentioned that you didn't get an elite model until you were, you know, 16 or 17. And for me, I was. I was 17 and did well enough in that test to make the Program for the following year and get a full season of weekly series races on an elite model stock.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Where did you race?

[Rajah Caruth]

So raced Hickory? Well, it was during COVID and the tire shortage, so Hickory, Tri county were my first two racetracks. Myrtle Beach. I got to run the last two races there. So that was a lot of fun. Florence, ran Florence a lot. Greenville. Greenville's where I won my first race. South Boston. And I think that's all the places I went to over my two years of racing late models. But. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What would you compare the late model stock to?

[Rajah Caruth]

Probably an xfinity car, I'd say it was like with the steering and just how you use the brake pedal and everything. And the power, as you get higher, the power isn't really the issue, but it's really about, you know, managing the load in the front tires. And you don't really ride anymore, I would say. But like, when I ran, we were on the 45s and like, you'd run to Myrtle beach in Florence and you'd spent at least half the race just run around, half throttle. And you don't do that in nascar. But you know, really, the racecraft and the guys that you race, it's something that translated not really from the truck side of things, but definitely when I ran Xfinity.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So, yeah, I run the late model stock now, and we actually got a chance to race against each other a couple of times. It's a really fun car. And. And I'm glad that it's still like a platform, I suppose, specifically in this. This area, geographically in the mid atlantic region of the United States. It's a great platform, I think, for drivers to come up through.

[Rajah Caruth]

I think you mentioned. I don't remember if it was you or Harvick that said it, but for me, like, I raced against like, Sam Yarborough and Matt Cox at Florence and like Ryan Millington and like a lot of these, like, very strong, renowned local guys and the things that you learn from them. It's something that you can take the higher you go. And I think I learned a lot, like racing against, like, Thomas bean at hickory and tri county and a lot of those guys. And yeah. Riley Gentry and just. Yeah, a lot of drivers that I learned a lot from and, you know, whether I made mistakes or they made mistakes and learned a lot from them and key lessons that I learned in that. In those development years, for sure.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So after. After the late model stock deal, what's the next step for you?

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, so I ran. Ran that first year one at Greenville one at Hickory, one Tri county, just weekly races. And got promoted to the rev deal to run the ARCA E series. So no test or anything. Just go line up for practice at New Smyrna in February of 21. So that, honestly, it wasn't as complicated as I thought it would be. Like the car itself getting used to the brake pedal. Like, the pedal ratios and stuff is different. Like, you remember in the late model, like, your brake throw was a lot. The shifter is just like using the clutch and everything. And then it's kind of easy with ARCA car and the transmissions with everything. And getting up to speed wasn't really the issue. It just was figuring out, you know, the racecraft and visually. Like my first race at New Smyrna, I knocked the nose in on the restart just because it was, you know, stack up and the gashes were the. The dash was flashing at me with. With red gauges, and I'm like, oh, what's going on? And I didn't. I didn't know, but it just was running warm because of getting the nose punch. And that's something that, again, you don't really learn iracing really at all. You just have to have those experiences in real life. But, yeah, I run late models those first two years and at the same time, run my first ARCA starts. Go to go to Pensacola. Run. Run well there. Run well at Dover, which is. That was an exhilarating experience. First time there with running pretty much wide open in ARCA cars. Pretty sketchy. But that race, it was cool. Ty won. Ty Gibbs. I was in it with Josh Berry. He drove Bruce Cook's car. Yeah, Parker Ritzcliffe was in that race too. Taylor Gray, I think David Gillen was in it too. So it definitely was a race where it's cool to see kind of where guys are at now. But that race I ran well at, I ended up cutting a tire, which is also common for the ARCA cars at Dover. But ran well enough, and that got the attention of Tommy Jo Martins for, you know, who I ran my first Xfinity starts for.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I remember you going to Charlotte in the arc of car. What was. I guess, you know, what was the. How did the iracing experience help you when you went to those larger tracks the mile and a half?

[Rajah Caruth]

Honestly, it was a big thing because it really just taught you, like, the aero stuff that you don't really get to learn until you're in real life. Like on iracing, if you just follow the guy in the corner like a. You're not Going to turn and B, you're going to nuke your tires. And I mean, almost the same thing. Both true to real life. Like, it's more magnified on the real life side of things, but the same principles and concepts are there. And I think for me, like, I run the next gen a lot on iracing because it's the most updated aerodynamics, and again, it's magnified compared to maybe trucks or Xfinity, but the principles are still there. And like you mentioned, for going and running, learning how to run the fence at certain racetracks and move around in the aero side of things, not only iracing health, but also going to Millbridge and running the micro, really micro sprint there. Yeah, I started doing that last couple years.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I've kind of been curious about that. My nephew White's racing a ton of dirt. You know, it looks fun.

[Rajah Caruth]

I keep up with him.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, when I, I. When I grew up trying to find my way into nascar, I thought you had to be on asphalt, and I ran late models and I thought I was. I thought that, like, that's the truest, quickest route right now. Obviously, there's iracing and other things you can do, but they got Wyatt running the trucks. Yeah, Sprint cars and trucks jumping, you know, jumping trucks out in California. I'm like, I don't understand this route. This route doesn't. Is very foreign to me. But you're not the only driver that goes over to Millbridge. What are you learning?

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, I think it. For me, I started going over there my first year, Xfinity and trucks and then, you know, running the full arcade deal. And for me, like, a. Just getting used to running next to the wall. Like, your right rear gets there before you get there with. With the stagger and everything and just getting used to the visuals. But, like, from a racecraft perspective, like, you learn so much through just having to know where you're at in space, knowing how to use your leverage. And obviously, Millbridge is kind of magnified with, like, throwing sliders and stuff like that. And I wouldn't say that's the most, like, comparable thing to nascar, but just really the, you know, knowing where you're at in space and time and visually being able to run close to people and not miss the corner and, you know, keep up with the racetrack changing and everything. You know, I've run the wing and the non wing over there, and it's been something that's really helped me, you know, level up on the NASCAR side of things.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I've never done it, never Been on a. Never been in anything like that, but it's fascinating.

