Rajah Caruth zipped his way to the second NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole of his career and of the 2024 season for the TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP) on Friday, July 19.
The 22-year-old Caruth from Washington D.C. posted his best qualifying lap at 108.017 mph in 22.863 seconds, which was enough to claim the top starting spot by 0.017 seconds over Grant Enfinger in his No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports.
With his accomplishment, Caruth, who finished in seventh place in his first Truck event at Lucas Oil IRP in 2023, earned his second career pole position in the Truck Series and his first since Las Vegas Motor Speedway in early March, where he would proceed to claim his first career victory. Despite being currently ranked in fifth place in this year’s Truck Series regular-season standings and trailing points leader Christian Eckes by 188 points, he is guaranteed one of 10 spots in this year’s Playoffs with his Vegas victory.
The pole position left Caruth surprised after he posted the 23rd-fastest time during Friday’s practice session, but looking ahead for momentum as this year’s regular-season season reaches its conclusion.
“I was honestly surprised [with our qualifying run],” Caruth said on FS1. “I was enthused with our HendrickCars.com Silverado. Kind of after a long run in practice, I’m honestly really surprised by the qualifying speed. Gotta thank the men and women at Spire Motorsports…We’ll hopefully have a good night this evening and something good for my team to think about for the Olympic break.”
Enfinger, winner of the 2022 Truck Series event at Lucas Oil IRP, will start alongside Caruth after he posted his best qualifying lap at 107.937 mph in 22.880 seconds. He is coming off a strong runner-up result from Pocono Raceway, which currently places in seventh place in this year’s regular-season standings. Above all, he is 46 points above the top-10 cutline to make this year’s Playoffs.
Tyler Ankrum, who is ranked in sixth place in the standings and 49 points above the cutline, will start in third place and share the second row with Ty Majeski, winner of last year’s Truck event at Lucas Oil IRP and who was the fastest during Friday’s practice session. Matt Crafton, three-time champion of the series, will line up in fifth place alongside Christian Eckes, this year’s leader in the regular-season standings.
Daniel Dye, Stewart Friesen, Corey Heim and Chase Purdy will start in the top 10 while Nick Sanchez and Sammy Smith will follow suit in 11th and 12th, respectively.
Notably, Taylor Gray and Ben Rhodes, both of whom are currently above the cutline, will start 13th and 15th, respectively, while names including rookie Layne Riggs, Jake Garcia, Dean Thompson, Ty Dillon, Tanner Gray and Bayley Currey, all of whom are below the cutline, will line up 17th to 22nd, respectively. In addition, Ross Chastain, who is pulling double-duty between Lucas Oil IRP and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, will start 16th, William Sawalich will start 26th and Johnny Sauter will start 28th in the No. 16 Hattori Racing Enterprises Toyota entry.
In addition, the following names that include Spencer Boyd, rookie Thad Moffitt, Matt Mills and Conor Daly will round out the 35-truck field after all lined up based on owner points.
Qualifying position, best speed, best time:
1. Rajah Caruth, 108.017 mph, 22.863 seconds
2. Grant Enfinger, 107.937 mph, 22.880 seconds
3. Tyler Ankrum, 107.786 mph, 22.912 seconds
4. Ty Majeski, 107.730 mph, 22.924 seconds
5. Matt Crafton, 107.313 mph, 23.013 seconds
6. Christian Eckes, 107.299 mph, 23.016 seconds
7. Daniel Dye, 107.174 mph, 23.043 seconds
8. Stewart Friesen, 107.122 mph, 23.054 seconds
9. Corey Heim, 107.053 mph, 23.069 seconds
10. Chase Purdy, 107.011 mph, 23.078 seconds
11. Nick Sanchez, 106.928 mph, 23.096 seconds
12. Sammy Smith, 106.821 mph, 23.119 seconds
13. Taylor Gray, 106.766 mph, 23.131 seconds
14. Luke Fenhaus, 106.591 mph, 23.169 seconds
15. Ben Rhodes, 106.568 mph, 23.174 seconds
16. Ross Chastain, 106.536 mph, 23.181 seconds
17. Layne Riggs, 106.471 mph, 23.195 seconds
18. Jake Garcia, 106.183 mph, 23.258 seconds
19. Dean Thompson, 106.169 mph, 23.261 seconds
20. Ty Dillon, 106.146 mph, 23.266 seconds
21. Tanner Gray, 106.069 mph, 23.283 seconds
22. Bayley Currey, 106.028 mph, 23.292 seconds
23. Jack Wood, 105.728 mph, 23.358 seconds
24. Lawless Alan, 105.651 mph, 23.375 seconds
25. Timmy Hill, 105.260 mph, 23.462 seconds
26. William Sawalich, 105.148 mph, 23.487 seconds
27. Mason Massey, 105.844 mph, 23.555 seconds
28. Johnny Sauter, 104.826 mph, 23.559 seconds
29. Marco Andretti, 104.675 mph, 23.593 seconds
30. Bret Holmes, 104.335 mph, 23.593 seconds
31. Tyler Tomassi, 103.896 mph, 23.770 seconds
32. Spencer Boyd, owner points
33. Thad Moffitt, owner points
34. Matt Mills, owner points
35. Conor Daly, owner points
The 2024 TSport 200 at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park is set to occur on Friday, July 19, and air at 8:30 p.m. ET on FS1.
