The Clean Harbors 250 will mark the second time Spire Motorsports will field a NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS) entry at Richmond Raceway. In August 2022, Rajah Caruth finished 25th in his second Truck Series start aboard the team’s No. 7 Chevrolet Silverado. Spire Motorsports fields the Nos. 7, 71 and 77 Chevrolet Silverados full time in the NCTS. An all-star driver lineup will rotate throughout the 2024 season in the No. 7 Chevy. Caruth drives the No. 71 entry and Chase Purdy rounds out the team’s fleet of Chevrolets in the No. 77. The Clean Harbors 250 from Richmond Raceway will be televised live on FS1 Saturday, Aug. 10, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The 16th of 23 NCTS races on the 2024 schedule will be broadcast live on the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio Channel 90.
Connor Zilisch – Driver, No. 7 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado
Connor Zilisch will steer Spire Motorsports’ No. 7 Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Silverado for the second of five races this season in Saturday's Clean Harbors 250 at Richmond Raceway.
The road-course ace made his NASCAR debut in the No. 7 Austin Hatcher Foundation Silverado at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in March. He set a track record while claiming the Cometic Gasket Pole Award by 0.714 seconds. Despite a pair of early-race miscues, Zilisch battled through the field twice to earn a spirited fourth-place finish.
Zilisch will return to the seat of Spire Motorsports' No. 7 Chevy Silverado four more times this season. Following this weekend's visit to Richmond, Zilisch will see seat time at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway and Martinsville (Va.) Speedway.
The accomplished karting and road racer was part of Era Motorsport’s LMP2 class victories at the Rolex 24 at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway and the 12 Hours of Sebring at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway. At 17-years-old, Zilisch became the second-youngest driver to win in-class at the historic Rolex 24.
The racing prodigy is a six-time winner behind the wheel of a Silver Hare Racing Chevrolet Camaro in the CUBE 3 Architecture TA2 Series. His most recent victory in the series came in February at Sebring.
Silver Hare Racing is a fulltime competitor in the TA2 division of the Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli. The multicar team has won the TA2 masters class championship three times (2018, 2019 and 2020) with driver and team co-owner Maurice Hull. Under the leadership of Hull's wife, co-owner and team manager Laura Hull, the High Point, North Carolina-based team provides a variety of services that includes private testing and arrive-and-drive programs. At the forefront of Silver Hare’s passion for all things motorsports lies the deep commitment of the Hulls to the development of talented young drivers with aspirations of competing at the highest levels of racing, including NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. For more information, please visit silverhareracing.com.
The Trackhouse Racing development driver won his first zMAX CARS Tour Late Model Stock Car race at Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway in May. The victory accompanies his triumph in the series’ Pro Late Model division last season at Ace Speedway in Elon, N.C.
Zilisch competes full-time in the ARCA Menards Series East, a championship in which he leads the standings by 22 points over William Sawalich. The Mooresville, N.C., native has finished in the top five in all six races, led 383 of the 955 laps contested (40.1 percent) and emerged victorious at Dover Motor Speedway (April 26), Flat Rock Speedway (May 18), Iowa Speedway (June 14) and Indianapolis Raceway Park (July 19).
The 18-year-old made his ARCA Menards Series debut last season at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International where he qualified second and paced the field for 34 of the event’s 42 laps. Zilisch led the final lap with a broken sway bar until he was passed in the final corner and ultimately finished second.
The talented teenager finished second in the 2022 Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup championship standings where he claimed rookie-of-the-year honors for Hixon Motor Sports. He notched four victories, eight top fives and five poles across the 12-race season, missing out on the title by a mere 10 points. Over the past two seasons, Zilisch has made 18 appearances in the series on a part-time basis, collecting another five wins.
After 15 races, the No. 7 team sits fifth in the 2024 NCTS owner point standings. The team has compiled two wins with an average starting position of 9.3 and an average finish of 11.5 to date. Kyle Busch led 33 laps en route to the team’s first victory of 2024 at Atlanta Motor Speedway and a race-high 112 laps in the team’s most recent triumph in Texas. In its most recent outing, Sammy Smith started 12th and finished sixth at Indianapolis Raceway Park (IRP).
In his first season with Spire Motorsports, crew chief Brian Pattie led the No. 7 team to two victories across the first seven events this season, both with Kyle Busch (Atlanta/Texas). The duo also won twice across five races last year with Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Matt Mills started and finished fifth in Pattie’s lone race calling the shots in Truck Series action at Richmond last August. Pattie was atop the box for Clint Bowyer’s NASCAR Cup Series triumph at “The Action Track” in 2012. Bowyer started fourth and led 88 laps that September night.
Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-062 will be dressed in the Silver Hare Racing colors on Saturday evening. Richmond will mark the chassis’ fourth start of the season, earning three top-10 finishes with Sammy Smith behind the wheel this year.Connor Zilisch Quotes
How have you been preparing for your first truck race on an oval?
“Richmond will be a good challenge for me. I’ve ran a lot of ovals in ARCA and late models, so I feel like I’ve been preparing myself all year. We were good in the truck at COTA, but the truck will race a lot differently on an oval. I am excited to get out there.”
Is there any track you’ve raced at this year that compares to Richmond?
“It is somewhat similar to IRP, and you can draw comparisons from Pensacola. But for the most part, nothing is quite like Richmond. The biggest thing I have focused on is my preparation. I wanted to make sure when I show up on Saturday, I know what I’m getting myself into.”
What are your expectations for the weekend?
“I’ve been running well on the ovals and learning quickly. My goal for the year has been to continue to prepare myself each week for the next oval, most of which I’ve never seen before. I believe as long as I prepare, I can be just as successful as anyone else. I’ll show up Saturday ready to go, and hopefully we can put the No. 7 Silver Hare Silverado in victory lane.”
