The Breakfast Club Interview with NASCAR driver Rajah Carruth

0:00979 WJL. You're digging out the breakfast club. Morning everybody, it's DJ, NV, just hilarious. Shall I mean to God, we are the breakfast. Club lawn, the roses here as well. We got a special guest in the building. Yes indeed. The brother Raja Kruth, welcome. Morning, morning. How are you feeling? Great. Thank you guys for having me on. Now, who is Raja Kruth? People that don't know. So, like you said, my name is Raja. I was born in Atlanta but grew up in DC and I guess I do many things. But mainly currently, I race in NASCAR, but yeah, HBC graduate, grew up in DC and racing at NASCAR's second highest level. And how did you get into NASCAR, like what got you into it? I think it's going to say something. Your story is very ill because you used to drive the simulator. Yeah. You turned virtual racing into a real life career. Yeah, have you all seen the Gran Turismo movie? Yep. It's pretty much like just 10 years down the line coming from Caribbean parents, my dad's right here in the back of me and from St. Vincent.

1:01That's crazy because in Gran Turismo, his parents are Caribbean too. Yeah, exactly. So, yeah, like you said, Charlemagne, I grew up watching racing and was a big fan, but I mean, I played other sports like I played basketball, ran track, played soccer, but I always loved racing. And since I grew up in DC, there wasn't any tracks or anything nearby. So I had to get it from racing online and learning how to drive from the computer. So, is that something you wanted to do or the love came from just being on the simulator? Now the love came from like the cars movie watching races on TV. I went to my first race at Richmond and when I was probably 12. So that's where the love really, really grew and I mean, I'd watch everything I could about racing from like sports talk shows to people playing the games online. I just was a deep, deep fan of racing. Did you ever steal your father's car? No. I mean, I never drove. I never drove. So I was 15 years old. I mean, you could just take the metro or walk or get lime scooters in DC. I mean, you don't really need to drive just like here. So what you're like day to day like at work. So like, how does it as an ask car driver?

2:03So you go, you don't clock in like normal, like what is a normal day in the life of an ask car driver? So basically for like we train like endurance athletes. So we'll have our, you know, Mondays to Thursdays whenever we return from the previous race weekend, we'll have our pre and pro race debriefs with our teams because I didn't compare to other sports racing so different where the driver is a key factor, but also is the car and the team and your pit crew. So we have all our meetings with with our engineers, our crew chiefs that are over the car development, but also our pit crew members to analyze how they can improve, how we can improve behind the wheel and how we can get the car better. We have simulator training at our Chevy facility. Well, with every manufacturer has a big kind of training facility where we have our simulators, corporate offices, all pretty much based in North Carolina. And for us, and me being at Chevy, I mean, we're there, I'm there Monday through Thursday, we're training, we're on the simulators, we're having our meetings with our race teams and that's kind of our week to week basis.

3:04And then we leave on Thursdays or Fridays to go travel to wherever we race. We were at Vegas last weekend, we're in Darlington, South Carolina this weekend. So yeah, it's a, it's a traveling circus for the whole year pretty much. They call you very analytical and very composed. I'm a nerd. I don't like the, I mean, I do, I know people like to use that word, but I like smart people. But how does that help you on the race track, I guess? I guess to be super calculated is the way that that helps. You have to obviously use your instincts, right? Because everything is happening within splits of a seconds, moving at hundreds of miles per hour with the wall being right next to you, other cars being right next to you, the wind being super turbulent. Yeah, you have to be super aware of what's going on. And I think it speaks to my personality, but also my preparation of just being that calculated and prepared for whatever situations may arise. So I'll tell you the simulator to actually be in on the track. I'd say it's pretty close, but it's, you can never replicate real life because there's weather, there's maybe a new bump that develops in a race track that you can't forecast.

