Kaden Honeycutt Wins the Truck Series Championship at Homestead
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 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, not the Cup race.
The Short Version
Kaden Honeycutt won the Truck Series championship Friday night, November 6, and he won the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway while he was at it. He took the lead from Christian Eckes on the final restart and beat him by 1.038 seconds. It was his fifth win of 2026 and his first series title. The two-truck fight everybody expected never showed up: Layne Riggs came in 20 points back, cut a tire early and finished 32nd, six laps down.
The Title Fight Ended Before It Started
This was billed as a shootout between Honeycutt and Riggs, and it barely got started. On Lap 2, Riggs and pole winner Nick Sanchez made side-to-side contact. The No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford snapped sideways and Riggs saved it, but the damage was done. He faded, complained about the tires cording, and the right rear finally came apart. He pitted on Lap 17 and came back two laps down.
He stayed out at the end of Stage 1 to take the wave-around and start digging out. Then on Lap 46 he was back on pit road with another shredded right rear. A pass-through penalty for too many crew members over the wall left him seven laps down, and that was the championship.
Riggs told it straight afterward.
"I don't know what happened to the 77. I thought I was good. They said we were close together. I got super free up under him. Next thing I knew, we got a tire down."
He also gave his team credit for getting there at all, saying they knew it would take an almost perfect race and he was proud they even had a chance.
Corey Heim wins Stage 2 of Trucks Homestead
- Matt Weaver (@MattWeaverRA) November 7, 2026
Kaden Honeycutt finishes sixth as Layne Riggs is seven laps down
+33
It's not mathematically done but there is no statistically reasonable way this is an open question
Kaden Honeycutt is going to be the 2026 Truck Series champion
Honeycutt Could Have Coasted and Did Not
With Riggs out of it, all Honeycutt had to do was stay clean. For a while that was the plan. He said he saved his truck through the first half of the race and did not want to push too hard. Corey Heim, his TRICON Garage teammate, swept the first two stages, and Honeycutt finished third and sixth.
Eckes took over in Stage 3 and led the most laps of anyone, 46 in all. Green-flag stops started around 40 to go. Then Sanchez, who had started on the pole, lost a driveshaft and his night was over at Lap 104, and the caution came out for possible fluid on the frontstretch.
That set up the call of the race. Under yellow with 27 laps left, Honeycutt was deciding whether to use his last set of fresh tires. He got on the radio with crew chief Scott Zipadelli: "I say we pit, put 'em on and go for it."
Connor Mosack, Justin Haley, Parker Kligerman and Leland Honeyman Jr. stayed out, and most of the field pitted. Eckes and Honeycutt were the first two on fresh tires to get back to the front. A wreck in Turn 4 on Lap 115 collected Tyler Ankrum, Andres Perez De Lara, Tyler Reif and Tanner Gray and ended the night for Ankrum and Perez De Lara. That brought out the final caution.
On the final restart on Lap 121, Honeycutt went after Eckes, cleared him and drove away. He led the final 13 laps and crossed the line screaming, knowing the title was his.
The Numbers
- Top five: Kaden Honeycutt, Christian Eckes, Daniel Hemric, Ty Majeski, Stewart Friesen.
- Laps led: Eckes 46, Heim 45, Honeycutt 15, Sanchez 10, Hemric 8, Mosack 5, Chandler Smith 3, Giovanni Ruggiero 1, Cole Butcher 1.
- Lead changes: 20 among nine drivers.
- Cautions: four for 25 laps, including the two stage breaks.
- Lead-lap finishers: 27 of 35 trucks.
- Race time: 1 hour, 45 minutes, 7 seconds at an average of 114.73 mph.
Who Is Hot and Who Is Not
Hot: Eckes, who started 17th, led the most laps and finished second, though he ends 2026 without a win. His McAnally-Hilgemann Racing teammate Daniel Hemric went from 16th to third. Corey LaJoie went from 26th to 10th, and Jake Garcia from 24th to eighth.
Not: Riggs, obviously. Sanchez, who won the pole at 164.855 mph and finished last in the 35-truck field. Heim won both stages and was still running third on Lap 126 before finishing sixth.
What This Truck Series Championship Means
Honeycutt did not have a Truck Series win until May 8 at Watkins Glen. He added Richmond, Kansas, Phoenix and now Homestead, so all five wins of his career came this season. A year ago he finished third in the standings. He said what you would expect from a guy who has driven anything anyone would give him.
"I've worked so damn hard to be here. Thank you to every owner, thank you everybody that's let me drive the race car for them, whether it was dirt, asphalt, road course, doesn't matter."
It is the same No. 11 Toyota Heim drove to a record 12 wins and the title last year, and the same crew chief. Zipadelli now has back-to-back championships with two different drivers, and it is the 11th Truck Series drivers' title for Toyota. Honeycutt called him "the best damn crew chief on that pit road."
Riggs is going to think about this one for a while. He won seven races to Honeycutt's five and led 988 laps to Honeycutt's 592, and he had no DNFs all year. He still finishes second by 83 points. Smith was third at 131 back, Majeski fourth at 152 and Eckes fifth at 163. Brenden Queen took Rookie of the Year.
See how every driver scored in our Homestead Truck Series driver grades, catch up with the Martinsville recap and the Phoenix recap that set this up, and check the final points on the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series schedule and standings.
The Bottom Line
Honeycutt only needed to stay clean and beat a wounded Riggs. He took his last set of tires and went and won the race anyway, and that is a pretty good way to claim your first title.
So what do you think. Did the best truck of 2026 win the championship, or did one bad night on Lap 2 cost the guy with seven wins? Drop your take in the comments.
Shop the Gear
We do not have Honeycutt or Riggs gear in the store yet. Here is what we do have from Friday's field, from Truck Series wins and from Homestead:
- Ty Majeski No. 98 Truck Series Championship shirt. He finished fourth Friday night and fourth in the final points.
- Corey LaJoie No. 7 Chili's Racing shirt. LaJoie drove the No. 10 at Homestead and finished 10th.
- Kyle Larson 2025 Homestead winner shirt, from his Cup win at this track.
- Kyle Busch No. 7 2026 Truck Series Dover win shirt.
- Chase Elliott No. 7 2026 Truck Series North Wilkesboro shirt.
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.