[Rajah Caruth]

They're fun on iracing though. They did a pretty good job. They did, yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Oh, good.

[Rajah Caruth]

They're pretty fun.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I wonder. You got a truck deal with GMS and everybody's excited about you getting in that truck.

[Rajah Caruth]

And it does not go very well.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

No, you went full time in 23. But at that same time they decide they're gonna get out of truck business and they're gonna shut it down. I remember I felt like just being at a distance from you, how uncertain that felt. You weren't really sure about what the next thing was going to be. Take us through that time and kind of how you found out, found your way to where you are today.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, that was tough for sure. I think it was a great, exciting time when that all came together with staying with Chevy and staying with the Wendell Scott foundation and the Steward family and the, the support. I was getting there and we had kind of somewhat of a plan, you know, and obviously with things shifting to Toyota, that changed everything and definitely was like, dang, kind of looking out, you know, looking for what's next. And on top of that, not having a good year of like, I had one or two good shots to run well and I wrecked myself racing tie at Kansas and then I broke in the lead at Nashville and those moments were like, dang. Were those my only opportunities? And I'm glad I had that rookie season though, to kind of learn, albeit with the doors closing and everything, like learn the to do's and the not to do's when you're racing full time. And really the things that you probably learned racing, you know, in the cars tour or as a youth and getting to have those experiences there, it was. It wasn't easy, but I'm glad I had those experiences of like not making days worse when you're running 12th or 17th and not smoking the right side just because you're trying to get one spot right. I learned a lot that year and really the back part of that year, I put up together some, some solid runs and felt like I was in a decent spot to be ready for what was next. And I didn't really know. I didn't know what was next until literally the February or the week before Daytona of 2024.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Really?

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, we were. It was kind of a lot of different options and we were trying for a long time just to get something done and get the sponsorship, you know, put together. And it didn't come together really till, you know, coming back With Spire, who I ran my first truck races for and you know, Jeff Dickerson helping out and reaching out to the folks at HMS and Mr. HMS, Linda and you know, with those of the automotive group and they wanted to support me. I did that race for them at Phoenix. I got that opportunity in the Xfinity car and that Xfinity experience, not only at Hendrick, but with Alpha prime, really just prep me for that, that shot at Spire and winning stuff.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. Talk about driving for Alpha prime. They, they're like, it's a little engine that could, you know, they work really hard with very little, but every now and then you'll see them put a car in a race and it be very competitive. Yeah, talk about your. You've had experience in several different shops now at this level at the truck you've been in, you've been with different teams with different cultures and, and different, different funding and so forth. And talk about how that's kind of opened your eyes to how hard some of these teams are working.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, it's definitely just. You mentioned the culture, right. To go from to Tommy's where it's, you know, it's, it's not just the good old boys, but it's like you said, everybody's trying, trying hard. And Frank Kerr is over there doing a great job and I had him and Dan Stillman, Michael Brannon, I worked with Dan. Yeah, and, and Mike Hillman senior and a lot of cool guys over there. And to go from there to Aspire Truck Team or to here to hms, it's just crazy that everybody does their way, their things a different way to get to the same point. Maybe not the same result obviously, but whether it's, you know, the cycle of parts and communication from driver to engineer to crew chief and the preparation that's expected and what's not expected and it's just, it's just different. But yeah, like my time at Alpha prime was great because I had moments to learn, whether it was wrecking at Pocono with Alex lebe or qualifying 15th at Dover or, you know, running the top 10 at Vegas and Martinsville in that car. And I think that that time really learned or helped me learn a lot. Right. With the longer races and learning how to run around the full time guys, the playoff guys. But in that stuff, right, I ran around like Jeremy Clements and Jeb and Alex Lebe, Josh Williams, Ryan Ellis, like those guys in that mid, mid tier and the Xfinity stuff that, I mean, I learned so much from running around those guys of just Taking care of your stuff. And if it's gonna run 25th to run there or maybe get a couple more, not destroy the thing, but if you can, you know, run 15th, run 12th or a little bit better, then, you know, make the most of it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's absolutely right. You know, when we're. When we started our program here years ago, it was more important for me actually to get a guy in the car that could just get me the car, get the car to the finish of the race than. Than to try to go out there and. And wreck it. Trying for more.

[Rajah Caruth]

Because it's going to be worse. Trying for more and then destroying the thing.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. And it those damage bills rack up. I mean, you're not budgeting for crashing a car every week. And when you got a guy in there that's knocking the nose off of it or backing it in the fence every other race, the team can't keep cars on the shop floor in one piece and you're spending a ton of money. So like, I was always, look, you know, we hired Brad Keselowski not because I thought Brad could win races for us, because Brad was going to make sure he didn't tear the car up. And we just needed about a year of that, you know, to kind of get our feet underneath us. And so, I mean, that's what I think. It's good for drivers that are listening to this, young guys that are at that regional level, man, it's. If when you get these opportunities to run like you did in the Alpha prime car or to drive a truck one off, like, finishing the race is probably the priority for sure. It's awesome if you can flash, you know, some speed, but just being smart enough to be able to bring it back in one piece is quite an accomplishment. I always tell guys, I say run all the laps, and that's what that means. Like, today's just about running all the laps. If you can come back to me at the end of the race and you've ran all the laps, you've gotten all the experience you can get, and you're better now than you were at the beginning of the day. And if you're out there, I don't care how fast you were, if you were wreck the thing on lap 30.

[Rajah Caruth]

It'S not gonna matter.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I'm very dis. Yeah, it's very disappointing. So it's pretty good. How do you believe you got that plugged into your brain? Where did that really kind of come from so quickly?

