Rajah Caruth continues his development in the NASCAR National Series ranks, and Friday’s Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway was undoubtedly a big day for the driver and his potential championship hopes.

Still, while Caruth was thankful for the day he had and where he ranks in points after the second race of the Round of 8, he couldn’t help but feel frustrated after he got crossed up trying to push his Spire Motorsports teammate Corey LaJoie to a win on the final lap, which led to a fade to a ninth-place finish as Rookie of the Year contender Gio Ruggiero marched to his first career win.

“I would say pretty frustrated there with how it ended, for sure,” Caruth explained in a media scrum on pit road after the race. “I didn’t want to split Corey, it’s just I got kind of popped at the wrong time, I felt like. Still a great points day, thank you to [Rick and Linda Hendrick], everybody at Spire, Chevrolet, GM, for all that they do, not just for [me], but for all of our teammates. So, frustrated with the end, but still a great points day.”

As for the final lap of the race, Caruth said he’ll have to review the slip-up between LaJoie and him to understand what he could have done differently. The 23-year-old will work hard to improve the last-lap shoves so he can finish off what was a nearly flawless day otherwise.

As several Playoff contenders, including last-place finisher Grant Enfinger, found trouble early in the race, Caruth picked a perfect time to score his first Stage win of the season, which he picked up in Stage 1 of Friday’s event at Talladega, and he would finish third in Stage 2. Due to the solid efforts in the Stages, Caruth banked 18 stage points to add to his total points on the day.

As a result, the driver of the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado was able to vault to second in the NASCAR Truck Series Playoff Grid with his ninth-place finish, and he now holds a 14-point advantage over the cutline with one race left to determine the Championship 4 field.

While it’s for the driver in his third full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series to rank second in the championship standings heading into Martinsville Speedway, Caruth downplayed the significance of his ranking in the Playoff grid.

“Better than being third, that’s for sure,” Caruth quipped.

Suppose Caruth can avoid whatever potential calamity unfolds next weekend at Martinsville Speedway. In that case, there’s a better-than-not chance that he could work his way into the Championship 4 and fight for a championship at Phoenix Raceway. But it all rests on the 0.526-mile paperclip next week.

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