Rajah Caruth secured a major victory in Friday’s Rackley Roofing 200 at Nashville Superspeedway, and his NASCAR mentor, Bubba Wallace, showed his support with a passionate reaction on social media.

Caruth won his second career race at Nashville and, in doing so, secured a playoff berth despite being 13th in the standings and 17 points below the cutline. The same couldn’t be said for ‘Malcolm in the Middle’ star Frankie Muniz, as he failed to finish for the sixth time in 12 races.

Before Friday’s win, Caruth’s only other success came at Las Vegas last year as he became the third Black driver to win in the top three NASCAR series. Wallace, who races in the Cup Series, has mentored Caruth throughout his racing career and was ecstatic when he saw the 22-year-old had dominated once again.

In a social media post, Wallace wrote: “LFGGGGGG kid!!!!!!!” Caruth has now followed Wallace and Wendell Scott as the only Black drivers to win a NASCAR race, and the sky is the limit for the talented prospect.

Caruth was a product of the Drive for Diversity program, and is currently an undergraduate at Winston-Salem State where he is completing a degree in motorsports management. Caruth had an unconventional route into motorsports, as he found his passion through racing simulators rather than competing from a young age.

After Caruth’s family purchased him an iRacing sim, he began racing virtually in the eNASCAR Ignite Series and was quickly put forward for the program. It took just six years for him to go from racing in simulators to winning his first Truck Series race.

After his maiden win last year, Caruth told AP: “Man, there was a lot of days, especially in high school, that I did not think I could get here. I can’t tell you how many times I was at internship, working like at the basketball court, whatever, in the box office, just working on my website when I was just iRacing.

“A lot of those days I didn’t think this would be at all possible.” Wallace was Caruth’s hero in NASCAR, and the Cup Series star has kept a close eye on him throughout the process, from rising star to Truck Series regular.

Wallace rushed to Caruth on pit road at Daytona after the first major wreck of his Truck Series career, and even saw his first win from a sports book in Las Vegas. “I’ve been hard on him since Day 1,” Wallace said.

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“I will never forget the first time watching him in a Legends car at Charlotte and I got in his face, ‘What are you so afraid of the wall for? You haven’t even hit.’ I feel proud to have played a small part in this and I called him, and he was pumped. But, like, his burnout was lame and his phone call was lame. I was like, ‘Come on man, I’m more pumped than you are.'”

Like Caruth, Wallace was also a product of the Drive for Diversity program, as was fellow Cup Series star Daniel Suarez. “The Drive for Diversity program has changed quite a bit since Bubba Wallace and myself were there 10 years ago,” Suarez said.

“Ten years ago, it was a great program to give you an opportunity for the K&N Series and the ARCA Series. But to make the jump to a national series, it was very difficult. You had to be lucky and you have to be very, very good to get an opportunity.

“Today, the Drive for Diversity program is so involved in the Truck Series and that’s very special because it is giving an opportunity to these young guys like Rajah and Nick Sanchez to get an opportunity in the Truck Series and perform at a very competitive level. We didn’t have that 10 years ago, so I’m very happy for them.”

Post-race inspection following Saturday night’s NASCAR Xfinity Series Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville Superspeedway has been completed, and there were no issues with the race-winning No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. As a result, Justin Allgaier and his team have officially been declared the winners of the race.

Unfortunately, ninth-place finisher Daniel Dye wasn’t as fortunate.

In post-race inspection, Dye’s No. 10 Kaulig Racing Chevrolet was found to be too low on the rear heights. As a result, NASCAR disqualified the NASCAR Xfinity Series Rookie of the Year contender. Dye will be credited with a 38th-place finish.

UPDATED RESULTS: Tennessee Lottery 250 at Nashville

Additionally, Connor Zilisch, who finished in the second-place, had two unsecured lug nuts on his No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet in post-race inspection, which will result in a $10,000 fine assessed to the No. 88 team and a one-race suspension for crew chief Mardy Lindley. Zilisch will remain credited with the runner-up finish, his second consecutive runner-up finish.

The remainder of the top-10 in Saturday night’s Tennessee Lottery 250 was comprised of Sam Mayer, Sheldon Creed, Ross Chastain, Aric Almirola, Austin Hill, Jesse Love, Carson Kvapil, and Sammy Smith.

Aston Martin F1 driver Lance Stroll will not take part in Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix due to pain in his hand.

On Saturday Stroll had qualified in 14th, but the Canadian will not take up his grid position tomorrow after experiencing recurring pain in his right hand and wrist.

The team said the discomfort was related to him fracturing his hand in a cycling accident on the eve of the 2023 season, and Stroll will now undergo surgery to fix the issue.

“Over the course of the past six weeks Lance has been experiencing pain in his hand and wrist, which his medical consultant believes is in relation to the procedure he underwent in 2023,” Aston Martin said.

“As a result his medical team have confirmed that he will not race tomorrow and he will undergo a procedure to rectify these issues before focusing on his recovery.”

A week before Bahrain’s 2023 pre-season test, Stroll sustained injuries during a training ride in Malaga, including fractures in both wrists as well as a broken toe.

Having had screws inserted into his right wrist, Stroll sat out testing but made a swift recovery way ahead of schedule. The following week he took part in the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix, battling through the pain all weekend to score an impressive sixth place as Aston made a flying start to the season.

Stroll will now miss a grand prix after all, two years after the initial injury. At the time of writing it is not yet known if Stroll will recover from the procedure in time for F1’s next race at the Canadian Grand Prix, but Stroll will understandably be keen to ensure he is fighting fit for his home race in Montreal in two weeks’ time. First practice for the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve event is scheduled on Friday 13 June.

Stroll pulling out after qualifying means Aston Martin will only enter Fernando Alonso’s car in the Spanish Grand Prix, with 19 cars on the starting grid.

Detroit — When Ricky Taylor of Cadillac crossed over Felipe Nasr of Porsche to take the lead, Renger Van Der Zande of Acura stayed right behind.

Denny Hamlin, who already has two Cup wins this year, is set to make his 700th career Cup start on Sunday. However, the expected arrival of a baby boy may keep him from the track.

Hamlin and long-time partner Jordan Fish already have two girls, but the due date for their first-born son is June 1st — the same day as the Cup race at Nashville.

Ryan Truex, younger brother of 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., is the reserve driver and will be called upon to pilot the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota should Hamlin have to leave the track. 

Truex has 26 Cup Series starts, but none since the 2014 season — almost 11 years ago. Most recently, Truex has competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series with JGR, winning three races since 2023. 

Hamlin is scheduled to start from the outside of the front row for Sunday’s 400-mile race with teammate Chase Briscoe earning pole position. If Hamlin starts the event and Truex has to replace him mid-race, then Hamlin will get credit for the final finishing position. However, if Hamlin misses the start, the car will go to the rear of the field and Truex will get credit for the start.

NASCAR has introduced a stricter playoff waiver policy for 2025 and has promised to strip drivers of all playoff points if they need a waiver for non-medical reasons. However, missing a race for the birth of a child is covered under valid medical reasons, so there is no issue for Hamlin should he need to miss the race entirely.

Photos from Nashville – Practice & Qualifying