4:08There's new rule changes every time. But what's great about the simulator is that the one we have at Chevrolet, it has our literally every part and piece of the car is replicated on there to where we can drive and change whether it's a piece of the suspension, move a body panel a certain way to see if it'll work in real life. And then nine times out of 10 is it's perfect for what we have to do at the race track. So it's super, super important and it's great practice for us drivers just to be able to get repetition on the corners. It's kind of like tap dancing with how we're using the brake and the gas pedal and all the instruments in the car. Hmm. Salute to John Cohen, he was a, he's a black race car owner, he owns a team, New York City race team is his team. He was telling me how difficult it is to find members because he was like it's so detailed. So break down, you talked about the team, how important everybody is from the pit crew and what they have to do. But if they mess up that affects your time and it's a whole race, break that down because people only see the driver at most of the times. But if you're crew ain't right, if you're this ain't right, if the guy you're talking to

5:09you ain't right, so break that down of how detailed and how difficult that part is. Yeah, for sure. It's very similar to I think special teams in the NFL. I mean, every member of the team is important from our holler driver that drives the equipment to the race track and making sure it gets their safe to our spotters that are on top of the highest point on the track and communicating with those drivers to our pit crew members. Like you mentioned, if one of our wheels aren't tight, then that's a day end or whether it's damaging the wheel or causing us to crash. To mention how important it is to have the car set up as close as it can be to be able to drive to the front. So our teams are super important. And as much as the driver is the face, it's racing us as much of a team sport as anything because it's not just the one star person. It's the whole team that that matters and helps to get the job done. How competitive is it? You know, we look at these movies, right? We see these races and they cut each other off and they're cursing each other out and sometimes you see them fighting after how competitive is it and what's the respect level on the track? Sometimes you're not supposed to do that, but I just thought it is what it is.

6:11Yeah, I mean, there's definitely different etiquette and you kind of see the old guard of drivers being different from the new garter drivers. And it kind of speaks to people's personalities, right, where there's a certain situation where, hey, I'm going to do this to you because I know you would do it to me, whether it's throwing a block or putting somebody in a tight scenario. So it's just different etiquettes. Everybody's got different etiquettes. And I think what's cool about NASCAR is it's a contact sport where in other forms of racing, whether it's Formula One, Indy Car, the racing etiquette is just different just because of. Context sport. Context means we touch each other. Yeah, it's normal. It's normal. They do that with the car. It's normal. If anything, you can, at certain tracks like Atlanta or Daytona, it's important to push somebody else because it gives yourself a better chance at winning. So there's levels to the contact that are required. Not every time because then you'll damage your car and it'll be slower. But it's, it's important because it's just that the true etiquette of the racing of NASCAR that makes it super cool.

7:12So you know how like with basketball players, like, or football players, right, when you're training, you watch and take, you kind of know what players do. So you know what drivers, like, they're little tricks. Exactly. Yeah. So we have like a GPS program that records every race and you can look at every car and see literally every lap of the race and see, all right, they decided to do this move here because of what they saw in front of them or what they felt in the car. We can see how they're steering, how they're breaking, how they're using the gas. The literally the G forces that they're creating in the car. It's, um, that's our way to study film. It's just analyzing each race, every practice, every time trial session, time trial session. Um, that, that's kind of the equivalent for us. All right. We got more with Roger Carufer. We come back as the breakfast club.

8:30I'm a peep. Won't get my heart. I'm putting it down. I'm not a set. Big old G, I'm hip. Mark the back of the lamb and then go GLE. I'm tripped. Catch it. Lamb, brick, gang, we ain't no like them. Oh, you know that rap come through the rap. No tape. Hustle got the rack back. And my pockets is back with lit. All blue, hock, slip, like flapjacks. Mass and double in my knapsack. I don't back those. Check my track record. Try to let some clap back. At 18, all the seven figures after tax. I printed ticket on books. I wiped it that was tax. On Twitter, don't believe the hype. I put my life on wax. I made it back in blood. It's the same that it's tax. I wake up and go get that cake. I ain't to take relax. Knees take rest. Little liquid waste to get a freakus. The class is once a name like a freight train. It's brains. It's on the track. Don't play no games. It's my name. We caught him and saying they don't match. Then I list to what the fans stand on them damn apps. I ain't stitching on my man. Fidthap. Soon as we hop out that fan. That's a head tap. And I'm TK-E-B-K-M-B-G-N-L-L-B-Crazy. Give me a switch to get like N-C-Double-A.

