KANSAS CITY, Kan. – Ty Majeski climbed out of his damaged No. 98 ThorSport Racing Ford truck following a 200-mile event at Kansas Speedway and walked toward awaiting media members.
But he walked right past them, and instead dead-reckoned straight to an awaiting Rajah Caruth, who sat patiently on a nearby pit wall.
Their topic? Who wrecked who – and they were agreeing to disagree.
The two had been racing hard for third place with 60 laps to go during Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Heart of America 200 at Kansas Speedway. However, their duel came to a climax when Majeski attempted to pass Caruth on the outside on the exit of turn 4.
Caruth attempted to block the oncoming Ford by veering back to the outside. Alas, Majeski was already there, and the contact resulted in Caruth colliding with the outside safer barrier.
Caruth was done for the night and later, after he was released from the infield care center, explained his decision to attempt the block.
“I’m a guy that hates blocking, usually,” Caruth said outside of the care center. “But I felt like I picked the top because I knew he was going to fake me left to get to my right side, and I felt like I picked it the second time, and he just turned left there.
“So that stinks because I cut guys a break when they do that all the time, and the first chance he got, I kind of got into him.”
Near the end of the event, Caruth sat on the pit wall where Majeski would eventually park his truck and waited. When the two finally talked, the driver of the No. 98 told Caruth he tried to block him twice.
“Well, I thought he made a double move,” Majeski said. “He did a slide job on me off of [turn] 4, which is fine. He was plenty clear, and I was fine with crossing over going bottom, and I felt like he came off the wall and blocked me bottom.
“So, I went top, and I was there, or had a run to be there, and he said his spotter called him on the side. He was following his mirror and, obviously, we went wrecking.”
Caruth disagreed.
“He felt like I double moved, and I don’t think I did,” Caruth later told Frontstretch. “I felt like I picked the top just to not give up my right side.”
With that, Majeski, who is a 28-year-old NASCAR racing veteran, saw a bit of himself in the young Caruth. Despite the damage from the crash practically ruining his race, the ThorSport racer wasn’t angry at him.
“I’ve been through some former opportunities where I was ultra-aggressive,” Majeski said. “Or maybe trying to take equipment that was good enough for 13th that day and trying to run seventh with it and wrecked a lot of stuff in my career.
“And I just thought that was a little too aggressive blocking at that point in the race. I’m not mad at him.”
Caruth, who respected Majeski’s veteran experience, took that to heart.
“Agree to disagree, right?” Caruth told Frontstretch. “He’s the veteran, and a couple of years ago, he was in the spot that I’m in. Just trying to make a name for yourself in the series […] On TV, I was a little mad, but looking back at it, it was still 70 laps to go.
“I definitely could have just sucked it up there and gave up the spot, and [Grant Enfinger‘s win] could have been us because I felt like we would have blown by those guys with the new tires there when we got going.”
So, amidst the carnage, how does Caruth move on from what was perhaps his strongest run of the season being ruined in a crash that may or may not have been his fault?
“I’ll just keep my head up, and keep digging for the next four weeks,” Caruth said.
“But it really stinks.”
Is it the birth of a new rivalry? Certainly not.
After all, both drivers left Kansas with mutual respect, and simply agreed to disagree.
About the author
Dalton Hopkins began writing for Frontstretch in April 2021. Currently, he is the lead writer for the weekly Thinkin' Out Loudcolumn, co-host of the Happy Hour podcast, and one of our lead reporters. Beforehand, he wrote for IMSA shortly after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2019. Simultaneously, he also serves as a Captain in the US Army.
Follow Dalton on Twitter @PitLaneCPT
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