[Rajah Caruth]

Honestly, it came from when I was at Rev and When I ran the late model stuff, you had just the one car, the one chassis, and for us that were in that program and, you know, Nick can attest to this Lavar Chase cabry, you know, drivers that have come through over the years, like, you had your. Your one late model and your one chassis, and if, you know, you blew up the motor or. Or knocked the clip off of it or something, like you were, you know, not fully responsible, but, you know, that would affect what races you did in your schedule. And so whether it was, like, replacing fenders or, you know, rear end housings and stuff like that, like, you were involved in that process and you really learned to respect the equipment. Right. Because it wasn't like something new, something that the previous. Previous driver had and the previous driver before had. And you had to make sure that, you know, you weren't taking yourself out of, you know, getting opportunities to race because you only had, you know, 10 or, I guess, 15 or 20 weekly shows you could do in a season. And, you know, if you destroyed your stuff, you know, in March or April, you'd be sitting for a couple weeks. Whether it was sending the motor up to Harrington's to get done or having to go get the chassis redone or something like that. I learned it at that level. So that's something that you don't really get on. Iracing on the downside of it, because although the race can be over and you'll accumulate the incident points, right. You're not, you know, you can just reset the car and it's fine. Right. And that's something that you really, you know, is really valuable to learn in real life. And I learned when I was racing.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Those cars, yeah, you got a job to race with Spire. You've been there over the last couple of years, you've been able to get yourself to victory lane and become a winner at the truck level. Take me back to Vegas. I want to. I want to hear about the emotion of what, you know, what you're thinking as you're starting to, you know, getting near the end of that race. I know what I would. I know where my mind would go when it comes down to 10, 8, 7. I'm literally on the radio to my spotter telling me, count me down every lap. And if he missed a lap, I'd be like, whoa, what lap was that? You know, because I'm so nervous. Yeah, I'm literally nervous about, like, is the caution going to come out? Is, you know, so. Or is. What's that noise? What was that? I heard that, that's not, that's new. You know, what was going on in your mind as you're driving to your first win?

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah. So I guess if I could step back a month or so, literally get the contract and get everything done like a week and a half before Daytona to race there. And it wasn't even a full time guaranteed deal. It was just for, you know, a first portion of the year and we'll figure out the sponsorship and try to put together the rest of the year. And fortunately Mr. H, Ms. Linda and everybody at the automotive group after Daytona Atlanta were like, hey, let's just, they'll, you know, support me for the whole season and Daytona, I mean, I caused a big one my first time, you know, racing for the win. And I'm like, dang, like I just did not do a good job. Send one of my friends flipping, you know, in the field and like, it just was like a weird spot of like, hey, I got this opportunity. Yeah, yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Was that when it pushed off a tube?

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, it just took off and you know, I wiped out everybody. And I do that. I'm like, dang, that really sucked. I hate that that went down. And at the same time you've got to just kind of shake it off and go to the next thing. So go to Vegas. And that's really the first straight up race of the year in a sense. Right. With how Daytona and Atlanta goes. So I go and we qualify well and, and it was Fun Racing with KB& Kyle or KB&TY and Corey and Nick and all that. And I learned a lot in those first two stages that I had been missing really that first year. And so after the green flag cycle and everything, we go and get, get sorted out in stage three and, and I'm like, I'm wondering where everybody is. And Joey Campbell was my spotter at the time and he said that the 98 sped and that the 11 and 17 had ran long. And so I'm like, wow, I have a serious gap with I guess 20 or 30 or so laps to go. And at that point I'm just like, okay, I just gotta wrap the line and run fine. And it's funny you say that, hearing things that you haven't heard all race and with like 10 or 15 to go, I'm like, I feel like the right front's like, I'm getting a little tighter than I've been all day and a little tighter and a little tighter as I'm getting in the traffic and I'm like, okay, I gotta take Care of it. Just. I know I've got a little bit of a gap to anchor them, and I can go harder when I need to, but I've got some space right now where I can just keep. Keep a little more life in the tire. And honestly, I mean, I wasn't really nervous. I just was expecting a caution more than anything. Maybe that's not the best headspace to be in, but I'm like, okay, I guess got to be prepared for, like, should a yellow come out, right? Like, okay, well, what do I need for the truck? How do I need to hit pit road and restarts and all that stuff and. But we get the wide. I'm like, all right, cool. Like, it's okay.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

No yellow coming.

[Rajah Caruth]

No yellow coming out.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

This is over.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, just run the middle. Run easy through the middle of 1 and 2 and bring it to the line. And just more relief there than anything.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. Do you. So that. That was the overriding emotion. Relief is relief.

[Rajah Caruth]

Just relief. Like you do so much and for young drivers, right, you have a bad race and it feels like that's the end of your career. And you just go so long without having tangible success or that gratification. So to have that moment, it just was a relief really, for my parents, like, to send me to North Carolina to go to college and still chase the racing dream. And the coaches I've had over the years, the people that are financially backing me but also believing in me. My crew chief, Chad, I'd been with my rookie year and been through the struggle there. So to get him a win was great. And really just the team, I just wanted it for them just because I felt like a lot of people had put that on my shoulders and put me in that situation. And so to, you know, not mess it up and put it all together was just relief more than anything.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I had a similar feeling when I started getting success. I ran 159 late model races. I only ran. I only won three of those in a four year span. I didn't think I was doing enough to get there. But I did start to get some opportunities in Xfinity series. And I too, I wanted to race for a living. You know, I wanted to be able to do this for the. For the large majority of my adult life. Right. That's like what I think. We all just kind of want that and it. And whatever. Of course we want it to be successful, but we're not really. We don't really have like a. An expectation of success. It's just I want to Be good enough to keep the job.

[Rajah Caruth]

And this is why we're doing it.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. And, like, when you finally go to victory lane, that is the relief I think of. I'm going to be. I think I'm going to be able to do this. I think this is actually going to. This is actually working for sure.

[Rajah Caruth]

I think it was a little bit of that. I definitely didn't want to. And this is what I did. Didn't do.

[Travis]

Right.

[Rajah Caruth]

I definitely shrugged it off too much and just like, okay, like, just got to go in and put together a whole season and then, you know, I don't win again. For.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

What would you tell yourself? I would say, in those last 10 laps, what would you say?

