Kaden Honeycutt's mistake opens Truck Series title race back up

NASCAR Truck Series driver Kaden Honeycutt. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Kaden Honeycutt's late mistake at Charlotte opens NASCAR Truck Series title race back up

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Oct 9, 2026 8:02 PM ET

Had Kaden Honeycutt held on and won Friday's Ecosave 200 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he would've had a 58-point lead over Layne Riggs in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings — not an insurmountable margin, but a comfortable one nonetheless.

But a slip-up with seven laps to go sent Honeycutt from the lead to third and handed Riggs the race win on a silver platter. Going into the Oct. 16 race at Phoenix, Honeycutt's points lead is down to just 17.

Honeycutt got loose and got into the wall on the exit of turn 4 with seven laps to go, which eliminated him from race-winning contention.

Kaden Honeycutt discusses Charlotte finish

"I thought it was awesome," Honeycutt told Fox Sports of his battle for the win with Riggs. "When we went down into [turn] 1, I think he was trying to decide [to go] bottom or top. I defended. I don't know how the heck I saved it; that was pretty wild.

The battle continues! @LayneRiggs99 claims the lead after @KadenWHoneycutt makes contact with the wall. https://t.co/F2nzopE3nU
— NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Trucks (@NASCAR_Trucks) October 9, 2026

"Seeing the replay... I shouldn't have been air-blocking him as much as I did. I think I just took away what I was trying to do and focused on him too much. Should've just run my own race. I hadn't ran the top all day through three and four, just got free. Really wasn't expecting that... I think we had a good truck today. Me and [Layne] kept swapping back and forth. Just got to clean it up on my end."

At Kansas on Sept. 26, it was Riggs who made the mistake and allowed Honeycutt to win the race. On Friday, the roles were reversed.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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