9:30I'll blitz. It's on the pre-shaded button. Switch out like he crazy. Hit the head on Mac. Because he made me always get accurate. C-K for the fit. I'm 2-A. You 29. I'm rich and free, baby. Think you ran the risk. C-A-D really made it. Investigations. Yes, I evaded. Mouth shut. You know how we played it now. M-I-A might be fake. It's thank God. I will legit swear. Morning, everybody. It's E-J-N-V. Just hilarious. We're still kicking with NASCAR. Driver Roger Keroof. Yes. What's been the biggest challenge stepping into the NASCAR national spotlight? Honestly. I would say for me, it's, I'm a pretty introverted person. So being comfortable with being as approachable at the racetrack to fans was an adjustment for me. But honestly, like in the sport, like everybody's been cool. For the most part, like because I have the interest, the passion, and the work to go with. Like everybody's been super cool. So I definitely will say that to mention, you mentioned before getting to this level,

10:32definitely was harder to get my foot in the door from A not only started so late, but coming from my background that made it immensely more harder than it would be for. Maybe I shouldn't say that because everybody's grind is different. But I think personally, like it was way harder to get in the door than it has been that kind of climbed through the ladder. How did you get your foot in the door? Yeah, so for me, I started racing on the simulator. I was 15 or 16 and I started to go to races and hand out business cards and say, hey, I'm a young driver trying to make a name for myself racing online. NASCAR had a driver development program that I applied for in 2019. And they had a whole combine trial where it was not just how well you can drive. It's what your physicality is, how strong you are, how you handle press, how you handle your team communication. Just seeing all the traits that are required to really be a successful driver. And I did well enough in that program in 2019 to come on and get developed

11:33through the kind of regional levels of NASCAR where we raced in parts of South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, just kind of getting the real sticks of it. And that's really how I got started. And I was super hard just because I was coming from growing up in DC where I mean, I just, I was, it was normal to exist, right? And being in those places where I was not only at a lot of times the youngest person, but the youngest black person in the room where I mean, I moved from DC when I was 18 and I was living in North Carolina by myself. While I was going to school at Winston at the race shop at the track, I was pretty much a lot of times the only person that looked like me. So I think that was definitely a challenge to get started. But it just really allowed me to get confident in my identity, really my Caribbean background, my raising, my education, and that helped me really persevere. Let's talk about that, right? You came through simulation, like you said, and you're a young black man, you ever feel like you're disrupting the culture of NASCAR or do you feel pressured to prove you belong it? I think I'm definitely breaking the mold for sure.

12:35And I really have an appreciation for the teams that I'm at where they've seen me as not just as not as I'm only here for a certain reason. They see me for not only my ability, but how I'm showing up and how I'm prepared to perform and taking the accountability and doing the work and really performing well when it matters the most. So when you walk in a garage, right? That historically hasn't looked like you. Are you thinking about winning races? Are you just trying to change matters? I think they work hand-to-hand. I think the success on the track is going to help everything else. And I have such a deep appreciation for the sport of NASCAR in particular and racing as a whole that I know all the other stuff will come naturally as long as I keep the main thing, the main thing, which is trying to be the best driver that I can. You heard what he said? Keep the main thing, the main thing. That's a jewel. Why don't you even don't do that? You know what I mean? They try to do all the sidequests. You've got to keep the main thing, the main thing. I saw Bubble Wallace praise you for opening the season with the top.

13:36With three top 10 finishes while driving for two different teams. And we know that he's had issues when it comes to race and different things within NASCAR. What's your relationship like with Bubble? Yeah, that's a big bro. That's a big bro. I mean, literally from my first ever regional race, he's been there every step of the way. And it's super important to have somebody like that in your corner. That's paying attention and knows kind of the cards he's been dealt. Yeah. And it's been great to have him in my corner. I mean, although we're at two, he's with Toyota, I'm with Chevrolet. I mean, he's been there every step of the way for me. So that's big bro. And it's been great because the things that he's had to endure, he's allowed it to wear for drivers like myself, like Lavar Scott that are in the wings and coming up that we don't have to deal with those certain things. And in that same vein, that's how when Scott did it for him and Willie T. Ribs and Bill Lester and all those before us. Is that cost sponsorship thing really that big of a deal? Because you said it like a big thing. It's a big thing. It's just not you. I'm Chevy and he told you like, I mean, it's serious.