[Rajah Caruth]

Just to cherish it. Cherish it more. Right. And I think that I did that this year, like, when I had that opportunity again, I definitely cherished it more just because I just was so, like, okay, let's just get to the next thing. And trying to, like, I don't know why I'm getting all this press and stuff, like, it's just a truck race, but understanding, you know, the impact that it had in a lot of good ways. But, yeah, I definitely agree with you there. Like, you. You do it for so long and you have so many periods without that tangible success of finishing first. And whether it's the equipment you're in or the situation that you don't get that for whatever reason. And when you get those moments, it's, you know, you got to cherish them for sure.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Do you feel like that now after you're. You've got a couple wins now in. In the truck series, you're going to get opportunities next year racing in the xfinity series with us.

[Travis]

You're.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You're, you know, at junior motorsports, You're.

[Bubba Wallace]

You're.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You have. There is a plan. There is some security and comfort in that. How are you still developing as a driver? Like, what. What are the things, I think that, you know. Do you. I don't know if you can even answer this question, but what are the things that you think you're still working on?

[Rajah Caruth]

I think a lot. I think the mental aspect is a big, big part of it. Right. It's not like, I mean, I'm gonna go and find a second of speed necessarily. I mean, maybe, but really just the mental aspect of not taking yourself out of the game and not overthinking. I'm a chronic overthinker. I think for me, like, I do a lot of studying. Like, I watch a lot of stuff I sim race a lot. I pretty much live at the dil.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Those are positives.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, positives. Right. But it's also easy to just like, go down a rabbit hole of like, okay, I didn't do this. Right. Or, you know, this will lead to this outcome or just not feeling like. You mentioned not feeling like I've done enough. Right. And keeping the confidence in myself, I think, is the biggest thing. Yeah. Because I know I still got room to grow as a driver and, you know, in a lot of different areas, whether it's the road racing or certain aspects of short tracks or whatever. And I know that I have strengths, too, but really just the confidence is what I'm trying to really grow. Where I've kind of ebbed and flow this year. Whether, you know, it would be mistakes that I made or what I feel like the truck needed more or just having a guy win 10 races and it's like, dang, like, making this all look silly. Right. But it's like a, you know, keeping the confidence up and keeping the processes the same and.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. Do you feel like that you're. Do you feel like you're behind because of how late you got started?

[Rajah Caruth]

I did for a long time.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You don't feel like that now?

[Rajah Caruth]

I don't feel like that now. I don't think I'll ever. I'll never catch up.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So I don't look so the. Myself and a lot of other guys. Lots of guys. I mean, this. This racing at 5 years old at Millbridge is a new thing. Like, that's. That's like a decades old thing that wasn't going on when I was. I started racing at 16. You know, I got a Legends car at 15 and a half, and then a 3 stock for a year, and then four years of late models, and then I went and won an Xfinity series championship. But literally our body of work is very similar, honestly. You know, and. And. And I would say that you could pick a lot of drivers from that era that probably had very similar, you know, careers, didn't race a lot until they got, you know, I. I grew up my entire life thinking, well, I can't race till I get a driver's license, because I can't have a racing license without a driver's license. Like, they go hand in hand. That's how we thought.

[Rajah Caruth]

I mean, I thought that too. I didn't get my license Till I was 18. Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

There weren't bandoleros. And I mean, the Legends car thing was brand new. I raced when I race Legends I raced the third Legends ever built.

[Quince Brand Representative]

The third.

[Rajah Caruth]

Do you still have it?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I still have the chassis.

[Rajah Caruth]

Nice.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I found it and I cannot. I can. I know it's the real deal. It's crazy story.

[Rajah Caruth]

That's cool.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But like, I like there wasn't. There wasn't this sort of ability. You could race go karts for sure. But my dad thought it was a waste of time racing a little go kart around dirt track. He couldn't be there. And I did it for a little bit when I was 12 and. And ended up flipping out of it more than I finished on my wheels. But I think that while you were absolutely probably hindered by that inexperience in the first four handful of years, right. Racing a car for the very first time, of course the guy that started at six or seven or eight years old is going to have a better opportunity to go to the racetrack and be more successful. But I think it sort of is a wash at this point, right. It evens out. You've got enough laps and once you're in the truck series, you've got as much experience as the next guy beside you in that vehicle. And you seem to have, you know, seem to have learned the basics of how to get around a corner, right?

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So, you know, I don't know that. I don't know that I would worry about feeling like, you know, you got a late start or anything like that. Not that you do, but I think.

[Rajah Caruth]

That'S another a good point you mentioned. I think something that I struggle with and I know a lot of young drivers may do this is like you mentioned, like our competitors and peers and stuff. Like it's a big comparison game in terms of like, you know, opportunities or accolades and stuff like that. So it takes a lot of strength to keep focused on yourself.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And what do you mean?

[Rajah Caruth]

Well, in terms of whether it's like, okay, this, this person get this opportunity or did this thing or got this accolade and I'm here and I didn't get this accolade. Right. But also you got to stay focused of like, this is my journey. This is the card of the cards I was dealt with. This is what I have to play with and bargain with and keeping the confidence and doing the things that I know will make me better and not saying like, you know, this guy got to this point in his career earlier or quicker and I'm not doing a good enough job because we're all trying to get to the same point. It's just trying to keep that Focus on yourself.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. The unique thing, too, about motorsports versus, like, maybe stick and ball sports is that we are dealing with a race car that has to do everything we need it to do. And, you know, while. And I've always felt like that that was sort of the. You know, there are. Listen, I knew when I was in a race that there might be a guy that was more skilled, but I always believed I was the best race car driver in the field. You have to. Right. You have to. You have to believe that you have to go, you know that there's a guy that's won more races than you. There's a guy that's ran more laps at this racetrack than you. There's guys there with more experience and more knowledge and know exactly what's coming more than you do that day. But if you don't think that you're the best and you're already. You've already lost. Yeah. And so you. Even though it's unrealistic, you have to believe, like, I'm. I'm the best one here. I'm. I'm the best one here. With everything going my way, I will beat all these guys in this race. I. I wonder, like, if I called Chad to ask him.

