Kaden Honeycutt not comparing himself to Layne Riggs ahead of NASCAR Truck Series Chase

It's clear going into Thursday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase opener at Bristol Motor Speedway that Layne Riggs and Kaden Honeycutt are far and away the two favorites to win the championship. 

Riggs, a six-time winner on the season, is the No. 1 seed and has a 25-point lead over Honeycutt, who has won twice this season, going into Bristol. 

But Honeycutt isn't focused on Riggs going into his first postseason run with TRICON Garage. 

"Honestly, I don’t really compare myself to anybody," Honeycutt said Tuesday. "We’re racing 35 other trucks on the racetrack to win every week and that’s kind of the mindset. What this team sets on is we go out to win no matter who’s in front of us, a Chase guy or a non-Chase guy, it doesn’t matter. We go out and try to win the race and the points take care of themselves after that."

Kaden Honeycutt trying to chase down Layne Riggs

As evidenced by Justin Allgaier in the O'Reilly Series and Denny Hamlin in the Cup Series, the 25-point advantage given to the No. 1 seed in the Chase can be whittled down quickly. A win from Honeycutt on a Thursday and Riggs finishing outside of the top five or top 10 could very well vault Honeycutt to the top of the standings. 

"As far as being able to jump that 25-point gap in one race, I think you would have to sweep both stages and win," Honeycutt said. "The one seed would have to, I think, probably finish second or third in the stages and run second or third, and that would make it even after it. It’s definitely very difficult. 

"I feel like if we just execute, do our own deal, race our race, and not try to do anything else other than that and not focus on points so much, just focus on winning, and everything kind of takes care of itself after that.”

 While Honeycutt has mostly been in lockstep with Riggs this season, the latter is certainly seen as more of a favorite in the title hunt. But that doesn't mean that Honeycutt can't take the championship himself, and a strong run at Bristol on Thursday could be the start of a heavyweight Chase fight.

Quotes provided by NASCAR Media.