Kaden Honeycutt Wins the NASCAR Truck Series Race at Phoenix
This is the Happy Hour Racing race recap, where we break down what actually decided the race and what it means for the championship. This one is the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Phoenix Raceway, not the Cup race.
The Short Version
Kaden Honeycutt won the Zero Carbon Bioethanol 150 at Phoenix Raceway on Friday night, October 16. He drove the No. 11 Safelite Toyota for TRICON Garage, led the final 53 laps, and beat Christian Eckes to the line by 1.556 seconds. It was his fourth win of 2026 and the fourth of his career. All four have come this season. More than anything, it changed the title fight: Honeycutt went from 17 points ahead of Layne Riggs to 39 ahead with three races left.
Honeycutt Was Not the Fastest Truck Early
Layne Riggs put the No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford on the pole at 133.141 mph, his series-leading fifth pole of 2026. He led the first 43 laps and looked like the truck to beat. Then Ty Majeski got to the bottom lane in the No. 88 ThorSport Ford and cleared him with two laps left in the stage.
Honeycutt was nowhere near that fight. He qualified second and then went backward. He ran fourth in stage one and said afterward that he was fighting the rear of the truck. Crew chief Scott Zipadelli kept working on it between runs, and by stage two Honeycutt was good enough to finish second in the stage behind Majeski.
The No. 11 conquers the desert again! @KadenWHoneycutt wins at @phoenixraceway and maintains the championship lead.
- NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 17, 2026
The Pit Call That Decided the Race
The whole night turned on one stop. A debris caution came out in Turn 1 and ran into the stage two break, which put everybody on pit road at the same time with 53 laps to go. Ben Rhodes had picked up a flat tire in that stretch and never recovered, finishing 21st and a lap down.
Stewart Friesen took two tires in the No. 52 and jumped 12 spots to the front. That is a real gamble at Phoenix. Two tires get you track position, but the long run is brutal on a flat one-mile track with worn rubber, and the final run was 53 green-flag laps with no caution to bail anybody out.
Honeycutt took four. His crew got him out first among the trucks that did, and he cleared Friesen almost immediately. From there it was over. Honeycutt led every lap to the finish and never gave up the spot. Friesen slid all the way back to 19th.
Honeycutt gave the credit to the guys over the wall. "My pit crew, they did a great job," he said. "I give so much credit to them because they are so damn good."
Ty Majeski Swept Both Stages and Finished Fourth
This is the cruel part of stage racing. Majeski won stage one and stage two, led a total of 49 laps, and scored 20 stage points. He also left Phoenix fourth in the race and fifth in the Chase, 135 points back. He had the speed and lost the track position on the one stop that mattered.
He swept the stages. but @TyMajeski caught a tough break with track position.
- NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 17, 2026
Christian Eckes came the other direction. He started 13th in the No. 91 McAnally Hilgemann Chevrolet, worked his way forward all night, and ran Honeycutt down over the last few laps without ever getting close enough to try a move. "We're bringing race trucks that are just close enough to contend, but missing something," he said after the race.
The Numbers
This was a clean race by Truck Series standards. Two cautions for 16 laps, both tied to the stage breaks, and 36 trucks in the field. Six lead changes among five drivers over 150 laps.
Who Is Hot and Who Is Not
Hot: Kaden Honeycutt. Four wins in one season for a driver who had none before this year. He also answered Charlotte, where Riggs passed him late the week before and took the win. This time he was the one who could not be caught.
Hot: Jake Garcia. Started 23rd in the No. 98 ThorSport Ford and finished fifth. That is the quietest good run of the night.
Not: Chandler Smith. He ran fifth in stage one and seventh in stage two, then got a pit road penalty for too many men over the wall and finished 15th. He dropped to fourth in the Chase, 117 points out, and said afterward that he may need multiple wins to get back in it.
Not: Stewart Friesen. The two-tire call put him out front for three laps and cost him the rest of the race. He finished 19th.
The Chase Picture With Three Races Left
Remember that the 2026 Chase is decided on points, not an elimination bracket. Nobody gets knocked out. Whoever has the most points after Homestead wins the title, so a 39-point gap is a real cushion but not a safe one.
Honeycutt leads. Riggs is 39 back, Eckes is 112 back, Smith is 117 back, and Majeski is 135 back. Realistically this is now a two-truck fight unless Talladega scrambles it, which Talladega tends to do. After that it is Martinsville on October 30 and then the championship race at Homestead-Miami on November 6. You can see every remaining date and the current points on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule and standings.
One more thing worth noting. The No. 11 TRICON Garage truck has now won the last two Truck Series races at Phoenix. Corey Heim took the 2025 championship race in it, and Honeycutt took this one.
The Bottom Line
Majeski had the fastest truck and Honeycutt had the best stop. At a flat one-mile track with one long green-flag run to the finish, the best stop wins every time.
So what do you think. Was Friesen right to take two and roll the dice, or did he throw away a top-10 for three laps out front? Drop your take in the comments.
Shop the Gear
We do not have Honeycutt gear in the store yet. Here is what we do have from the drivers who ran Phoenix:
- Ty Majeski No. 98 Truck Series Championship shirt. He swept both stages Friday night.
- Chase Elliott No. 7 2026 Truck Series North Wilkesboro shirt, from his Truck start earlier this year.
- Corey LaJoie No. 7 Chili's Racing shirt. LaJoie ran the No. 10 at Phoenix and finished 17th.
- Corey LaJoie vintage patch hat.
If none of that is your driver, the newest gear in the store is here, and the win shirt subscription sends you a shirt every time your driver goes to victory lane.
