What a journey. Just one year ago, Kaden Honeycutt ended up third in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, sitting two spots behind Corey Heim and the No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota. Can't beat 'em? Join 'em. Honeycutt secured the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title on Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway by winning the season finale and outlasting Front Row Motorsports driver Layne Riggs over a grueling seven-race Chase. It marks a stunning championship in his just second full-time season, a remarkable tale of perseverance for a driver who was once little-known.
“Man, this is amazing. I’ve worked so damn hard to be here,” Honeycutt said, gasping for breath just moments after climbing out of his machine on the Homestead frontstretch. “Thank you to every owner, thank you everybody that’s let me drive the race car for them, whether it was dirt, asphalt, road course, doesn’t matter. That is because of you guys I’m sitting right here with this group behind me as champions.”
Just to be able to work with a race team like this, I never would have thought I’d be able to race for Toyota or Tricon, or let alone a guy like Scott and this race team. It’s been an amazing time.
Honeycutt sealed the crown with relative ease at Homestead. Although he made the race-winning pass with 15 laps to go, Layne Riggs suffered two blown tires and dropped several laps off the pace. It would have taken extraordinary circumstances for Riggs to mount a comeback over the final 100 circuits at the Florida oval. Honeycutt admitted he would have preferred a straight fight all night against the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports machine, but the misfortune allowed him to simply focus on bringing it home.
Layne Riggs had been the most dominant force over the first 18 races of the campaign, racking up six wins to grab the top seed for The Chase presented by Mobil 1. Honeycutt matched that intensity with stout numbers of his own, scoring two victories for his first career national-series wins. The Willow Park, Texas native grabbed his breakthrough win in May at Watkins Glen International, coming mere hours after his first career ARCA Menards Series win at the 2.45-mile road course. Crew chief Scott Zipadelli—who missed the opening three races while recovering from serious injuries sustained in an off-season accident—felt that New York victory lifted a massive weight off the young driver's shoulders.
Honeycutt faced his share of adversity during the postseason grind, too. At Charlotte, he brushed the wall while fighting Layne Riggs for the win, allowing the No. 34 to cut the gap to 17 points. At Martinsville, late contact from Tristan McKee dropped Honeycutt from the top five down to 14th, reducing his advantage to 20 points heading into Homestead. Layne Riggs also battled heavy trouble throughout the Chase, including a loose wheel in the opener at Bristol that left him 32nd, and a wall-scuffing battle with Honeycutt at Kansas that dropped him to 19th.
The championship-clinching drive serves as sweet redemption after the heartbreak of 2025, when Honeycutt started a full campaign in Niece Motorsports' No. 45 Chevrolet before being released mid-summer. Stints with Young’s Motorsports and Halmar-Friesen Racing’s No. 52 Toyota—stepping in for Stewart Friesen after severe dirt modified injuries in Canada—kept him eligible and proved he could run with the frontrunners. Now, driving the exact No. 11 machine that Scott Zipadelli led to a record-breaking 12 wins with Corey Heim last season, Honeycutt stands at the absolute top of the sport.
“I put myself on a pedestal that if you’re not perfect, then you need to get your butt to work and figure out what it takes to win,” Honeycutt said. “Just to be able to work with a race team like this, I never would have thought I’d be able to race for Toyota or Tricon, or let alone a guy like Scott and this race team. It’s been an amazing time.”