14:36It's serious because I mean, the manufacturers are really what drive NASCAR at the end of the day where in other sports, there's the owners of the teams. I think the owners of NASCAR are big deals well, but start the manufacturers because I mean, those are the cars that we're driving at the end of the day. So that's a big role. They play a huge, huge role in our sport. You just switch sides like you got to be Chevy for life. I mean, I don't want to leave Chevy for sure. I mean, it's not uncommon for people to leave manufacturers and that can be because, hey, the team closed or they need a swap or they have a new guy that bumps up an old guy out of the seat. So it's kind of more of a case-by-case scenario, but what's different in NASCAR compared to other sports is that right in the NBA, the NFL, the MLB, you have these annual drafts and there's always a rotation of young talent in racing. There's only 40 guys at the cup level and there's maybe one or two seats that turn over on an annual basis. So there's just a lot of young drivers trying to come up through the ladder and very few spots to go into.

15:37So you have to set yourself apart and that's why, for the most part, you don't see a young driver in the cup series that is 18, you only see that every once in a while. Otherwise, you only see drivers make their first cup stars when they're mid 20s plus or minus a few years, maybe even early 30s just because of how there's not as much turnover at the top level. All right, we got more with NASCAR driver Roger Kuru for we come back as the breakfast club. Good morning. I know a million people already did this. Let's make it a billion. Oh, she up on it. That's it. Shit. I'm building up. I'm building up. I'm building up. You're building up. Come and fill in comments. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up.

16:59I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. I'm filling up. Packed it up like a lea, uh, takes nation to millions, the holest battle when you're boy with your billion, it's a rap. Yeah, rock nation, it takes your nation to stop from signing off is the hoods for rock, rock. Morning everybody is D.J. N.V. Jess Hilarious, y'all I mean the guy, we are the breakfast club, more on the roses here as well. We're still kicking in with NASCAR, driver Roger Keroof, y'all I mean? I think it's mental adjustment, uh, you, you had to make when, when the consequences from like just being able to reset the game, turning them, I'm actually in a car and I'm, this is real life.

18:05That's a great question. Literally my, my, my second race, I hit the wall on the second lap and I was like dang, this is not as easy as I thought it would be. I remember like the first time I flipped, the first time I crashed somebody else or myself. Um, but those experiences are like super important because those mistakes allow you not to make them again and those lessons are super important. So adjusting from the same to real life. Honestly, it wasn't too hard from an athletic standpoint because I had that background of playing other sports growing up. So I wasn't tired from a physical sense. It just was what immensely required to be aware of how the tire feels, how you feel in air and the spacing of being close to the wall or other people. Um, I think that was the adjustment that I had to make as I, you know, grew my experience racing regionally before going to the national level. It's a flipped over, but what happened with that race? Okay. So that race, I was in a dirt race where it was, it was a race for practice. Um, and we, a lot of times, NASCAR drivers will go race on dirt, race go cars, race other forms of racing that really get better at what we do.

19:10And, um, I was racing on dirt and, uh, I, somebody hit the wall and I try to avoid them and it's dirt. So you like can't really stop and I, next thing I knew I was like barrel and, and it, that's scared. No, it just hurt. Was it scary? Yeah. I mean, no, the thing is, the thing about flipping is, it's not the flipping that is the issue is if when you stop abruptly or you land, that's the part where people get hurt, whether they land, you know, flat on the, on the bottom of the, yeah, the impact and they'll have back injuries and stuff like that or have a, just a sudden stop. So if anything, flipping isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's just whenever you abruptly stop. So, um, didn't feel great, but now I know, how do you know you're not going to die? Yeah. I mean, we have faith in our safety. I mean, there's so many advancements that they've made over the last 25 years that make it aware. It's not a thing that, I mean, we don't take it for granted for sure, but the cars are way safer than they used to be. I mean, our head and neck restraints systems are super good.

20:11I mean, we're, our seats are literally crafted to our, our stature, our bodies. So we're like, we're literally not like locked in the seat, but like pretty much memory foam to our body to make sure that we're not moving around a lot whenever we have those crashes. And that was the worst thing that ever happened to you. Like the worst accident. Are you paying? Well, yeah. So far, yeah, yeah. I mean, and crashes are honestly just a part of racing. I mean, you, that's something you accept, um, because it's just part of what we do. I mean, we, we're going so fast. We're so close to each other. There's bound to be incidents from the time of time. I mean, I crashed two weeks ago. I mean, it's, it's normal. Do you say so early? Yeah. So when, when you're not racing and you're, and you're in your personal car, do people pull up to you and be like, let's race it because they know it's you. Honestly, no. But the thing is, I don't have like a, a super fast, like normal car, um, kind of car. I have, well, I have a Chevy traverse, but my, my fun car is a Chevy SS 2017. And that car is nice because I can just keep it on like the tour, like easy gas mode.

