Rajah Caruth didn't have the best truck on Friday night at Nashville Superspeedway, but he was able to hold off the series' dominant driver to score his second career win.
Caruth broke a 31-race winless streak after a final battle with Corey Heim and Layne Riggs that lasted the majority of the closing laps. Both Heim and Riggs had faster trucks, which they used to challenge him late.
Yet, they couldn't complete the pass as the Spire Motorsports driver continued to use his No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado to block every lane. He also put distance between himself and the two faster trucks as they raced side-by-side for second place.
Caruth ultimately closed out his best race of the season, one in which he led a race-high 61 laps and scored 16 stage points. He scored his first win of the season and punched his ticket back to the playoffs.
MORE: Caruth wins, full Nashville results
"I just asked myself, 'How bad do you want it?'" Caruth told Fox Sports' Josh Sims. "I just tried my best, and we got clean air. Their stuff was better, but I just did my best."
Of course, NASCAR is a team sport, which Spire Motorsports proved repeatedly. The No. 71 pit crew gave Caruth the lead off pit road multiple times, including on the final stop of the night. This put him in control of the restart and gave him the opportunity to clear Heim for the lead.
RAJAH CARUTH WINS AT NASHVILLE! pic.twitter.com/ZxE1ig7x7J
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 31, 2025
"My pit crew won that race," he said. "Jarius (Morehead), Zico (Pasut), Dawson (Backus), Josh (Dale), Cody (French) -- yeah, they won that race for us. Got us off pit road twice."
The Spire Motorsports pit crew set up Caruth and gave him the opportunity to snap the winless streak dating back to Las Vegas last season. He took full advantage
This pit crew rose to the occasion on Friday night at Nashville Superspeedway while the other contenders had some miscues.
Riggs, the winner of stage 1, lost multiple spots on pit road due to various issues. This put him at a disadvantage at the start of stages 2 and 3. He had to battle back multiple times simply to challenge for a podium finish, let alone the win.
Heim, for comparison, slid through his pit box on the money stop. This played a role in him losing the lead ahead of the final stop.
While Heim had a problem on his final stop, he still made history yet again. He led 58 laps, which put him over 800 on the season. He became the first driver in Truck Series history to lead 800 laps in the first 12 races.
Heim also scored his ninth stage win, which locked up yet another playoff point. He built his lead in the standings to a staggering 122 points.
"I feel like just clean air was the main thing tonight," Heim said after the race. "With the third stage tonight being pretty straightforward, with a lack of strategy and all green, it was tough to come back for the lead.
"But I slid through my box there on the last stop and didn't do my guys any favors. Just something to reflect on my end, but huge congrats to Rajah. He did an awesome job managing from the lead."