To pursue his first start in a NASCAR truck series race, Justin Carroll arrived at World Wide Technology Raceway with a truck that has been a project for 1½ years but one that he never had put to the test.
In fact, Carroll had never raced a truck before practice Saturday for the Toyota 200, which will be run Saturday.
The same went for Mason Maggio, who joined Carroll in hope of breaking into a NASCAR field for the first time against a group of drivers with generally more experience and more funding.
“It’s definitely not easy on us,” said Carroll, who is from Virginia. “We took some financial gambles. I didn’t race as much locally this year to save for this race. We don’t have a big budget. But we’ve been trying to make sure the truck is set up the best we can make it. We’re going against top-notch teams. Our goal is to make it into the race and then set new goals once we make it.”
With all of the truck series regulars, including many from major teams, on hand, the task was daunting. They at least got a break with Kyle Busch, a frequent truck series driver, focusing on the Cup race Sunday and not in the field.
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The truck series has long been a launching pad for drivers with their sights set on a ride in the Xfinity or Cup series. Cup drivers Christopher Bell, Ross Chastain and Bubba Wallace have won truck races at WWTR.
But for Carroll and Maggio, the dream was simply to have enough of a truck to make one race.
“It’s my first time in a NASCAR truck,” Maggio said “I’ve never run laps or done testing. So, when I head out there for practice, it will be the first time ever in a truck or on the track. It will be interesting.”
After all of the money and time spent on preparation, their chances of running Saturday came down to a brief time on the WWTR track Saturday – 39 trucks for 36 spots.
Also trying to qualify for his first truck race was Rajah Caruth, who does have experience in two Xfinity races this season. He also has more significant backing with a sponsorship from World Wide Technology.
At 19, Caruth had less pressure to qualify. The ARCA points leader is pursuing a racing career but wants to finish college and “become an adult” before he gets too concerned about his career path.
“Everyone is different,” he said. “I’m just trying to figure it out. There’s no rush by any means. I don’t want to think about that stuff until I graduate and have a small house. This year I’m trying to improve my stock as a top prospect toward the end of the year.”
Carroll’s only goal Saturday was to qualify. He does most of the work on his truck. He even drives the hauler. It’s a family operation along with his father, Terry.
“It’s a real big opportunity for sure,” he said. “We’ve got to get in this race to get approved to do more. We were trying at Martinsville but got rained out before qualifying. Once that happened, we had to decide to come here.”
When qualifying was over, Caruth had fared the best, qualifying 19th and solidly in the field with a best speed of 135.2 mph. Maggio slipped in 33rd at 131.7 mph.
Carroll, however, did not qualify, leaving the team a lot to consider moving forward.
The last thing heard from his hauler Saturday came from a member of his team, who shouted, “Let us know if you find us a sponsor.”
Richard Petty kicked off the first ever NASCAR Cup Series race weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill. on Friday June 3, 202…
Flags blow in the breeze as fans watch truck qualifying at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Ill. on Friday, June 3, 2022. The NASCAR Camping World Truck series runs on Saturday and the NASCAR Cup Series runs Sunday. Photo by Colter Peterson, [email protected]
