Rajah Caruth is the primary driver of the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet for the 2026 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season, but unlike Connor Zilisch a year ago, Caruth is not the car's full-time driver.
Of the 33 races on this year's schedule, 10 have been split up between Hendrick Motorsports' four full-time Cup Series drivers. Five of those races have already happened, and in those five races, Caruth has spent time behind the wheel of the No. 32 Chevrolet for Jordan Anderson Racing, allowing him to maintain his status as a full-time driver eligible for O'Reilly Series championship contention.
Caruth has managed to keep himself above the playoff cut line through 10 starts, as he's in 12th place in the point standings and 25 points above the cutoff, although his average finish with JR Motorsports is unsurprisingly 1.4 spots better than it is with Jordan Anderson Racing, and his season-best finish of fourth place at Rockingham Speedway came with the former.
This weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, following Kyle Larson's runner-up finish at Bristol Motor Speedway and William Byron's sixth place finish at Kansas Speedway, Caruth is set to be back behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevrolet.
It marks the fourth time Caruth has switched teams this year.
On just five more occasions is Caruth set to be in the No. 32 car, rather than the No. 88 car, this season. Larson is set to be back in the No. 88 entry next weekend at Texas Motor Speedway, and Alex Bowman, who had been lined up to run the race at Darlington Raceway before his vertigo diagnosis meant Larson was called upon to replace him, is set to compete at Nashville Superspeedway in late May.
Byron is set to compete at Pocono Raceway in June, and Chase Elliott is set to compete at both Chicagoland Speedway and Indianapolis Motor Speedway in July.
Given where these races fall on the calendar, Caruth is set to jump back and forth from car to car on eight more occasions before the season wraps up.
But more importantly, Caruth is set to drive the No. 88 Chevrolet in the final 11 races of the season, including the entire nine-race postseason.
With the No. 88 team is second in the owner standings, while the No. 32 team is 16th, Caruth could very much be a playoff sleeper in top-tier equipment, provided he manages to qualify by keeping himself inside the top 12 in points over the next 14 rounds, nine with JR Motorsports and five with Jordan Anderson Racing.
Tyler Ankrum, who competes full-time in the Craftsman Truck Series for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, is set to make his O'Reilly Series debut behind the wheel of the No. 32 Chevrolet this weekend.
Tune in to the CW Network this Saturday, April 25 at 4:00 p.m. ET for live coverage of the Ag-Pro 300 from Talladega Superspeedway. Begin a free trial of FuboTV now and catch all of the action!
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