Hendrick Motorsports has added a pair of events to its NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule in 2023, with the announcement on Tuesday that the organization has added both Boris Said and Rajah Caruth to the team’s driver lineup.
Said, an accomplished road racer and winner in both the NASCAR Xfinity Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, will drive the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Camaro in the Drive for the Cure 250 at Charlotte Motor Speedway’s ROVAL.
The 61-year-old driver will make his first NASCAR Xfinity Series start since running Circuit of The Americas in 2021 for MBM Motorsports, where he earned a 31st-place result. Prior to that, the Carlsbad, California-native had not made a return to the series since a five-race stint with Joe Gibbs Racing in 2015.
In his 29 starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, primarily on road courses, Said has recorded a single victory at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal in 2010, as well as seven top-five and nine top-10 results, with two poles.
After the team’s return to competition at Charlotte’s ROVAL, the organization will bring the No. 17 Chevrolet Camaro back to the track for the season-finale at Phoenix Raceway, where Rajah Caruth will drive the entry with backing from HendrickCars.com.
Caruth, who currently competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for GMS Racing, has recorded three top-10 finishes in 24 starts, while also dipping his toes into the NASCAR Xfinity Series for Alpha Prime Raicng.
In 15 starts in the second-tier series, Caruth has a career-best result of 12th-place at Martinsville Speedway last October, as well as five finishes inside the top-20.
Hendrick Motorsports has brought the No. 17 Chevrolet on track in five different events this season, with NASCAR Cup Series regulars Alex Bowman, Chase Elliott, Kyle Larson, and William Byron piloting the entries. This year, the entry has combined for three top-fives and four top-10s.
The entry at Phoenix will mark the first attempt for the team on an oval smaller than one-mile in length since the penultimate event of the 2007 NASCAR Busch series season, where Kyle Busch scored the victory in the No. 5 Chevrolet.
