NASCAR UPDATE: HMS Backed Rajah Caruth Takes the CTS Pole In Las Vegas

The buzz in Las Vegas is already through the roof. Following a fresh deal extension with hendrickcars.com, which will be backing Rajah Caruth for the rest of the season as his primary sponsor and Bubba Wallace‘s star pupil, Caruth just snagged his first-ever pole position. He will be leading the pack at the Las Vegas NASCAR Truck Series Race.

Rajah Caruth won the pole by a thousandth of a second over Christian Eckes

Rajah Caruth clinched the number one spot for the Truck race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, zooming at a speed of 177.043 mph. He snagged that top position by just a hair, clocking in a lap time of 30.501 seconds.

Christian Eckes will be right there next to him, revving up in the second slot, having missed the pole by a thousandth of a second (30.502 seconds) with 177.038 mph in his McAnally-Hilgemann Racing #19. Stewart Friesen from Halmar Friesen Racing snagged third place with a blazing lap of 30.58 seconds, hitting speeds of 176.585 mph.

Stewart Friesen, hot off a win last week, Kyle Busch, and Tyler Ankrum made it into the top five, nabbing third to fifth places. Christopher Bell, another Cup regular hitting the track, managed a 14th-place start. Rounding off the top 10 starters are Ty Majeski, up-and-comer Zane Smith, who’s eyeing the NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year title, Daytona champ Nick Sanchez, Daniel Dye, and Grant Enfinger.

Busch took home the trophy in this race last year, while this year’s pole-sitter, Caruth, ended up way back in P29 place. Kicking off the season with finishes of 3rd and 8th, Caruth’s gunning for another top-10 finish tonight, or even better, his first win of the season.

Right now, Caruth’s trailing by 25 points in the Truck Series standings. Tyler Ankrum, who’s yet to cross the finish line first but has been out front for 62 laps across the first two races and notched a top-10 finish, is leading the pack. Fingers crossed, this pole victory could be just what Caruth needs to bag his first win of the season.

Though the track was a tough one to tackle with those strong, steady winds and some wild gusts throwing curveballs, the qualifying session went down without a hitch—no drama or incidents—with just 32 drivers lined up for the race.

The National Weather Service recently dropped a heads-up on the Qualifier

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They’re talking about “patchy blowing dust,” cruising through the track between 1 and 5 p.m., and then making a comeback after 9 p.m. on Friday. It looks like the NASCAR Truck Series race is in the clear to go off without a snag, but the lead-up activities like the Truck and Xfinity practice and qualifying faced some hurdles.

The weather rundown includes a high of 65 degrees Fahrenheit, dipping to a cool 60 degrees, and a slim chance of rain at 2-3%. The wind’s not playing nice either, whipping up at 22–27 mph and gusting even harder at 31–40 mph. Flashback to 2016, and NASCAR had to power through a mini dust storm right here in Vegas.

Read More: Hendrick Motorsports Will Back Rajah Caruth in 23 Truck Series Races in 2024

But it’s not just the Truck race that’s got to watch out for the weather. The dust is also expected to shake things up for the Xfinity Series race and the Cup Series practice and qualifying, all set for midday. Daylon Barr threw in his two cents on Twitter, hinting that we might even catch some snow flurries come Saturday evening. It’s likely to hit after the Xfinity race, but anyone hanging around the track should probably dress warmly, just to be safe.