[Rajah Caruth]

Chad Walter?

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah. If I called your. You worked with him in the truck series for how many years now? Three or four?

[Rajah Caruth]

Two. I've got Bono this year, but I really. But Chad still with Corey legitimately.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I know Bono well, too.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

If I called either one of those guys, you're going to drive our car next year in the Xfinity series. If I called either one of those guys, what would they tell me is most important about how to get you to. How to get you comfortable and get you up to speed?

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, that's a good question. I think I communicate a lot. I'm a late night texter of like, hey, I think about something, whether it's that we worked at the simulator or, hey, I did this wrong last year, or I think we could do this better. Like, I'm definitely that guy. So I definitely like to communicate a lot. Besides that, I don't know, I prepare a lot. I take a lot of notes and review a lot of things, and I have that passion and joy for racing as a whole. Like, I always have a old race plane on a TV at home or on my iPad or something like that. So I just have that enthusiasm for it. So I'm always going to be, you know, plugged in, whether I'm traveling a lot with family and stuff. I'm still going to be, you know, watching something on my phone. So I'm definitely a as prepared as I can be. So I think it's going to be a matter of keeping my head straight and not letting me overthink.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I would. What about technical details around the vehicle itself? So I'm at. When. When I raced, I was very. I loved bar preload. Like, that's one of my favorite things I didn't love. I didn't like touching the track bar. Like, once we unload the car.

[Rajah Caruth]

It's crazy. I'm the same way, like, I like to leave the track bar alone once we unload.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

It is where it is. If you move it up or down, I'm going to question that change the rest of the weekend. So I kind of. And I get mixed results and feelings around the track bar. But bar preload, I absolutely can feel that right front, right. And how much that front bar is wrapping. And that's something I always kind of can help me get loose or turn better. So, like, what are some of the things I think, I guess that you prefer or good favorable changes that you like to go to?

[Rajah Caruth]

I think for me, I'm super sensitive to rear spring stuff. So whether it's spring split or throwing a rubber in the left rear or pulling one out of the right rear or stuff like that, or you mentioned track bar stuff with the trucks and everything, like the rake and all that. I feel like I'm sensitive to that. It's a balance because through the Chevrolet program with Josh Wise and Scott Speed, it's like you're not really trying to learn the components of the cars or the trucks, right. It's more like your inputs, right. And feeling the tire and all that stuff. And it's a balance because with the team, right, they're going to say, okay, was this change better or how did this change, you know, make you feel looser or tighter or something like that? So it's a balance of knowing what's doing what, but also like not, you know, psyching yourself out of it. So I think for me, like I mentioned the spring stuff and I know a little bit of the front end side of things, but I try not to. I try to stay within my understanding whether it's moving nose weight or stuff like that or, you know, in the late models, right, with the. With the little coilovers and stuff like that. Just little stuff that I've learned over the years.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You know, it's funny, some guys, you can take five cup drivers and sit them at this table and some of them are going to know tons about the mechanics of the car, could actually go work on it. A couple of them going to be winning championship drivers and not do anything and not know an A frame from a spindle. And so I mean it's just, and that's not new. Like I think even back in, in the 80s and 90s there were guys like that, but the majority of people kind of had, had some experience working on cars. But the, you know, you've said, you've mentioned in interviews that you sought therapy at times.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, yeah, I still therapy, still do therapy.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, yeah. So super important. I agree with you. I, there's times in my, my life where it's like, it's kind of like I, I would compare it a bit to like taking your car in for a tune up. I've worked with life coaches, whatever you want to call them, sports psychologists or just regular, you know, therapist helping you with everyday life. What are some of those, what are some of the benefits you think you get from that?

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah, I think, yeah. I've been with my therapist for, I mean really since my second year of college. And it was something that was recommended to me that through Brandon Thompson, that's at nascar and also, you know, family, friends and stuff like that. And for the longest I did not want to do, I didn't want to do it because I just was like, I don't, don't want to get into it or talk to people about my issues or whatever. Like there's worse things going on than if I'm feeling down or something like that. But I think it's important to have a person or a vessel to, you know, talk through what's going on, you know, in your mind. Right. Because that's what makes, makes your money at the end of the day. Right. It's, you know, the headspace you're in and what you're intaking, whether it's what you have going on in the back of your mind or what your intake consuming from online or from your environment and everything. It's super important. Especially like I mentioned, for young drivers, like coming up through the ranks. You have so much information at your disposal but so many opinions thrown at you and people that have influence over your career and not just your career, but your personal life. And I think it's super important and something that's helped me graduate school, but also, I mean, get to where I'm at now. It's, it's something that's super important and a valuable part of what I do. I mean, not only, you know, speak to them, you know, once a month maybe, but, you know, good, good check ins are great. Just even if things are going good, it's good to just touch base. And then also when things aren't going good, it's important to give the consistency.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I think it's very valuable for, for guys that are in sports because, man, it is. And again, like, it's kind of goes back to the original conversation we were having when you sat down. The environment today is just really complex. There's a lot going on, a lot of conversations happening around you and publicly online and so forth, and being able to manage that and understand, hear from somebody, like how to block the noise out, what's, what to focus on. I, I get some really valuable information in those conversations around just managing expectations, how to be, how to be a better friend, how to be a better partner, but also like, in a professional sense, how, how to be a better teammate right in this building with my, with my sister, with, with employees and, and, you know, trying to figure all that stuff out on your own. Sometimes you're jugging a lot of things. Right.

[Rajah Caruth]

You can't do it all by yourself.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

No. So, yeah, that was actually encouraged. I've been in and out of therapy since I was a kid, but it was encouraged by Rick and his team to have a sports psychologist while we were racing at Rick Hendrick and they had a guy that kind of would talk to all of us. I worked with the same person that was working with Jimmy for a while, and, man, it was really fascinating. It's not always comfortable.

