Kaden Honeycutt wins NASCAR Truck Series race at Homestead and 2026 championship

The way Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Homestead-Miami Speedway played out, Kaden Honeycutt could've finished last and still walked away with the championship. 

Contact with Nick Sanchez on Lap 2 for fellow title contender Layne Riggs, who entered Friday's race 20 points back of Honeycutt in the standings, led to Riggs having a flat tire and coming down pit road. After coming back down into the pits to repair damage and once more to serve a penalty, he was out of title contention.

Still, Honeycutt's crew chief, Scott Zippadelli, kept the reins pulled back on his driver — until the final restart, where Honeycutt took the lead from Christian Eckes and ran away, denying Eckes his first win of the season. 

Honeycutt went on to win the race by seconds and the championship by 83 points over Riggs, who finished six laps down in 32nd. It was Honeycutt's fifth win of the 2026 season. 

"I love you guys so much," a tearful Honeycutt said to his team over the radio. "Thank you."

"This team is a frickin' hall of fame team," Honeycutt told Fox Sports. "Scott Zippadelli is the best damn crew chief on that pit road and he's the best man out there. He's done nothing but mentor me and help me get better every single week. This is amazing. I've worked so damn hard to be here. Thank you to everybody who's let me drive their race car for them, whether it was dirt, asphalt or road course, it didn't matter. That is because of you guys. I'm sitting right here with these guys behind me as champions.

"We just won at freakin' Homestead and the damn championship. I was saving the first half of that race. I didn't want to push it too hard. It fell into our hands. I put my nuts on the dash and wanted to win the race."

Notable results

The title gives the No. 11 TRICON Garage team, which won the 2025 title with Corey Heim, back-to-back championships. 

Eckes, Daniel Hemric, Ty Majeski and Stewart Friesen rounded out the top five, with Stage 1 and 2 winner Corey Heim, Chandler Smith, Jake Garcia, Grant Enfinger and Corey LaJoie completing the top 10. 

Other notable finishers include Gio Ruggiero in 11th, Ben Rhodes in 13th, Parker Kligerman in 15th, Brenden Queen in 20th and Matt Crafton in 25th. Nick Sanchez finished last (35th) after a crash in Stage 3. 

The 2027 Truck Series season will begin on Feb. 19 at Daytona International Speedway.