DANVILLE, Va. (WFXR) – When we talk about legacies in the NASCAR world. The Wendell Scott family is one that’s had a profound impact in the sport of stock car racing, especially for black athletes.
One motorsport athlete that is looking to blaze his own path is Rajah Caruth. In just a few years, Caruth continues to find success on the track, and will now be competing in the NASCAR Truck Series this upcoming season. What makes this milestone in his career even more special is that he’s sponsored by the Wendell Scott Foundation.
It’s really significant and groundbreaking to me because in school NASCAR had my heart and anytime I had the chance to do a project on it. It would be about the Scott family and Wendell’s accomplishments as a racecar driver but also getting to the the racetrack with his family and so to represent them with the legacy that they’ve built in the sport is amazing. To add to it it’s a true honor and the chance to create my own is amazing as well,”
said Caruth.
Caruth will be driving the Wendell Scott Chevy Silverado full-time in partnership with GMS Racing and Legacy Motor Club. This season he’ll be competing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, and he builds his own path, he continues to keep the Scott legacy intact.
“We’re proud of that evolution and that my grandfathers legacy is continuing to open up doors whether they’re intangible or tangible he’s continuing to open up doors and we’re very proud of that,” said grandson and CEO of the Wendell Scott Foundation Warrick Scott Sr.
The Wendell Scott Foundation helps provide youth services while supporting educational and cultural development. The organization also continues to keep the legacy of NASCAR’s first African-American racecar driver alive. For Scott, you have to know where you’re from to understand where you’re going.
“During the portions of his career where NASCAR was in the Jim Crow south and dealing with the Civil Rights Era and all the atrocities that came with that time. The fact that he went his entire career unsponsored but was still able to become a hall of famer says a lot that it’s still connected to today’s society,” explains Scott.
In the days after George Floyd and the social justice upheaval of NASCAR, those atrocities are still being committed today. Which is something Caruth takes personally.
“Being a young black kid in different state working with people ‘A’ you don’t know ‘B’ who are from completely ethnicities and of different cultures is extremely hard. I was like I don’t enjoy this. Not necessarily the skills and the things that I’m doing in pertinence to racecar driving or working at the shop. But a lot of the other stuff I was like do I really need to be here? As I grew up I definitely stood on my word and have grown into who I am now and I’m proud of who I am so any different obstacles that come in my way whether it be from inside or outside the industry from whomever doesn’t phase me at all.”
With drivers like Bubba Wallace before him, following in Scott’s footsteps is something Caruth proudly carries with him on and off the track. For Caruth this new venture isn’t just about racing, it’s about family.
“He’s an embodiment of everything the naysayers would say is impossible. You would say that a young African American that’s from Washington D.C. You would say that area would or that region would have no NASCAR synergy but here he is. You would say how a young man like him would have the prerequisite training or the opportunity to even enter the sport but then emerges things like iRacing. So this is how he actually enters the sport is through iRacing. Then having a program to enter that opened up doors for him to continue to progress through NASCAR which is NASCAR’s diversity program and so him being able to walk through all of those particular doors of what my grandfather built the framework for each of those doors is very profound and unique,” said Scott.
For Caurth being a part of the Scott family legacy is an opportunity he’ll cherish forever.
“Uncle Warrick is great man and the whole Scott family Ms. Chinique and Frank. Everyone has just welcomed me with warm arms and I’ve been extremely thankful for that. Again, I’m truly blessed to represent them on the racetrack so I can’t wait man.”
The stage is set for Caruth as he makes his NASCAR Camping World Truck Series debut Friday at Daytona International Speedway in the NextEra Energy 250.
