Rajah Caruth, a two-time race-winner in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, will be running a partial schedule in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2026, piloting the No. 88 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports.
Caruth, a native of Washington, D.C., will have sponsorship from HendrickCars.com for his partial schedule in the second-tier series, as part of the driver’s continued relationship with Rick Hendrick and Hendrick Motorsports.
Rollin’ with Rajah in 2026.@rajahcaruth_ joins JR Motorsports for a part-time schedule in the No. 88 @HendrickCars.com Chevrolet. pic.twitter.com/Vj9mQni3xb
— JR Motorsports (@JRMotorsports) October 21, 2025
The 23-year-old driver has spent the last two seasons competing on a full-time basis in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where, while driving the No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports, he’s collected a pair of victories — one at Las Vegas in Spring of 2024, and another this Summer at Nashville Superspeedway.
It’s currently unclear what the total number of events, or the exact race-by-race schedule, that Caruth will be running in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2026. That information, along with personnel announcements for the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, is expected to come at a later date.
Whether or not Caruth maintains his ride in the No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado RST in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is also yet to be announced by the driver or Spire Motorsports.
These starts won’t be the first for Caruth in the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, though, as the former Drive for Diversity alum has been running a sporadic schedule in the second-tier series since 2022 — first with Alpha Prime Racing, and later on with Hendrick Motorsports and Jordan Anderson Racing.
Throughout his 22 starts in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series, Caruth has recorded a career-best result of 12th, on two occasions, both of which have come in the Fall event at Martinsville Speedway with Alpha Prime Racing (2022 and 2023).
When Caruth gets behind the wheel of a JR Motorsports entry for the first race on his 2026 schedule, it will mark his debut with the championship-winning organization. Twice, though, over the last three years, Caruth has piloted the No. 17 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports — at Phoenix in November 2023 and Kansas in September 2025.
Caruth joins a 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series roster at JR Motorsports that includes full-time championship bids for both Justin Allgaier (No. 7) and Sammy Smith (No. 8), as well as a full-time third entry that will be split between Carson Kvapil and NASCAR Cup Series-bound Connor Zilisch, and crew chiefed by Rodney Childers.
JR Motorsports will make future announcements regarding additional drivers on their roster for next season, likely to fill the entire 33-race schedule on the No. 88 Chevrolet, at a later date.
