Caden Honeycutt dominates Kansas Speedway for NASCAR Truck Series win; Takes over the Chase Lead on Saturday night.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. – On a near-perfect day, with the notable exception of the weather, Caden Honeycutt leaves Kansas Speedway with a victory to end the Suicide Stop 200 race and control of the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Chase.
Kaden Honeycutt dominates Kansas
On Saturday, Honeycutt led 111 of 134 laps, won the first two stages and built his No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota lead late in the race to a 37-point lead over star Lane Riggs, who closed the outside wall in the closing laps to finish 19th.
Riggs overcame a botched pit stop and was running second until contact with the wall dropped him through the field in the final two laps.
“We just executed,” said Honeycutt, who won at 1.5 miles for the first time in Kansas, third time this season and third time in his career. “We executed all night, I can’t thank my pit crew enough.
“Sorry I didn’t do any burnouts, we’ve got to save this thing for Homestead (the last Chase race). Engines are also very expensive.
Intermittent rain stopped the race after 70 laps, with drivers and their crews waiting 4 hours 47 minutes for the red flag restart.
“Thanks to NASCAR and everyone for letting us finish the race,” said Honeycutt, who was third when rain interrupted the course. “It rained again in Victory Lane.”
Rain delay results in late restart
When the second Chase event of the postseason resumed on lap 78, Honeycutt resumed his dominance, passing Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes, who had taken the top two positions, out on older tires.
It was plain sailing from there until Riggs took two tires to Honeycutt’s four on the final pit stop under caution on lap 117.
“I just went for it,” said Riggs, who entered the Chase as the top seed. “The hard one went and went when I shouldn’t have gone for it. I should have just settled for second place right there and shot it later.
“It’s just disappointing. (My) Ford F-150 was really fast. I felt like we weren’t as good as 11 all day. We were just too loose… I had a really big run (with two laps to go) or I thought I was going to have a big run with the front end. Never got there. Instead I hit the wall.”
With Riggs fading in the final two laps, Honeycutt finished 1.358 seconds ahead of second-place Christian Eckes. Brent Crews is third, followed by Chase drivers Daniel Hemrick, Ben Rhodes and Chandler Smith.
Taking the initial green flag from fourth position, Honeycutt grabbed the lead from Nick Sanchez on the opening lap and won the first stage wire to wire.
In fact, Honeycutt didn’t relinquish the lead until lap 48, when Riggs crossed the line first on a restart after Connor Hall spun on the back to bring out the second caution.
Riggs’ lead was short-lived. On lap 50, Honeycutt hit Riggs’ No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford rear bumper. Riggs’ truck was hitting the outside wall in a flash. Honeycutt passed Riggs to the inside and retook the lead.
When Hall spun for the second time on lap 54, bringing the second stint to an early end, Honeycutt took the top spot and completed the first two lap sweep. Honeycutt came out under caution for tires and fuel for a stage break on lap 61 and relinquished the lead as eight trucks remained on track for the lap 65 restart.
A multicar crash on the restart lap slowed the field again, with Honeycutt already moving up to third in the standings. Four laps later, in the rain, NASCAR brought the trucks to pit road and red-flagged the race, with Enfinger in the lead and Rhodes in second.
Non-Chase drivers Nick Leitz, Tanner Gray, Jake Garcia and Corey Lajoie rounded out the top ten in finishing order. Chase driver Giovanni Ruggiero was 13th. Tyler Ankrum finished 25th after a late tire blowout, Ty Majeski was 29th and Enfinger was 31st.
A pit road disaster for Chase drivers
While Honeycutt had a trouble-free race up to that point, Riggs suffered pit road mishaps as he had in the opening Chase at Bristol Motor Speedway. During his pit stop on lap 61, Riggs had to return to his stall after the jack fell off with the lug nuts on the left front wheel still loose.
Riggs restarted 25th and gained six places on the restart before a wreck and rain stopped the race.
Enfinger, who led throughout the red-flag period, was penalized for speeding on pit road, a crash and a two-lap penalty for an intentional caution, stopping at turn three after hitting the wall on lap 123.
In total, Honeycutt scored 75 points, scoring all but one point for posting the fastest lap, which was just behind Ankrum. Honeycutt is 71 points ahead of Smith, who is third in the standings.
Next
The NASCAR Truck Series will prepare for its third Chase race this Friday, October 9 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The EcoSave 200 begins at 5 PM ET on FOX, NASCAR Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. Last year’s winner was Corey Heim.
Related to:
