Rajah Caruth, driver of the #71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Victoria’s Voice Foundation 200 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on March 01, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
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Rajah Caruth is being elevated to the Nascar Xfinity Series (soon to be the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series) in 2026.
JR Motorsports has signed Caruth to a partial schedule in 2026 to drive the team’s No. 88 car. HendrickCars.com, which has sponsored Caruth in the Craftsman Truck Series for the last two years, will continue to partner with Caruth.
The move comes as JR Motorsports will have two full-time drivers – Justin Allgaier and Sammy Smith – and two full-time cars with part-time drivers. The No. 1 car will be split between Connor Zilisch and Carson Kvapil. That car will be crew chiefed by Cup champion Rodney Childers.
Caruth is currently second in the Craftsman Truck Series standings with one race remaining before the Championship 4 event at Phoenix Raceway. He won at Nashville Superspeedway earlier this year, leading 61 laps en route to victory lane. With four top fives and 12 top 10s, his Spire Motorsports No. 71 team has emerged as a championship candidate.
Caruth has made 22 Xfinity Series starts with Alpha Prime Racing, Hendrick Motorsports and Jordan Anderson Racing, with a best finish of 12th (twice) at Martinsville Speedway in 2022 and 2023.
JRM did not announce how many races Caruth will drive the No. 88 car in, or who will join him behind the wheel of the car.