Rajah Caruth has been signed to compete in a limited series of NASCAR Xfinity Series races in 2022, which will make the D.C. native the third Black driver actively racing in a NASCAR series and the eighth in its history.

Caruth, 19, had 10 top 10 finishes, three top fives and one win in 19 Late Model starts in 2020 as part of NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program. This season — his third in the program — Caruth became the first member of his team to win three Late Model races, and currently ranks sixth in points in seven starts, compiling four top 10s and two top fives in the ARCA East Series.

“I’m excited to enter the next phase of my NASCAR career and move up to the Xfinity Series,” Caruth said in a statement Monday. “I’ve worked hard to make my NASCAR dreams a reality and I’m looking forward to showing everyone what I can do.

I’m appreciative of Tommy, Caesar and the Alpha Prime team for giving me this chance, and of Rev Racing for taking a chance on me in their Drive for Diversity Program. I look forward to seizing this opportunity and taking it as far as I can,” he said.

Last year, Caruth graduated from the School Without Walls Senior High School and is currently a sophomore at Winston-Salem State University, a historically Black public university.