Caruth muscles to third at Bristol, laments chance to win as playoffs roll

BRISTOL, Tenn. — Rajah Caruth arguably ran his best race of the season since winning in March. Yet the Spire Motorsports driver could only focus on how close he was to victory Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Caruth finished third at the 0.533-mile short track in the second race of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Playoffs, 1.118 seconds shy of Layne Riggs for the win and a mere 0.022 seconds behind Corey Heim at the checkered flag for the runner-up spot.

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The much-needed effort marked his first top-five finish since Nashville Superspeedway in June, his first career stage victory, and his first laps led (nine) since North Wilkesboro Speedway in May. Most importantly, he and the No. 71 Spire team leave Bristol 35 points above the elimination line in the Round of 10, entering the Sept. 27 elimination race at Kansas Speedway (8:30 p.m. ET, FS1, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in excellent position to advance as one of eight drivers in the Round of 8.

None of that was much solace to the 22-year-old driver, who simply wished to run the final laps all over again. With two restarts in the final 30 laps, Caruth opted to run the bottom line more often than the top in both runs where others made speed.

“I had a chance to win and I just — I don’t feel like I executed that well,” Caruth said. “I should have just ran the top like I know I should. I’m just — oh, there’s the end there.”

He paused to rewatch the final set of corners, diving from top to bottom behind Heim to get to Heim’s left-side door in a drag race to the stripe. While Riggs won, Heim was second, Caruth third and Christian Eckes fourth.

“I wasn’t gonna fence him (Heim), but we were close,” Caruth continued. “But yeah, just fun racing with Corey and Christian. They’re the perennial contenders, so to be in the mix of those guys all night was really good. Just replaying what I could have done different those last two or three restarts.”

Once the sting of Thursday’s loss fades, perhaps Caruth will be able to reflect upon his performance more fondly. In the four races between his Nashville and Bristol top fives, the No. 71 Chevrolet finished 10th (Pocono), eighth (Indianapolis Raceway Park), 17th (Richmond) and 18th (Milwaukee). To peak again in the playoffs shows Caruth and Co. might be on the upswing at the right time heading to Kansas.

Asked when that sting might dissipate, Caruth was frank as he watched Riggs celebrate in Victory Lane: “I don’t know.”

“Just wanted to win. I mean, that’s it,” he said. “I don’t know how else to really describe it. Just wish that was us. But really happy for Layne. You know, he deserves it. He puts in the work and happy to see him succeed.”

Officially clinching their spots in the Round of 8 Thursday night were Eckes, Heim and Nick Sanchez, who finished fifth at Bristol. Caruth heads to Kansas fifth in the standings, 23 points behind Ty Majeski and ahead of Tyler Ankrum (plus-25), Taylor Gray (plus-23) and Grant Enfinger (plus-seven). Daniel Dye (minus-seven) and defending champion Ben Rhodes (minus-12) head to the Midwest beneath the elimination line.