Rajah Caruth secures full-time NOAPS campaign in 2026
STATESVILLE, N.C. — Rajah Caruth will officially run full-time in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in 2026, thanks to a new deal he signed with Jordan Anderson Racing.
Caruth will run 10 races in Jordan Anderson Racing’s No. 32 Chevrolet and the other 23 with JR Motorsports in their No. 88 Chevrolet. JRM announced their deal with Caruth late in the 2025 season while JAR announced their deal this past week that will fill out his schedule.
“We’re excited to be alongside him as his journey continues next year,” JAR stated.
With his schedule filled out, Caruth can now run for the NOAPS championship in 2026.
“Excited to be able to run a full season and contend for the title! Thank you Team Chevy and JAR,” Caruth posted on social media.
A graduate of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, Caruth has two wins to his name — at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in early-2024 and Nashville Superspeedway this past May — with Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 Chevrolet Silverado he wheeled to two playoff appearances made possible by those wins.
Appearances are an understatement to how Caruth has performed in the NCTS playoffs. If not for issues at Martinsville Speedway, Caruth could’ve been one of the four drivers vying for the championship at Phoenix Raceway on Halloween this year. Ultimately, moving up to NOAPS in 2026 was a big enough reward to soften the blow of missing out on the Championship 4.
Caruth not only has the backing of two respected owners in NOAPS — Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jordan Anderson — but also Rick Hendrick, whose HendrickCars.com brand has supported Caruth in his NCTS efforts and is likely to continue their support in 2026.
Caruth’s NASCAR national series career began with an aspiration in 2020 to become a NASCAR Cup Series champion like Martin Truex Jr. did in 2017 — something you can still see pinned to his social media to this day.
In 2021, those aspirations took its first step toward becoming reality when he received starts across the three ARCA Menards Series platforms. A year later, in 2022, he went full-time in the ARCA Menards Series and received NCTS and NOAPS starts before going full-time in the NCTS in 2023.
After 2023, Caruth was still winless but showed glimpses of raw speed that caught the eye of Rick Hendrick — someone he made a connection with before his career even began and who supported him at Spire Motorsports as it looked as though as his career was imperiled with GMS Racing’s closure.
Now, in 2026, with two successful, winning seasons, under his belt, he is finally full-time in NOAPS after making 22 starts across three seasons.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com