Thursday, November 9 was a lively, bright and festive evening in New York. The DOC NYC Festival, “America’s Greatest Documentary Festival,” had kicked off the day before, with hundreds of different films tackling all kinds of different topics, all gripping human interest stories.
The New York premiere took place for the first time. Outer line, a 17-minute documentary featuring NASCAR driver Rajah Caruth. The film debuted earlier in 2023, and throughout the year it was screened more than two dozen times across the United States at numerous established film festivals. In June, the film received the National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter 65th EMMY AWARD 2022 in the SPORTS STORY – LONG FORM CONTENT category.
Outer line was considered an official selection of this year’s DOC NYC festival, and the film once again premiered at the Village East Theater on the corner of Second Avenue and 12th Street. After the show, Rajah, his family, closest friends and select guests were invited to the Penthouse of the Royalton Park Avenue Hotel to celebrate the successes and relive the video with its star, the up-and-coming NASCAR phenom, as well as others important people involved in the film’s release.
It’s a story that’s becoming more and more common as technology continues to develop. More and more real-world racing talent can be found on racing simulation platforms; iRacing in particular is a leader in these types of statistics, especially with programs such as Skip Barber Formula iRacing Series and Racing Prodigy. iRacing counts among its active member base some of the biggest names in motorsport across the world, talents such as Max Verstappen, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Shane Van Gisbergen, to name a few.
A Chevrolet Camaro from the NASCAR Xfinity Series parked on the streets of New York on November 9, 2023. This project was created to commemorate the New York premiere of Outside Line starring Rajah Caruth. As found on many Rajah race cars, the TV panel and quarter panels feature the iRacing logo.
William Byron is perhaps the most well-known simulation-to-reality story, having turned his passion for online simulated racing into a performance in 2023 that led him to challenge for the NASCAR Cup Series championship ago a few weeks at Phoenix Raceway. In recent years, drivers like Kaden Honeycutt, Parker Retzlaff and Carson Hocevar have found success in real-world competition after also demonstrating their prowess in simulated racing. This is what Rajah is aiming for: he is seeking to become another success story from simulation to reality.
For Rajah, the passion began in his youth, in pop culture and then in the stands, but his journey truly began with iRacing in 2018 when he created an account and began to get on the right path. Its evolving story just ended a few weeks ago with a first full-time stint in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2023 with GMS Racing. That arc also came with a handful of NASCAR Xfinity Series starts this year, peppered with Alpha Prime Racing and most recently, with Hendrick Motorsports.
Alpha Prime Racing is where Rajah made his big break at the national level of NASCAR competition last year, and a key element of the documentary revolves around this first career Xfinity Series start at Richmond Raceway in 2022. Before this debut, it was an ARCA Menards. Ride in series with Rev Racing. Before that, his career included tours in Late Models, Legends Cars and Go-Karts. However, it all goes back to his beginnings and his days on the iRacing platform, and the documentary sheds light on how iRacing was Rajah’s platform where he was noticed for real-world driving.
In 2018, when Rajah began his journey, the eNASCAR IGNITE series was also just beginning. IGNITE was a series where young iRacers, ages 13 to 16, were eligible to compete for scholarships. More importantly, it has established itself as a legitimate new entry point into real-world racing. Rajah, 16, qualified for the series and reached the cutoff to compete in the championship event. Things progressed a lot from that point on.
The post-screening reception was broadcast Outer line once again for those present. The film not only features Rajah and his parents, Roger and Samantha Caruth, but also Ray Smith, director of gaming and esports at NASCAR, Phil Horton, director of sports performance at Rev Racing, Tommy Joe Martins, owner and president of Alpha Prime Racing. , Brandon Thompson, vice president of diversity and inclusion at NASCAR, Jusan Hamilton, general manager of racing operations, as well as fellow NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace, Cup Series driver for 23XI Racing.
Rajah’s sequel on the real-world trail has yet to be announced. As mentioned by Rajah during the night’s Q&A, and confirmed by FOX Sports reporter Bob Pockrass on X (formerly Twitter) the following day, Rajah will return to the Chevrolet camp in 2024, the same manufacturer that has supported throughout his career thus far. . Beyond that, his projects are still unknown to the public, because GMS will not return to competition in 2024. Rajah finished 16th in the final standings during his rookie truck season, a solid result for someone who never sat in a real race car until his 16th birthday.
Now aged 21, Rajah’s rise has been historic to say the least. It’s rare that a story like this happens, where a sim driver goes from racing online to competing against some of the best in the business at the second highest level of stock car racing. While most of his races this year in the NASCAR Maybe this could be a sign of what’s to come.
In the Penthouse Ballroom at the Royalton Park Avenue Hotel, Rajah Caruth races the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chevrolet Silverado at New Hampshire Motor Speedway while using a Sim Seats simulator.
To this day, Rajah can be seen racing and streaming frequently on iRacing, competing against some of the best sim drivers and other real-world racers on a weekly basis in official and hosted competitions.
The reception on Park Avenue had a real NASCAR Xfinity Series Camaro parked on the street, and on the roof they had a Sim Seats simulator that guests could try out throughout the evening. For some, it was their first time on the virtual track, and it showed in their lap times compared to Rajah, who turned in by far the fastest lap of the evening.
Whether on the real-world track or virtually in the simulation, there are still great things to be written about Rajah Caruth.