21:12So it's not super loud, but I can like, uh, change the exhaust with a little dial in there to like, you know, open them up and, and have it be a little bit louder. But you're not even allowed to drive nothing but Chevy period. I'm not sure you could, but I mean, no, I know, I know. I mean, I could, but I mean, I don't really want to. I like to like what I've got right now. Like being assigned to Jordan. Why would you wear other sneakers if you signed into it? Very point. Exactly. If somebody is like coming up and wants to be in your position, but NASCAR, what should they be doing? Like branding wise, like on social and stuff like that. Outside is learning to skip. I think you just got to say yourself apart where, for, for me, my background was sim racing. So I mean, I've been twitch streaming for years. I mean, from when I had five years to now, you know, a hundred or so, where I'm just streaming while I'm driving and racing and talking to people in the chat. And that's something that other others can do. Whether it's documenting their days at the go-kart track or, hey, this is the workout I did or this is the film that I studied. Just kind of showcasing what makes them unique. I think it's the biggest thing that works.

22:13There's so many, there's so much uniqueness out there that I don't think that people need to try to follow directly what other drivers or what other people do. I think it's important to keep that identity that and just be themselves at the end of the day. You know, there aren't a lot of black drivers at your level. Do you embrace their responsibility? For sure. Just race without carrying that weight. I'm not weight. I think it's a responsibility I cherish. I think it's for me to have more people like us at the track is, it's fun because I have that love for racing. And if I can share that to more of us, then I can, you know, I can be very proud of that. Well, I am proud to say that this weekend at the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts series on Saturday, a Roger World compete in a black effect podcast netweight brand Chevrolet Camaro. I can't wait to see black effect. All black is running around. You have a picture track. So we can see it? I would love to see it. I can't wait to see it. Are you designed to rap with the brain?

23:14Oh, that's hard. It's real sleek. That's a lot of very disruptive. Oh, yeah. Black and white. Yeah, black and white. Very disruptive. I like the black cars. Congratulations, man. I love that. I appreciate it. I'm going to see if I can pull it. I would love to see that. I got to say thank you. You know, I think for me, like, I met Chico last year, or I actually a couple of years ago, from 85 South at Richmond. And when, yeah, she went to Winston. And Dolly Bishop, the president of the black. Yeah, that's dope. Yeah. So, yeah, definitely been familiar with you guys. And I'm super excited to showcase y'all this weekend. No, man. I love what you represent. Like, you know, even outside of just, you know, driving the car is just the fact that, you know, the way you carry yourself and just how smart you are. I appreciate that, you know. But what does success look like for you beyond trophies? I think for me, I've really learned, and this is something Darpy has helped me with, is that to define success outside of the accolades and the stats on the track. So, I think for me, if I can leave the sport whenever I'm done driving, which is hopefully

24:16a long time from now, not only better than it was when I got here, but to where we have a renowned presence in the sport, then I can be proud of how, I guess that will be success for me. Because, of course, every driver, every athlete wants to be the best and be great at their profession from a stats or achievement perspective. But there's more, I guess, out there than just getting those results on the track. And they're still important because I think a lot of times without those results, you can't have the other things. But I would say the success for me is deeper than just getting the dubs on the track. Well, good luck this weekend. We'll be watching. Make sure you check it out. What channel isn't on so many? CW. CW. So, definitely check it out. Roger Kerooth. Good luck. Thank you guys. Appreciate you all having me on. Appreciate you for joining us this morning. And they want to follow you or anything. What do you do to that? Yeah. My website, rosacruth.com, or on my socials, Roger Kerooth, underscore IG, Twitch, YouTube, the whole nine. If you go on Twitch, you'll watch me racing on my simulator or playing other games.

25:17It's stuff like that. And then otherwise, you know, on the CW's pretty much every Saturday this year. Watch him race in that black effect podcast networked rap Chevy Camaro number 32. There you go. You ain't going to be able to miss it. Nope. Not at all. This Saturday, what time again? I think it's five or five thirty. Five o'clock, yeah, five o'clock. All right. Roger Kerooth. It's the breakfast club. Good morning. Roger Kerooth. It's the breakfast club. Roger Kerooth. Roger Kerooth. Roger Kerooth. All right.