HendrickCars.com sweeps Las Vegas
HendrickCars.com hit the jackpot when both of its entries found victory lane this past weekend at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
Rajah Caruth, driving Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado, captured his first career pole and started Friday night’s Truck Series race from the front row.
Caruth not only put himself in a great position to start the race but he held his ground in the top-five for the majority of the night and led the final 21 laps to earn his first career Truck Series victory. After 30 starts, Caruth joined NASCAR Hall of Famer, Wendell Scott and current NASCAR Cup Series regular Bubba Wallace as the third African-American to win a NASCAR National Touring Series race.
After three races, Caruth sits fourth in the NCTS driver standings.
“This is a very surreal moment for me as it’s my first career win,” said Caruth. “We started the day great in practice and qualifying with my team bringing a really fast HendrickCars.com Chevy Silverado. Thank you to everybody at HendrickCars.com, Spire, and my family for all of their support. This is a dream come true.”
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On Sunday, Kyle Larson, who started second in the 400-mile Cup Series race, took over the top spot on lap 3. He led until a caution waved at lap 9 but gave up on the first position when he stopped for four tires and fuel while others elected to stay out or change only two tires. After restarting sixth, Larson was up to second before another caution waved on lap 26. After stopping again for tires, the Elk Grove, California, native restarted sixth behind others who chose differing pit strategies. Again, he wasted no time charging through the field, taking over the top spot on lap 61 and holding it through the end of the stage at lap 80.
During the stage break, crew chief Cliff Daniels called Larson to pit road for a four-tire plus fuel stop. The 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion restarted third but was pacing the field again by lap 105. A round of green-flag pit stops began 13 laps later and, after a fast stop by the No. 5 HendrickCars.com crew on lap 120, Larson returned to the lead. During a late caution in the stage, Daniels called Larson to pit road for a four-tire exchange. After restarting second on lap 161, the 2014 Rookie of the Year was in front one lap later – a spot he held through the end of the stage at lap 165.
Another quick stop by the No. 5 crew allowed Larson to remain atop the leaderboard to start the final stage. Although he relinquished the lead briefly during a green-flag cycle of stops at lap 211, Larson again paced the field when the day’s final caution waved at lap 234. The No. 5 crew again knocked out a fast four-tire stop to allow Larson to line up on the front row for the lap-240 restart. After grabbing the race lead, he was able to hold off a late challenge to grab his first victory of 2024.
“All in all, such a great, great job by this No. 5 HendrickCars.com Chevy team,” said Larson after climbing out of his HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. “Just their execution, restarts, pit road – all of that was great. Cool to get a win here in Las Vegas again, back-to-back, and sweep all the stages. Can’t ask for much more than that.”
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