By Reid Scearce
Caden Honeycutt credits his team’s recovery for Saturday night’s victory in the Stop Suicide.com 200 at Kansas Speedway.
Having already shown the speed to win Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway, Caden Honeycutt waited a long time for a rain delay before getting the job done.
Kaden Honeycutt credits team
Honeycutt led the first two stages and was running third when rain stopped the race after 70 laps. The delay was 4 hours and 47 minutes before NASCAR restarted the event.
During his post-race media availability, Fan4Racing’s Reed Sears asked Honeycutt how frustrating the delay was, knowing how fast his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota is, and whether coming back from the delay created additional pressure.
“Honestly, I think the disappointing thing was when pit road opened, then we pitted, then the caution came out and it started raining again.” Honeycutt continued. “I was really hoping we wouldn’t call a race after that. That would definitely be terrifying.”
Instead, Honeycutt used the unfortunate delay to his advantage.
“I think it was just a good reset,” Honeycutt said. “Me and Hirsch (Tony Hirschman) were able to talk under the red flag and talk about some things restart-wise and talk to my coaches and those who wanted Toyota to make a better decision in the last 50 or 60 laps to finish the race.”
That restart paid off as the race resumed. Honeycutt quickly returned to the front and eventually regained the lead after a late-race pit stop, leading 111 of the 134 laps and scoring a point. his third win of the season.
Honeycutt credited the team’s execution in the latter part of the race, including his pit crew.
“I think we did just that,” Honeycutt said. “They had good restarts, well done pit crew, fantastic job as always. They’re the best on pit road.”
Victory is also moving Honeycutt leader Truck Series Chase, 37 points ahead of Lane Riggs after the Kansas race. Honeycutt said the team can now enjoy some time to regroup before the Chase resumes Oct. 9 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, though he won’t have the same break.
“Have a nice weekend… Well, I don’t have a week off. I’ll be competing in Newport next week.”
For Honeycutt, the long wait in Kansas ended up being a chance to regroup, make adjustments and get back on the track ready to finish what he started.
Related to:
