Rajah Caruth is breaking barriers and driving change in his field, from his humble beginnings on a simulator to racing against the crème de la crème in motorsport racing.

Making a name for himself in motorsport racing

“I’ll be on the other side of the fence someday.”

That was the caption of a 2017 Instagram post by avid NASCAR fan and Student-Athlete Rajah Caruth while at a Dover Motor Speedway event in 2017.

Caruth was 15 then and couldn’t get enough of race car driving. His passion for the sport started from a tender age, and his parents nurtured his interest by purchasing his first book about the sport: NASCAR: The Complete History. He was always engrossed in the book. His obsession was evident with signs of wear and tear on the book.

How Rajah Caruth got his start in motorsport racing

Unlike other race car drivers, Caruth got his start on a simulator and tested his skill against other racers on iRacing.com.

Rajah Caruth (Submitted by Kayla King PR)

He said: “You need connections and
individuals that will get you to practice to get into race. I didn’t have any external funding or connections. But I had passion. I used my school laptop and a $80 wheel from Best Buy. I learned how to configure the computer’s hard drive to set up the program. The rest is history.”

Competing professionally

Fast forward from his days on the simulator, Caruth competes full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and part-time in the Xfinity Series. He is also a full-time student at Winston Salem State University, majoring in Motorsports Management.

But how does one go from virtual racing to competing professionally? Caruth explains:

“My passion for this sport drives me every day. It’s the first thing I think about in the.morning and the last thing I think about in the evening. I love it with every bit of my mind, body, and soul”.

Rajah Caruth also has a passion for fashion

Caruth loves to express his creativity through fashion outside the race.

Caruth is one of the drivers in NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity Development program and is the 8th Black Driver in NASCAR history to compete in a race.

Rajah Caruth (Submitted by Kayla King PR)

In 2023, he raced full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for GMS Racing and Chevrolet, earning 4 top 10s and finishing 16th in the final standings. On March 24, Rajah Caruth became the third Black driver to win a NASCAR national series race in Las Vegas.

For further information, visit: https://www.rajahcaruth.com

Gymnast Morgan Price is now the first athlete from a historically Black college or university team to win a national collegiate championship.

History making gymnast Morgan Price

The Fisk University student won the title with an all-around score of 39.225 – and became “the first USAG Collegiate National Champion from an HBCU! ” said USA Gymnastics.

Gymnast Morgan Price (Photo Credit: WCU Athletics/Twitter)

She was among athletes from 12 college teams joining the competition at the USA Gymnastics’ 2024 Women’s Collegiate National Championships in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

Making the switch to HBCU

Price joined the first HBCU intercollegiate team at Fisk in 2023 after graduating from high school. She initially signed with Arkansas before making the switch to attend Fisk, ESPN reported, after Coach Corrine Tarver asked her the simple question: “Do you want to make history?”

“I have learned that it is enjoyable to be around your culture. Since we are the first, we have a lot of eyes on us, and our support system is excellent. Seeing the fans and little girls cheering us on was super fun,” Price said in 2023.

Featured Photo by Ivan Samkov: https://www.pexels.com/photo/picture-of-gymnastic-rings-4164644/

This past weekend, the Tennessee A&I men’s basketball team, an HBCU squad that won a title more than 60 years ago, got a White House visit.

Tennessee A&I made history

The living members of the Tennessee A&I Tigers basketball team were honored by Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House.

“This is the greatest day of my life,” said George Finley, a player on the Tigers team, said to CBS News.

Members of the Tennessee A&I basketball team. (Photo Credit: TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY)

The Tennessee A&I Tigers men’s basketball team was the first HBCU team to win a national championship in 1957, and made history again by becoming the first college team to win three back-to-back national titles from 1957-1959.

“I thought this would never take place,” said Finley, who was part of the 1959 championship team, told the network. “[Winning] the championship was big, but it wasn’t as big as being here with [Vice President] Harris today.”

The challenges

In a time of segregation and the Jim Crow era, Black teams were often not recognized for their achievements but the team finally got their just due.

Harris hosted six members of the team in a meeting along with their family, friends, and those close to the group of former athletes. Henry Carlton, Robert Clark, Ron Hamilton, Ernie Jones, George Finley, and Dick Barnett joined Finley in the Roosevelt Room at the White House.

Tennessee A&I is now known as Tennessee State University.