[Rajah Caruth]

It's not.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

But, you know, and it is, it's kind of one of them things, too. It's like you get out what you put in. The more transparent you want to be, the more benefit you'll get from it. But I found that interesting because it's not something that I would expect. Expected you to be vocal about.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Hey, Everybody, it's Dale Jr.

[Bubba Wallace]

Here.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You've probably heard me talk about my Chevrolet dealership in Tallahassee, Florida. Part of the Hendrick Automotive Group, we've got a huge selection of new and used vehicles, and we specialize in commercial trucks. In fact, we're proud to be the number one seller of crane trucks in the country. Whether you're upgrading your daily driver or growing your fleet, our expert team is here to help you find exactly what you need. But just don't take my word for it. Here's TJ with a recent customer review.

[Rajah Caruth]

Jose Aguilar. Made my car buying experience like none other. Very helpful, informative. I'm so happy on my two new vehicles. He made my purchases so simple and easy.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's the experience we aim to deliver every day. We've got hundreds of trucks in stock offer free delivery anywhere in the continental US and we're part of the top rated dealer group in the country. For online reputation, check out our full lineup@dell junior chevy.com Chevrolet together lets drive.

[Rajah Caruth]

When it comes to money, you deserve to feel safe from fraud and in control. And that's what you get with Cash App. Instantly lock or unlock your card with one tap. If a suspicious charge appears, Cash App declines it and alerts you with security. Lock face ID or biometrics protect your account. Order a Cash App card [e-mail] card for a limited time only new Cash App customers can use our exclusive code to earn some additional cash. For real. Just download Cash App use our exclusive referral code secure 10 in your profile. Send $5 to a friend within 14 days and you'll get $10 dropped right into your account. Terms apply. That's Bunny, that's Cash App. Cash App is a financial service platform, not a bank banking service provided by Cash App's bank partners. Prepaid debit card issued by Sutton bank member fdic. Instant discounts provided by Cash App, a Block Incorporated brand. Visit Cash App Legal Podcast for full.

[Travis]

Disclosures Travis, you and me, we work in racing. Everything needs to be quick. We need that social video quick. We need to get the podcast out quick. Well, guess what? The same thing is important when hiring quality candidates.

[Bubba Wallace]

The last thing you want to be doing is sitting there waiting to try to find candidates. Jobs aren't getting done because you don't know who to hire. You don't even know who to interview for your job.

[Travis]

Yeah, that's right, Travis. You realize you needed to hire somebody not today, but yesterday. And how can you find amazing candidates.

[Bubba Wallace]

Fast with INDEED sponsored jobs? Your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates so you can stand out and reach the people you want faster.

[Travis]

There are no monthly subscriptions, no long term contracts, and you only pay for results. That's right. I want to see results and indeed can get you there.

[Bubba Wallace]

And that's the thing is you don't want to just spend all this money. You want to pay for something and get it done fast so you can get everything done.

[Travis]

When it comes to hiring, INDEED is all you need. Join the 3.5 million million employers worldwide that use INDEED to hire great talent Fast and there is no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed and listeners of this show will get $75 sponsored job credit. To get your jobs more [e-mail] dalejr.

[Bubba Wallace]

Just go to indeed.com dalejr right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.comdalejr Terms and conditions apply. Hiring Indeed is all you need.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

You're in the middle of a battle for the championship in the truck series. You're in a really good spot coming out of Talladega. You know, I think that I don't know what here. You know, I don't know how, where your headspace is, what is the best way for you. So when I was your age, I didn't know how to race for a championship. I didn't know, you know, versus the 35 year old me that was like, oh, I know what I think I need to do now. You're basically maybe in your very first battle for a championship of any kind. I'm sure Josh Wise and those guys are helping you sort of get in the right headspace and understand your daily goals and objective for the weekend. And you've done a really good job over these last couple of races to put yourself in a very, very good spot. You're going into the last couple of races, like, where's your confidence in terms of the tracks? Yeah, how you ran there in the past.

[Rajah Caruth]

I think I've really looked at the whole post season as just a great opportunity. I think all this dialogue about the format has gone on for the last forever.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Right.

[Rajah Caruth]

And I mean I grew up with the chase and then that's all you've known. All I've known. And then you know, obviously with the playoffs and the rounds and stuff, like last year I could have been like, oh, I could have, you know, been fine with the 10 race chaser full season. And this year I'm like, I definitely benefited from the format and I think with that being said, it really allowed some great opportunities for myself of just like, hey, you got these races. You know, you've all the things you've accumulated over the year. You just got to put it all together and see what you got. So it's been a great opportunity is the way I've really looked at this whole playoffs and it's been a great space that I've been in because I haven't had any expectations on myself. Like I've sure I want to make the final four at Phoenix and you know, race with the 11 and whoever else makes it. But at the same time, it's just a great opportunity. It's the way I've been really looking at it and whatever happens, happens. So that's, that's where I've kind of been at. Like, it's, you know, you see a lot of individuals are like, ah, you know, this guy should have it already and stuff like that. And, you know, not to say that that's wrong. Right. But you know, me and the other six playoff teams that are still in it, I've grinded and sacrificed just as hard to, you know, have this opportunity. So it's, it's a great chance.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

I was one of the. Something that I like to share is I wasn't always great at this. Like when I would get, when I would find myself in any kind of a situation that where I was, there were high stakes. I had a lot of problems with anxiety and nerves and so forth. And like a lot of people I think normally would get overwhelmed with the weight of the situation and the week leading up to it would maybe you know, kind of spiral a little bit into. Into this, you know, this area of feeling a lot of pressure and man, what if, what if, what if this, what if that, what if this, what, what might go wrong? Right. That was kind of my, my mental approach, which was not the right way to do it.

[Rajah Caruth]

That's why the. So Harvick mentioned, I'm going to bring up Kevin Harvey again. He mentions your circle of life.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yep.

