Contesting four events in two states on the same weekend is a herculean task that would test even the most seasoned of drivers.
A perfect storm of circumstances led Kaden Honeycutt to attempt such a feat this past weekend. Honeycutt‘s schedule lined up for him to run the ARCA Menards Series and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series events at Watkins Glen International on Friday before flying to North Carolina’s Ace Speedway to participate in a zMAX CARS Tour doubleheader the following evening.
The result was four victories for Honeycutt, most of them occurring in dominant fashion.
With every race, Honeycutt gained optimism about pulling off the quadruple sweep, but a small hint of doubt lingered, too. Outside circumstances like a late caution or a mechanical failure could have derailed Honeycutt‘s chances for any victory, not to mention the fact that so much racing in a short amount of time was both physically and mentally taxing.
Taking the fourth and final checkered flag in the CARS Tour Late Model Stock feature at Ace was a moment of jubilation and relief for Honeycutt, as the constant exertion and concentration behind the wheel finally took its toll on his body.
“I was so tired after the last race,” Honeycutt said. “I used every ounce of energy I had the last 20 laps to hold off Treyten [Lapcevich] there, because Treyten was coming on really strong in the Late Model Stock. He was extremely fast, and I was doing everything I could to hold him off.
“It took everything I had, and thanks to all the teams I raced for this weekend for putting cars together capable of doing something pretty insane like that.”
Kaden Honeycutt
For all the historical significance behind Honeycutt‘s accomplishment, it was not the first time he had attempted four races on the same weekend.
In November of 2023, Honeycutt was faced with a similar busy slate. The first stop was Phoenix Raceway for the ARCA Menards Series West finale and the season-ending Truck Series race a few hours later. Honeycutt after those events took a red-eye flight to North Carolina so he could participate in two CARS Tour finales at Caraway Speedway that Saturday.
Everything went about as smooth as Honeycutt could have envisioned prior to that four-race stretch. He delivered MMI Racing its first West Series owner‘s title with a ninth-place finish before securing what was then a career-best Truck Series showing of eighth with Young‘s Motorsports. Not even 12 hours later, Honeycutt was in Caraway, where he won the Pro Late Model tour feature he finished sixth in the Late Model Stock event.
The experience from that endurance weekend primed Honeycutt for last weekend’s quadrupleheader between Watkins Glen and Ace. So did his versatility as a driver. With a background on dirt tracks, Honeycutt has won races in 604 Late Models, Crate Late Models, Pro Trucks and Florida Modifieds throughout his career. Honeycutt even won the prestigious Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in 2024.
Kaden Honeycutt
Honeycutt’s understanding the intricacies of so many different cars helped him develop a unique skill set he believes can help him excel at NASCAR‘s top levels.
“What I always try to do is be as versatile as I can be,” Honeycutt said. “I believe so much in the [idea] of, ‘if you can get in any race car and win, you can do anything you set your mind to.‘ That‘s what I try to do; have a different set of skills and race craft for everything I can possibly touch.
“There‘s every type of situation you can possibly be in. You just have to be ready for when those moments happen.”
Honeycutt‘s first track of the weekend in Watkins Glen provided its own set of challenges, as he only had a handful of road-course starts to his name prior to Friday.
He fortunately had plenty of resources and experienced people on whom to rely. Along with driving the same No. 11 Tricon Garage Toyota that won the Truck Series title with Corey Heim in 2025, Honeycutt also re-united with Bruce Cook, one of the co-owners of MMI Racing, for the ARCA Menards Series race.
Honeycutt’s programs for the CARS Tour events at Ace were JC Motorsports, co-owned by Jimmy and Jamie Cox, in Pro Late Models, along with Kenneth Packer‘s Tom Usry Racing for Late Model Stocks. Honeycutt had previously won with both teams, including the most recent CARS PLM Tour race at Caraway with JC Motorsports.
