CONCORD, N.C. - Kansas Speedway will be the site for a NASCAR Xfinity Series reunion nearly two years in the making.
For the second time in his career, Rajah Caruth will strap into the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports. It will mark his first start with the team since the 2023 Xfinity Series season finale at Phoenix Raceway.
"I feel extremely excited and thankful for the opportunity and for me, I think about how much I've grown since the last time I was fortunate enough to drive a race car out of this building," Caruth told HendrickMotorsports.com. "I believe my experience I've accumulated the last few years in the (CRAFTSMAN) Truck Series, and my partial Xfinity stuff will put me right where I need to be to run up front and hopefully have a good race."
All told, the race will mark Caruth's 22nd career Xfinity Series start. Currently, the 23-year-old is in the midst of the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series playoffs, sitting 14 points above the cutline as the field will be cut from 10 to eight drivers by the end of this weekend's event at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Earlier this year, Caruth picked up a victory at Nashville Superspeedway, his second career win in a truck.
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Across the ARCA Series, CRAFTSMAN Truck Series and Xfinity Series, Caruth has 10 starts at Kansas Speedway. He finished second at the 1.5-mile tri-oval in an ARCA car in 2022 and finished seven in a truck last fall.
"Kansas is a track I've loved since the first time I was there in ARCA," Caruth said. "I've had pace there in ARCA and probably should've won a race or two and the same with the truck series. But that's a place you have to be versatile with how many different lanes you can run and utilize the seams and pay attention to how the rubber lays down.
"The creativity you can have will show at a track like that. So, I'm excited for what it will be like ... I'm excited and plan to prepare like any other race."
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Speed shouldn't be an issue for Caruth. With crew chief Adam Wall at the helm, the Hendrick Motorsports No. 17 Chevy has already visited victory lane twice in 2025 - once with Kyle Larson at Bristol Motor Speedway and again with William Byron at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Byron and Larson, combined with starts for Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott and Corey Day, have put the No. 17 in the top five eight times and in the top 10 on nine occasions.
With Day having made nine starts for Spire Motorsports in the CRAFTSMAN Truck Series, he and Caruth have served as teammates. Caruth and Wall have also slowly formed a relationship over time and Caruth believes the transition from a driver/crew chief standpoint will be a smooth one.
"I knew him a little bit last year through his time at (JR Motorsports) and this year I got to know him a little bit just being around their team," Caruth said. "It's cool, because I feel like he's just a nerd like me, so it's nice to be around him a little bit. He's been entrenched with Corey and building that relationship but the time I've spent with him has been great and I'm excited for the information and the resources I'll be able to use. I expect to be extremely prepared, I'm already prepared but even more so for next week come practice and race time and hopefully, it pans out into a great result."