[Rajah Caruth]

I think that's why that, that is so important. Because, I mean, if you're, you know, stressed about, you know, whatever the point situation is and stuff, and then you go home and, you know, you've got whatever personally going on and, or you're not doing things, you know, the way you need to be doing them, then that just makes things worse. So that's why, you know, I got great friends, a great, great girlfriend and great just support system of people that allow me to grind. But also, so say that it's not the end of the world. Right. This is not, you know, there's not the existential, you know, weight of things on it. Right.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Because without knowing that you would absolutely easily make that, you go crazy. The most important thing that's ever going to happen to you. Right. That next lap, the next race, the next opportunity. Right.

[Rajah Caruth]

That's where the mistakes happen anyway.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

That's right.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So Chase Elliot. I'd never really heard this before and it's stuck with me ever since. Most coolest thing I ever heard of a guy that was in a situation that you're pretty much in as well. Chase gets to the Final Four in Phoenix, and he would. He would go on to win the championship that weekend. But this is his first Final Four and his first real shot at this kind of pressure and be in this situation. And they were interviewing him at the racetrack. It was Friday. He's standing up against the pit wall, having a conversation with somebody on camera. And they said, man, talk about the pressure. You're Chase Elliot, Bill Elliot's son. Here we are, Phoenix. You read this whole, whole season to get here, and all this. All this culmination to this moment. And, you know, God must be. Must be tons of pressure. And he was like, it's an incredible opportunity. I dreamed of being in this position, and my dream has come true. Yeah. And I could not, like, I was like, you know, that's like, if you can figure out how to get into that headspace, which sounds like what you're doing, like, that is the place to be. And that's why I have so much admiration for Chase to have found his way into that space in that moment at such a young age. But most people will allow the moment to overwhelm them. They can still succeed through it, but most people will feel the pressure. He saw opportunity and only opportunity in front of him. I will never forget that. And I thought that was the most profound thing. And then he went and manifested it. It was insane. And if it didn't go well, he was so glad to even just have the chance. Right. Just to have the opportunity that he had. I couldn't. I. I was amazed by that. I have been ever since. And we meet, you know, as a. As the broadcaster for NBC over the last several years, we met with all the Final Four guys of the Xfinity series and the cup series, and we talked to them days and days and days leading up to Phoenix, and you can read them like a book. I mean, there's a lot of guys that are trying to talk themselves into that headspace. Right. And they can't quite get there. They all still a little bit of just, like, that pressure. But I think that that's. This is a perfect opportunity for you to really, truly just see nothing but opportunity.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

And now how your story and your route to where you are today, to be sitting here with a real chance at this is incredible.

[Rajah Caruth]

Yeah. I think you really put it very, very beautifully. I think, for me, I've really tried to just enjoy the journey more than anything. Right. Because My goal is to be in one of those. Right. And that's why I started. That's what I saw growing up. And I was like, I want to be like you. I want to be like Jimmy and Bubba and who I read about in books. Right. And I think for me, it's just. I know this is, like, it's not. The fate of the world is not relying upon the outcome of the next two races, right. And it's just a great chance for another great step in the journey of, you know, chasing my ultimate dream. So it's not pressure, because there's a lot worse things in the world to feel pressure over. Right? There's. I could go on at length about different things that there could be pressure or, you know, weight of.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Right.

[Rajah Caruth]

And this is not really one of those things. Right. Like, I've had the weight and pressure of things my entire driving career, my short driving career, but not only that, my entire life. And I mean, this is not even. It's a. It's a great chance, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. Like, there's worse things in the world to be, you know, really nervous about, not to, you know, diminish, you know, the feelings of others that they may or that they may or may not have. But it's just a great chance. Like Chase said, I am. I'm just excited for the opportunity and to see if I've done enough homework and I'm prepared enough. And if I'm not, I'll go and try again next year.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Yeah, I know you'll do the work. I hesitate to. To jump out ahead of this because I don't want you not doing anything but focusing on what you're supposed to do the next two weeks, two more.

[Rajah Caruth]

Weeks or a week and a half.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, we have an awesome opportunity to work together next year that I'm really excited about. You're going to come drive our cars, and you're going to get in a car that. That's had a ton of success this year with Zillich basically, you know, taking over the driving duties for the majority of the season in that car, working with Marty. Have you allowed yourself to think about it at all?

[Rajah Caruth]

I mean, not really. I think it's exciting, and it's not really a carrot to Chase. It's just a new scenario that I've had. Like, this is the earliest I've ever had like, a, you know, a contract plan or a plan of what's going on. Right. And it's kind of a new feeling because you always have somewhat of that uncertainty of like, I gotta go in and perform or get everything done right. So I have food on the table and I can go and pay for. Pay for myself. Right. Pay the mortgage and pay the bills and everything. And now to have that somewhat set in stone is just. I mean, even more of just a great opportunity to go and do my best and if there's things I need to do better. Sure. But I think right now, like you said, the focus is on, you know, the next two races.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

When can we start talking about next year? Right after Phoenix?

[Rajah Caruth]

Probably right after Phoenix. Next year will be fun, though. Yeah, but. But next year will be fun, though, I think, to be over here and I've been in out of this building the last couple years, whether it's meeting upstairs or getting to know different Khrushchevs over the years. And to go and get to drive here will be a lot of fun and. And fill in my season at Jordan's to run for points. It's going to be great. So. Yeah, but my main focus right now, obviously, is Phoenix or Martinsville to get to Phoenix, but I guess in the. In the spare time, definitely keeping an extra eye on the Xfinity races and it's like, nice. Yeah. I get to get to go drive that next year, so.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Well, we're looking forward to it. Man, it's been a lot of fun. I, you know, I've been kind of watching you ever since. One of the things that I liked about you is your. You'll. You'll. You'll text, you'll communicate, which is great. And like, you're willing. You're eager to reach out for information, ask questions. You're a sponge. I've loved that about you ever since I've gotten to know you. TJ Majors tells me you'll just randomly show up on the spotter stand when you not have nothing more important to do. You're. You're everywhere trying to find advantages and knowledge. You've. You knew coming into this deal that you really had to accelerate the learning curve, and you've done that. I've really enjoyed getting to know you. I can't wait till next year. I want to wish you the best of luck over the next couple of weeks. For sure. Everybody's going to be watching, hoping to see you have success in Martinsville and be able to go race for that championship in Phoenix. But, man, next year we're going to have a good time. Going to get to know you even better. So.

