When it was confirmed that Connor Zilisch would be moving up to the NASCAR Cup Series with Trackhouse Racing after his 10-win O'Reilly Auto Parts Series season with JR Motorsports in 2026, it was announced that Rajah Caruth would be his primary replacement behind the wheel of the No. 88 Chevrolet.
But Caruth's deal was only for 23 of the 33 races on the 2026 schedule, as the other 10 were divided up between the four Hendrick Motorsports Cup Series drivers. Only three actually ended up competing, as Alex Bowman's two starts were both handed to Kyle Larson.
Larson made five starts in the O'Reilly Series this year while William Byron made three and Chase Elliott made two, with the second coming at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the series' most recent race two weekends ago. Elliott was a part of the first ever 1-2-3-4 finish for a team in O'Reilly Series history with his fourth place effort.
Rajah Caruth replacement confirmed at Iowa
This weekend at Iowa Speedway, Caruth is set to move back to the No. 88 Chevrolet, and he's set to remain in the No. 88 car for the rest of the 2026 season, including the final two races of the regular season and the entire 10-race postseason.
To remain playoff eligible, despite not running the No. 88 car full-time, Caruth landed a separate deal to drive for Jordan Anderson Racing in the other 10 races. He made his 10th and final start of the season behind the wheel of the No. 32 Chevrolet at Indy and placed 22nd.
With Caruth set to move back to his primary car, Carson Brown is set to make his O'Reilly Series debut behind the wheel of the No. 32 car at Iowa. Brown just turned 18 years old in July and has been Richard Childress Racing's development driver since November 2025.
Brown has not competed in any NASCAR national series races, although he has run six races in the ARCA Menards Series this season with Pinnacle Racing Group. He has recorded a win, a runner-up finish, and four third place finishes in those six starts, good for an average of 2.5.
The New London, North Carolina native also competes full-time in the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour and the ASA STARS National Tour. In the latter, he has recorded four wins and two runner-up finishes in six starts this season.
As for Caruth, he has his work cut out for him to try to qualify for the playoffs in his first full O'Reilly Series season. He is 20 points below the cut line with two races at Iowa and Daytona International Speedway remaining on the regular season calendar. Should he manage to qualify, he should benefit greatly from being behind of the No. 88 car the rest of the year, as the No. 88 team is third in the owner standings.
Live coverage of the Hy-Vee PERKS 250 is set to be provided by the CW Network from Iowa Speedway beginning at 5:00 p.m. ET this Saturday, August 8. Begin a free trial of FuboTV and catch all of the action!
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