Kaden Honeycutt wins incident-free Phoenix NASCAR Truck race, extends points lead

October 17, 2026 · Yahoo Sports

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Kaden Honeycutt earned his fourth win of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season on Friday, winning a largely uneventful race at Phoenix Raceway. Outside of the Stage 1 end and a Stage 2-ending debris yellow, there were no incident-related cautions.

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Honeycutt's victory helped increase his championship advantage, now 39pts ahead of Layne Riggs, with Riggs finishing third behind runner-up Christian Eckes (who now has three consecutive runner-up finishes).

"My pit crew did a great job, man," said Honeycutt after the win. "I give so much credit to them because they're so damn good ... this is so amazing. Phoenix! We finally got one, baby! Woo! Yeah, I just can't say nothing about Scott [Zipadelli, crew chief]. My crew, David, Tim, Chuck, Adam, Cube -- everyone that works so dang hard on these race trucks. Man, I'm so fortunate to be able to drive these things, and, um, they spent all their hours of the day just for me to drive them. And I can't be more grateful for them, and so grateful for the opportunity at Toyota Racing and TRICON ... just, so awesome."

Kaden Honeycutt, No. 11 TRICON Garage

He also announced a cool new tradition, as he will give away a helmet to a young fan after every race win.

Ty Majeski, who swept both stages, finished fourth, and Jake Garcia rounded out the top five. William Sawalich, Daniel Hemric, Gio Ruggiero, Grant Enfinger, and Brent Crews completed the top ten.

Stages 1 and 2

Riggs quickly pulled out to a three-second lead at the start of the race, while Dawson Sutton was penalized for a start violation.

Majeski made his way up to second and quickly closed on Riggs. After a brief battle where they split a lapped truck, Majeski prevailed to narrowly win the stage.

As Majeski won Stage 1, he was followed by Riggs, Lewis, Honeycutt, C. Smith, Eckes, Rhodes, Tan. Gray, Ruggiero, and Garcia.

Riggs fell behind title rival Honeycutt on pit road, but Majeski held onto the lead. On the restart, Majeski was able to keep Honeycutt at bay and maintain his advantage.

Tanner Gray had to make an unscheduled pit stop after sustaining damage and a tire rub.

On the final lap of the stage, the caution came out slightly earlier than expected due to a tire carcass from Ben Rhodes that was on the track.

Majeski won Stage 2 under caution, followed by Honeycutt, Eckes, Riggs, Garcia, Ruggiero, C. Smith, Hemric, Lewis, and Sawalich.

Stage 3

Stewart Friesen took two tires, giving him the race lead for the restart.

Landen Lewis lost quite a bit of track position on pit road as the team tried to diagnose a mechanical issue, while Chandler Smith was sent to the rear for too many crew members over the wall. The team was hoping to address a hole in the nose as well.

On the restart, Majeski was hindered by Friesen restarting directly ahead of him, giving Honeycutt the lead with Eckes in pursuit.

While they tried desperately to bridge the gap to Honeycutt, those chasing him struggled to get it under one second.

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