Rajah Caruth taking the Outside Line in evolving professional racing career, stemmed from iRacing

Thursday, November 9th was a brisk, bright, and celebratory evening in New York City. The DOC NYC Festival, “America’s Largest Documentary Festival,” had begun a day prior, with hundreds of different films ranging all sorts of different topics, all compelling human interest stories. 

Premiering in New York for the first time was Outside Line, a 17-minute documentary starring NASCAR driver Rajah Caruth. The film debuted earlier in 2023, and through the year, it screened more than two dozen times across the United States in many established Film Festivals. In June, the film was awarded the 2022 National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter 65th EMMY AWARD in the SPORTS STORY – LONG FORM CONTENT category.

Outside Line was considered an Official Selection for this year’s DOC NYC Festival, and the film once again premiered at the Village East Theater on the corner of Second Avenue and 12th Street. Following the show, Rajah, his family, his closest friends, and select guests were invited to The Penthouse at Royalton Park Avenue Hotel to celebrate successes and rehash the video with its star, the up-and-coming NASCAR phenom, along with other important people involved with the film’s release.

It’s a story that’s becoming more common as technology continues to grow. More and more real-world racing talent is being found on simulation racing platforms; iRacing in particular is a leader in these kinds of statistics, especially with programs such as the Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series and Racing Prodigy. iRacing has some of the biggest names in motorsports around the world as a part of their active member base—talents such as Max Verstappen, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Shane Van Gisbergen, just to name a few.

A NASCAR Xfinity Series Chevrolet Camaro parked on the streets of New York City on November 9, 2023. This scheme was wrapped to commemorate the New York premiere of Outside Line starring Rajah Caruth. As found on many of Rajah’s racecars, the TV Panel and Rear Quarter Panels are stickered with the iRacing logo.

Perhaps William Byron is the most well-known sim-to-reality story out there, having turned a passion for online simulated racing into a performance in 2023 that had him fighting for the NASCAR Cup Series championship a few weeks ago at Phoenix Raceway. In recent years, drivers like Kaden Honeycutt, Parker Retzlaff, and Carson Hocevar have found success in real-world competition after having also established their sim racing prowess. That’s what Rajah is aiming for: he’s looking to become another sim-to-reality success story.

For Rajah, the passion began in his youth, in pop culture and then the grandstands, but his journey truly began with iRacing back in 2018 when he registered an account and started getting on track. His evolving story just wrapped up a first full-time stint in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2023 with GMS Racing a few weeks ago. That arc came with a handful of NASCAR Xfinity Series starts this year as well, sprinkled in with Alpha Prime Racing and most recently, with Hendrick Motorsports.

Alpha Prime Racing is where Rajah got his big break into the national level of NASCAR competition last year, and a key focus of the documentary swirls around that first career Xfinity Series start at Richmond Raceway in 2022. Before that start, it was an ARCA Menards Series ride with Rev Racing. Before that, his journey included tours in Late Models, Legends Cars and Go-Karts. It all stems back to his early and continued days on the iRacing platform, however, and the documentary sheds light on how iRacing was Rajah’s platform where he was noticed for a real-world drive.

Back in 2018 when Rajah began his journey, the eNASCAR IGNITE Series was also just beginning. IGNITE was a series where younger iRacers, aged 13 to 16, were eligible to compete for scholarships. More importantly, it was established in branding as a new legitimate entry point into real-world racing. 16-year-old Rajah qualified for the series and made the cutoff to compete in the championship event. Things have ascended greatly from that point on.

The post-screening reception aired Outside Line once again for those in attendance. The film not only features Rajah and his parents, Roger and Samantha Caruth, but also Ray Smith, Director of Gaming and Esports at NASCAR, Phil Horton, Director of Athletic Performance at Rev Racing, Tommy Joe Martins, Owner and President at Alpha Prime Racing, Brandon Thompson, Vice President, Diversity and Inclusion at NASCAR, Jusan Hamilton, Managing Director of Competition Operations, and also fellow NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, Cup Series driver for 23XI Racing.

What’s next for Rajah on the real-world track is still to be announced. As mentioned by Rajah during the night’s Q&A session, and confirmed by FOX Sports reporter Bob Pockrass on X (formerly Twitter) the next day, Rajah will return to the Chevrolet camp in 2024, the same manufacturer that has supported him through his career so far. Beyond that, his plans are still unknown to the public, as GMS won’t return to competition in 2024. Rajah wound up 16th in the final standings in his rookie truck season, a solid result for someone who never sat in a real racecar until after his 16th birthday.

Now 21-years-old, Rajah’s rise has been historic, to say the least. Not often does a story like this come around, where a sim racer goes from racing online to competing against some of the best in the business in the second highest level of stock car racing. While most of his drives this year in the NASCAR Xfinity Series came with Alpha Prime Racing, his most recent outing was with Hendrick Motorsports at Phoenix Raceway, with a 14th place showing by night’s end. Perhaps that could be a sign of what’s to come.

In the reception hall at The Penthouse at Royalton Park Avenue Hotel, Rajah Caruth takes on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado at New Hampshire Motor Speedway while utilizing a Sim Seats simulator.

To this day, Rajah can be found frequently racing and streaming on iRacing, competing against some of the best sim racers and other real-world racers on a weekly basis in official and hosted competition. 

The reception on Park Avenue had a real NASCAR Xfinity Series Camaro parked on the street, and on the roof, they had a Sim Seats simulator for guests to try out through the evening. For some, it was their first time ever getting on the virtual track, and it showed in their lap times compared to Rajah, who set the fastest lap of the night by far.

Whether it’s on the real-world track, or virtually around on the sim, great things are still yet to be written about Rajah Caruth.

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