[Rajah Caruth]

Thank you, Dale.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Looking forward to it.

[Rajah Caruth]

Super excited and thanks for having me on.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Raja Carruth on the Dale Jr. Download hey everybody, you want the latest Dale Jr. Download apparel? Visit shop.dirtym media.com we're always adding new stuff all the time, especially like when we say something silly on this show. We'll put it on a T shirt again. Check it out at shop.dirtymomedia.com Getting caught.

[Bubba Wallace]

In awkward situations can really make you sweat. For me, it was being shown on national television during Ohio State football games in the college football playoffs. I'm nervous or upset about how the game is going and then they show me on tv. Thankfully, while the world knew I was upset, I didn't have to worry about them seeing me sweat because I had that taken care of. Thanks to Dove. When you upgrade to Dove Men plus Care, you can conquer almost any awkward moment. Dove Men antiperspirant Dry Spray helps neutralize odor killing bacteria that thrive on stress. Sweat Keep your cool all day long with 72 hours sweat and odor protection. Get comfortable with uncomfortable Pick up Dove Men plus Care dry sprays at your Target, Walmart or Amazon. This show is sponsored by Better Help. World Mental Health Day is in October and BetterHelp is shining the spotlight on therapists. People who truly make the world a better place. Because the right therapist can change everything.

[Travis]

Yeah Travis, you know, I think mental health is so important. You know in therapy and just understanding yourself, where your anxieties come from, being able to process your thoughts that I think is so valuable. I've found a lot of benefit in that.

[Bubba Wallace]

A lot of times you've got these feelings or emotions but you don't know what to do with them, how to process it. You can talk to a friend and they can help, but a therapist knows what to do and kind of give you some things to how to handle it.

[Travis]

Yeah, 100% you know. Better Help therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and they're fully licensed in the us Better Help does the initial matching work for you so you can focus on your therapy goals?

[Bubba Wallace]

A short questionnaire helps identify your needs and your preferences and their 12 plus years of experience and industry leading. Match fulfillment rate means they typically get it right the first time. If you aren't happy with your match, switch to a different therapist at any time from their tailored recommendations.

[Travis]

Yeah, that's right Travis. This World Mental Health Day we're celebrating the therapists who have helped millions of people take a step forward. If you're ready to find the right therapist for you, BetterHelp can help you start that journey.

[Bubba Wallace]

Our listeners get 10% off the first [e-mail] dalejr that's betterhelp.com dalejr all right.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

So that was a great conversation with Raja Carruth and looking forward to seeing how this season goes for him and what happens at Martinsville and then and should he make it to Phoenix, how that goes as well. But just impressed by the, you know, the amount of information and knowledge and experience he's had to, you know, fast forward through over the last couple of years to become a, you know, pretty, pretty solid racer in the Truck series. And honestly, man, I'm, you know, I'm excited about what we're going to do next year. He's getting in a race car where I feel like I know what this car is capable of. And, you know, he's just going to have to, you know, get in there and really just not have to worry about the car as much or worry about whether it's right or wrong. He can trust everything around him and get in there and just adapt to this car and how to drive it. And I think it'll be a fun year. So, you know, I expect that to go really well and I'm glad that we're gonna get to do that. I've known him for a while and we've kind of been texting back and forth a little bit here and there for over the last several years, but glad we're gonna get to work together. He has been in this building. We've had some conversations around trying to figure out how to work together. So just fun to learn his journey. I really didn't know everything about him, obviously, and fun to learn how to, you know, he's approached this whole thing and so, yeah, hope you enjoyed it. It's time for the white flag. All right, so the white flag is here and live on YouTube and Twitter was the the teardown Jordan and Jeff covering everything that happened at Talladega. And if you missed it, you can go over to DirtyMomedia's YouTube page. I imagine you can find a copy of it there, right? Absolutely, yeah. And while you're there, subscribe and then click the notifications so that you don't miss anything and you see all the work we're doing here at DirtyMomedia. Yesterday, me and TJ talked about the races ourselves and gave you everything that all of our reaction to Dirty Air and more. We talked about a lot of things that you probably didn't expect us to talk about on the Tuesday show, but On Monday, Door Bumper Clear was released with Jimmy Spencer as the guest. And Action's detrimental with Denny Hamlin. He goes over the whole battle at the end with his driver Bubba Wallace and his teammate Chase Briscoe and how all that played out, how his day went at Talladega, which was a bit unusual, honestly. Obviously. Another episode of Herman Schrader and Speed street goes out today. Tomorrow, bless your heart. And then the Dirty 30 on Friday. Thanks for tuning in. We'll see you tomorrow. Y' all take it easy. Check out DirtyMomedia on Instagram, Facebook X and TikTok.

[Bubba Wallace]

Bubba Wallace here from 2311 Racing.

[Rajah Caruth]

You know what's slower than a pace.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Car waiting at the car wash?

[Rajah Caruth]

That's when I fire up Chumba Casino.

[Bubba Wallace]

It turns these slow minutes into fast fun.

[Rajah Caruth]

With new games every week, you'll never get bored.

[Bubba Wallace]

Next time you're stuck in the slow.

[Rajah Caruth]

Lane, speed up with Chumba. Play [e-mail] let's Chumba.

[Bubba Wallace]

No purchase necessary.

[Rajah Caruth]

VGW Group Void where prohibited by law. CTNC's 21+ sponsored by Jumbo Casino. This is the exclusive table with the view.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

This is your name on the list. This is three times points on dining.

[Rajah Caruth]

With Chase Sapphire Reserve and a a $300 dining credit.

[Dale Earnhardt Jr.]

Chase Sapphire Reserve now even more rewarding. Learn more at chase.

[Rajah Caruth]

Com Sapphireserve cards issued by JPMorgan Chase bank and a member FDIC subject to credit approval.