After five-hour rain delay, Kaden Honeycutt wins dramatic NASCAR Truck race at Kansas

Kaden Honeycutt earned a dramatic win in Saturday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Kansas Speedway. 

At around half distance, officials red-flagged the race for rain, delaying running for nearly five hours before resuming. Once it did, Honeycutt quickly re-took command and looked unbeatable at the front.

Even after losing track position with a four-tire call in the final pit stop, it took him less than two laps to return to the race lead.

As Honeycutt won the race, Christian Eckes finished second, Brent Crews third, Daniel Hemric fourth, and Ben Rhodes fifth. Chandler Smith, Nick Leitz, Tanner Gray, Jake Garcia, and Corey LaJoie filled out the remainder of the top ten.

“Man, I’m also sick too,” said Honeycutt. “I don’t know if you can probably hear my voice, but man, great job on my whole crew … Scott Zipadelli, the freaking GOAT there on bare road.  My pit crew, man — they are just the best. There’s nothing else I can say about that. I knew the two tires were definitely going to be a bit hard to get on a 34. He had good speed. Just had execute and I just can’t thank my pit crew enough. Sorry. I didn’t do any burnouts. We got to save this thing for Homestead and motors cost us a lot too. So thank you, Kansas Speedway. Thank you, NASCAR, for letting us finish that race and put on a show for you fans. Yeah, just, again, sorry for no burnout, but thank you guys so much for staying and watching the rest of the race.”

Layne Riggs cut a tire after getting into the wall with two laps to go. He was running second, and the contact cost him dearly in the title fight. Honeycutt now leads the Truck Series championship, 37 points ahead of Riggs. Smith is third, but he is a distant 71 points back of the lead.

Stages 1 & 2

Honeycutt took the lead on the initial start, while Riggs quickly made up a lot of ground after starting deep in the pack. It was a clean opening stage, despite lots of passing and drafting action throughout the pack.

Honeycutt went on to win Stage 1, followed by Ruggiero, Riggs, Sanchez, Majeski, Eckes, Hemric, Crews, Rhodes, and Enfinger. 

During the stage break, C. Smith clipped another truck’s tire changer on pit road, and was forced to serve an end-of-line penalty. 

Honeycutt remained in control of the race, but the team told him to turn the fans off as they were worried about the battery voltage.

He continued to lead, even with constant pressure from both Eckes and Riggs.

Connor Hall went for a spin at the exit of Turn 2, triggering a caution. On the restart, Riggs took the lead briefly, but a bump from Honeycutt got him out of shape and fell back to second.

Cole Butcher had to make an unscheduled pit stop due to a flat left-front tire. As Riggs was trying to take the lead from Riggs, the caution flew once again for a spinning Hall at the exit of Turn 2, ending the stage.

Honeycutt swept the stages, winning Stage 2 over Riggs, Eckes, Sanchez, Ruggiero, Majeski, Hemric, Ankrum, Dye, and Rhodes. 

Stage 3 

NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rain delay

Photo by: Jonathan Bachman – Getty Images

Things changed dramatically at the start of the final stage. Even with rain threatening, most of the field chose to pit. Rhodes was the first driver to stay out, followed by Enfinger and a group of Ram drivers.

On pit road, the FRM issues continued as they dropped the jack on Riggs before the left-front was tight. Both Front Row drivers suffered pit road errors in the past two Chase races, costing them both a lot of valuable points in the title fight.

On the restart, Enfinger snatched the lead away from Rhodes. Behind them, Clayton Green (who also stayed out) was holding up the pack quite a bit. At the exit of Turn 2 as things got stacked up, Green collided with Honeyman and they both spun. Friesen and Dye were collected in the ensuing chaos.

Soon after, the rain began to fall, forcing NASCAR to stop the race. After a red flag that lasted a full four hours and 47 minutes, the race finally resumed with Enfinger sill in control.

Honeycutt quickly reclaimed the race lead with frantic racing throughout the pack. Riggs also quickly made up lost ground, re-entering the top five within a few laps of the restart and then taking second from Eckes.

Things went wrong for Majeski, who cut a tire after contact with Eckes and had to make an unscheduled pit stop. He also faced a commitment link violation for his late entry into the pits.

Ankrum nearly lost control after contact from Poole, and both drivers narrowly avoided an incident.

The next caution flew for Caleb Costner, who ripped his entire nose off after spinning through the wet grass.

Honeycutt maintained his advantage with Riggs pursuing him. Perez lost a top five run when he cut a tire down, pitting under green while Niece Motorsports teammate Hall also cut a tire down. Things only for worse for Niece, as Lewis spun into the inside wall, forcing a caution.

Dye and Tyrrell stayed out, while most of the field did choose to pit. Riggs won the race off pit road with a two-tire call, along with Gray and Enfinger. Honeycutt fell down to sixth after a four-tire call, and it was questionable if they got the left-front tight enough.

It was pure chaos on the restart, with several trucks making contact. Riggs took the lead, but only briefly as Honeycutt powered by on those four fresh tires. Enfinger cut a tire and came to a stop, forcing a caution. He was then held two laps for intentional drawing the yellow.

On the restart, both Sanchez and Ankrum lost strong showings after cutting tires down. 

Up front, Riggs ran extremely high as he tried to run down Honeycutt for the win. However, he got a bit too high with laps to go and hit the wall, cutting his own tire in a major blow to his title hopes.

Honeycutt went on to win the race, taking a commanding lead in the championship standings, 37 points ahead of Riggs. He now has victories at Watkins Glen, Richmond, and Kansas during the 2026 season, and five races remain before the champion is crowned.

RACE

All Stats

1	K. Honeycutt TRICON Garage	11		Toyota	134	2:09’41.608		7	75
2	C. Eckes McAnally Hilgemann Racing	91		Chevrolet	134	+1.358 2:09’42.966	1.358	8	48
3	B. Crews TRICON Garage	5		Toyota	134	+1.815 2:09’43.423	0.457	8
4	D. Hemric McAnally Hilgemann Racing	19		Chevrolet	134	+2.218 2:09’43.826	0.403	8	41
5	B. Rhodes ThorSport Racing	99		Ford	134	+2.368 2:09’43.976	0.150	8	35
6	C. Smith Front Row Motorsports	38		Ford	134	+2.537 2:09’44.145	0.169	9	31
7	N. Leitz TRICON Garage	1		Toyota	134	+4.260 2:09’45.868	1.723	11	30
8	T. Gray TRICON Garage	15		Toyota	134	+4.937 2:09’46.545	0.677	12	29
9	J. Garcia ThorSport Racing	98		Ford	134	+4.954 2:09’46.562	0.017	8	28
10	C. Lajoie Kaulig Racing	10		RAM	134	+6.006 2:09’47.614	1.052	8	27

We want your opinion!

– The Motorsport.com Team

Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: motorsport.com