Tricon Garage has secured its lineup early, announcing that Kaden Honeycutt and Gio Ruggiero are officially returning to the organization for the 2027 FedEx Freight Truck Series season. That is a massive statement of intent from the team as the current campaign heads down the stretch.
Honeycutt, who currently sits as the Truck Series points leader, is locked in for his second season behind the wheel of the No. 11 Toyota Tundra. The Texas native joined Tricon ahead of the 2026 campaign after grinding through a split 2025 season that saw him finish out the year in Halmar-Friesen Racing's No. 52 entry, where he remarkably piloted the truck to the Championship 4 in place of the injured Stewart Friesen.
His 2026 season has been nothing short of a masterclass in a machine. Through 22 races, Honeycutt has bagged four wins—starting with a stunning double-duty breakthrough in May at Watkins Glen International where he won his first ARCA Menards Series race and his first career Truck Series victory just hours apart, and adding another win in the series' most recent race at Phoenix Raceway. He leads the entire field with 14 top fives, 17 top 10s, and a glittering 7.8 average finish. With three races remaining in The Chase presented by Mobil 1, he holds a 39-point advantage over Layne Riggs heading into Talladega Superspeedway.
Before taking the national stage full-time, the 23-year-old spent 2022 to 2024 running part-time slates while cutting his teeth in late models, ultimately capturing the 2024 CARS Tour Pro Late Model championship.
On the other side of the Tricon garage, Gio Ruggiero is returning to the No. 17 for his third consecutive year with the team. Ruggiero made his jump to the Truck Series in 2025 after a full season in the ARCA Menards Series East. While he missed the postseason as a rookie, he bounced back by scoring his first win that fall at Talladega. Through sheer, relentless consistency in 2026, the Massachusetts native raced his way into The Chase as the No. 5 seed, racking up 11 top 10s through 22 races to sit seventh in points, 151 markers behind his teammate Honeycutt.
While Honeycutt currently works with veteran crew chief Scott Zipadelli and Ruggiero is paired with Jeff Stankiewicz, Tricon did not disclose any additional information regarding driver and crew chief pairings for 2027.
