NASCAR rising star Rajah Caruth has sent a touching message to his fans after being named the Craftsman Truck Series’ Most Popular Driver for the second consecutive season.

The 23-year-old won the award in his third full-time Truck Series season, racing the No. 71 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports. This past season proved a career best in the series for Caruth, who finished sixth in the driver standings with a win at Nashville Superspeedway, a further four top-five finishes, and eight top 10s.

Caruth’s impressive performances and consistency have since earned him a full-time run in the O’Reilly’s Auto Parts Series, racing for both Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports and Jordan Anderson Racing next year.

But before embarking on a winter break, and with Thanksgiving mere hours away, Caruth took a moment to share a video on social media thanking his fans for their support. “I’m making this quick video just to say thank you, everybody, for voting me for most popular driver,” Caruth said. 

“Obviously, we had a lot of support this year across not just social media but at the racetrack. I definitely felt it at driver intros and going to different things, whether it’s diecast tents or running the dirt car or going to late model races or anything like that. So I just wanted to say quickly that I appreciate every single one of you. 

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“Hopefully, for those that celebrate, you guys can have a great Thanksgiving and a great holiday season for those that are able to. Sending all love from the Caruth family, and myself included. 

“It’ll be a fun next year in 2026, driving the 88 HendrickCars.com Chevy for JR Motorsports and the 32 Chevy for Jordan Anderson full-time in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series. 

“But in the meantime, I just want to say thank you, happy holidays, and you’ll see a little bit more of me in this winter. I’ll be going around to different places and having some fun, and spending some family time. 

“But yeah, I just want to say thank you guys. Have a great Thanksgiving if you celebrate it, and great holidays for all those that are fortunately able to and take care.”

The 2026 season won’t be Caruth’s first taste of NASCAR’s second series, having already run 22 races since 2022, including three in 2025 for Jordan Anderson Racing and Hendrick Motorsports, finishing a season-best 18th at Kansas Speedway. 

Ahead of Caruth’s arrival at JRM, team co-owner Earnhardt Jr. spoke with the then-Truck Series title hopeful back in late October on his ‘Dale Jr. Download’ podcast, in which Caruth explained his path from iRacing all the way to NASCAR. But before the interview got underway, the Hall of Famer gave a bit of background into their relationship, explaining that he’d “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 fast forwarding through late models, ARCA, into 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 JR 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.”