Rajah Caruth – Driver, No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado
Rajah Caruth will pilot Spire Motorsports’ No. 71 HendrickCars.com Chevrolet Silverado in Saturday's Clean Harbors 250.
Last time out, Caruth earned his third consecutive top-10 finish with an eighth-place result at IRP. During qualifying, he claimed the second Cometic Gasket Pole Award of his career.
HendrickCars.com is the online home for everything Hendrick Automotive Group. Visitors can shop thousands of new or pre-owned vehicles, locate centers for service and collision repair, receive a value to sell or trade their car, chat online with customer service, discover career opportunities, learn more about vehicle protections programs, and explore how the company gives back to the community.
The Winston-Salem (N.C.) State University senior has two prior starts in the NCTS at the 0.75-mile oval, finishing 19th in last year’s event. In 2022, Caruth made his second career Truck Series start in the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Silverado.
Richmond is the site of the 22-year-old’s NASCAR National Series debut, competing in the 2022 NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) event. He started 22nd and finished 24th.
Caruth scored his career-best finish in 19 NXS starts at a Virginia short track, crossing the line 12th at Martinsville Speedway last fall.
The Washington, D.C., native is currently fifth in the NCTS championship point standings after 15 races. He has logged two poles, one win, three top-five, eight top-10 and 12 top-15 finishes. He’s recorded a 10.4 average start and an 11.0 average finish.
With his first career NCTS win and pole position earlier this season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Caruth became the third African American driver, alongside NASCAR Hall of Famer, Wendell Scott and current NASCAR Cup Series regular Bubba Wallace, to win a NASCAR National Touring Series race.
Caruth raced his first full season in NCTS in 2023, earning four top-10 finishes and ending the year 16th in the division’s championship point standings.
Crew chief Chad Walter has called three Truck Series races at Richmond, highlighted by a fifth-place finish with Tyler Ankrum in 2020. Walter has been atop the box for 14 Xfinity Series events at “The Action Track,” finishing in the top 15 in 11 of those events.
The No. 71 Silverado is identified as Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-058. The truck will be making its 25th appearance on the Truck Series circuit, visiting Victory Lane four times with Kyle Busch and John Hunter Nemechek in the cockpit.Rajah Caruth Quotes
Richmond is your home track, the place you saw your first race and the site of your first national series start. How special is the venue to you?
“It’s been 10 years since the first race I ever went to. I even have the date, September 5, 2014, tattooed on me. It’s pretty surreal to look back on. It’s not the destination, it’s the journey. I remember I was 12-years-old and was surprised with tickets to my first NASCAR race, the XFINTY Series race that fall. Then you look at this season, with how well things have gone and to be in the mix for a championship, it has been quite a ride. I just feel really good about this weekend at this place that is pretty special to me. Hopefully we can have some good momentum to bring into Milwaukee and the playoffs.”
The playoffs start next time out at Milwaukee. How are you getting prepared to go racing for a championship?
“I’m honestly not doing much different. I’ve been mentally getting into the mindset since Nashville. I haven’t taken much time off these last two weeks. Everything is just amplified and everyone is getting excited. I’d be a lot more stressed if we were trying to lock in, but since we got our win and are fifth in points, we are in a really good spot. I’m just ready to compete for a championship and try to be one of the final four at Phoenix.”
Chase Purdy – Driver, No.77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado
Chase Purdy will drive Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado in Saturday night’s Clean Harbors 250.
Last time out, the 24-year-old started 10th and finished 13th at IRP.
With one race remaining in the regular season, Purdy is in a must-win scenario to qualify for the NCTS playoffs.
Purdy has three previous starts at Richmond in the Truck Series. Last season, Purdy was fighting for a spot in the top five when a restart violation forced him to observe a drive-through penalty. Trapped a lap down for the remainder of the day, he crossed the finish line 22nd.
The Clean Harbors 250 will mark Purdy’s 91st NCTS start and 16th behind the wheel of the No. 77 Bama Buggies Chevrolet Silverado for Spire Motorsports.
Purdy finished third in the 11-race Sioux Chief Short Track Challenge series within the 2018 ARCA season. He racked up six top fives and nine top 10s while logging a sixth-place average starting position and a 6.9 average finish.
While racing for Kyle Busch Motorsports in 2023, Purdy had the best statistical season of his career. He earned three top-five, 11 top-10 and 14 top-15 finishes while notching a career-best finish of second at Texas Motor Speedway (April 1) and claiming his first career Truck Series pole at Kansas Speedway (Sept. 8). He would snag his second career pole two races later at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway (Sept.30), a race in which he led a career-high 11 laps.
Crew chief Jason Trinchere has been atop the box three times at Richmond, all in Xfinity Series competition during his time with Kaulig Racing.
Jackman Donovan Williams calls Virginia home, hailing from nearby Dumfries. The former high school all-conference quarterback played four seasons at UCONN, converting from quarterback to tight end in his sophomore season. He would see the field primarily in a special teams role.
Purdy will be piloting Spire Manufacturing chassis SMT-056 Saturday evening. The truck has two wins in its 22 starts, visiting Victory Lane with John Hunter Nemechek at Pocono (June, 2021) and Kansas (September, 2022).Chase Purdy Quotes
In a must win situation, how are you going to attack the weekend?
“We have to remain focused and execute on everything we can. It is all or nothing. We have to put ourselves in position to win and make zero mistakes.”
You’ve run well at Richmond in the past, what about the track suits your driving style?
“Richmond is hard on tires, and a tough place to race, in general. It is a place I’ve had speed at. It is a great place to have an opportunity to capitalize on Saturday night.”
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