That is how you seize a championship. Under a caution flag with 27 laps remaining in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Chase leader Kaden Honeycutt faced a choice: play it safe or roll the dice for fresh rubber. He keyed his mic to crew chief Scott Zipadelli with a clear directive. “I say we pit, put ’em on and go for it,” Honeycutt radioed.
It was a gamble that completely paid off. Grabbing the lead on the Lap 120 restart of the 134-lap affair, Honeycutt checked out from runner-up Christian Eckes. He powered his No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota across the finish line 1.038 seconds ahead of Eckes, screaming with raw emotion as he locked down his fifth win of the season, his first at the 1.5-mile Homestead venue, and the fifth victory of his career.
“Man, this is amazing,” Honeycutt exulted after the race. “I’ve worked so damn hard to be here.” The early part of the night saw a more conservative strategy from the newly crowned champion before he threw caution to the wind. “The first half of the race I did not want to push it too hard,” he admitted. “It fell in our hands. I put my nuts on the dash and wanted to win the race.” Post-race technical inspections in the garage and a Saturday engine teardown on the No. 11 machine both cleared without issue, cementing his status as the 2026 titleholder.
Meanwhile, the heavily anticipated title showdown against Layne Riggs evaporated almost immediately. On Lap 2, side-to-side contact with pole winner Nick Sanchez and his No. 77 Chevrolet sent shockwaves through the field. Riggs and his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford suffered a cut right rear tire, forcing an unscheduled pit stop on Lap 17. Though he took a wave-around at the end of Stage 1, another shredded right rear on Lap 46 sent him to pit road again. A subsequent pass-through penalty for too many crew members over the wall dropped him seven laps down. Riggs ultimately finished 32nd, ending the season second in the standings 83 points behind Honeycutt.
Behind the winner and Eckes, Daniel Hemric took third for McAnally-Hilgemann Racing, followed by Ty Majeski in fourth and Stewart Friesen in fifth. Corey Heim came home sixth in the No. 1 Tricon Garage Toyota after sweeping both Stage 1 and Stage 2. Chandler Smith, Jake Garcia, Grant Enfinger, and Corey LaJoie rounded out the top 10, with Smith securing third in the final standings.
For Tricon Garage and Toyota, the victory marks the manufacturer's 11th drivers' championship in the series—the very same No. 11 chassis carried to a record 12 wins and the title by Heim last year. It also marks back-to-back championship glory for Zipadelli, whom Honeycutt praised as the best crew chief on pit road. Attention now turns to the 2027 NASCAR FedEx Freight Truck Series campaign, which kicks off on Friday, Feb. 19, at Daytona International Speedway where Honeycutt will begin his title defense.