Every win Honeycutt grabbed carried a distinct significance. He was thrilled to deliver Cook his first national ARCA Menards Series victory as an owner, while the CARS Tour wins at Ace with JC Motorsports and Tom Usry Racing were the perfect culmination to an exhausting-but-thrilling weekend.
Kaden Honeycutt
The Truck Series triumph stood out the most to Honeycutt in multiple regards. Not only was it Honeycutt‘s first victory in the series, but he had to best stellar road-course specialists like Connor Zilisch, Shane van Gisbergen and Brent Crews while overcoming a penalty at the end of stage two for entering a closed pit road.
Honeycutt believed his first Truck Series win should have come sooner, particularly on a short rack or an intermediate. He never imagined it would take place at a road course like Watkins Glen.
“I‘m not great at road-course racing,” Honeycutt said. “I‘ve worked really, really hard on doing the best job I possibly can to win those Truck races. In hindsight, those mean more to me than anything, because I‘ve worked my whole life to race in NASCAR and to win at the highest level I could. The Truck race was definitely hard.
“I had a lot of setbacks in the late part of the race that we had to fight back from, but we were able to do that.”
The only aspect about the Watkins Glen Truck Series victory Honeycutt did not like was that he only partially fulfilled a promise to himself and the fans. When the first win did arrive, Honeycutt intended to shotgun a beer with fans in the grandstands but could only do so on the frontstretch due to an issue with Watkins Glen‘s front access gate.
Honeycutt did manage to celebrate with the fans at Ace following his Late Model Stock victory, a feeling he still wants to enjoy for a Truck Series race soon. Now that he finally has his first Truck Series victory, Honeycutt is optimistic the momentum will keep building toward what he believes will be a championship in November.
Truck Series commitments limit the number of Late Model Stock and Pro Late Model events Honeycutt can run, another reason why last weekend was so special. Both disciplines helped launch Honeycutt on his current path in NASCAR, one that now sees him lead the Truck Series standings after eight races.
If there is a chance for him to go back to his roots, Honeycutt is more than eager to take it.
“I don‘t really have an opportunity to do something like that a lot, especially with the schedule that we have,” Honeycutt said. “Whenever that stuff comes about, I just try to take full advantage of it and do the best I possibly can in that situation. You don‘t get too many times when you‘re 22 years old and have all the energy I have to go perform and do something like that.”
WATKINS GLEN, NEW YORK – MAY 08: Kaden Honeycutt, driver of the #11 Safelite + Foster Love Toyota, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at The Glen at Watkins Glen International on May 08, 2026 in Watkins Glen, New York. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
Another stacked weekend of racing is coming up for Honeycutt in just a couple months, but the next will be more manageable. All three of Honeycutt‘s planned races are set to take place at North Wilkesboro Speedway, with the two CARS Tour events taking place Friday evening followed by the Truck Series race Saturday afternoon.
Honeycutt knows he can win all three. He already has two Pro Late Model victories at North Wilkesboro, so completing a tripleheader sweep will require Honeycutt to stay out of trouble and utilize all his knowledge about the track.
One reason Honeycutt is so confident stems from the support system he has curated over the years. From the moment he started competing in Bandoleros all the way through driving for smaller programs in the Truck Series and NASCAR O‘Reilly Auto Parts Series, Honeycutt understood how important fostering relationships would be toward sustaining his career.
With nearly every team Honeycutt guided to Victory Lane this past weekend, there was some form of longstanding relationship. Along with the previous success he found with Cook in the West Series, Honeycutt had driven for Tom Usry Racing since 2023 and was fresh off a third with JC Motorsports in the Snowflake 100 at Five Flags last winter.
Midway through 2025, Honeycutt became a part of Toyota Racing, successfully making the Truck Series Championship 4 with Halmar Friesen Racing.
Honeycutt has never forgotten the faith people have shown in him and his talent, a key factor behind his reaching NASCAR. As he moves forward from his four-race weekend sweep, Honeycutt intends to keep rewarding that faith.
“It plays a lot into the work you can put into to be successful and surrounding yourself with the right people that believe in you,” Honeycutt said. “If you don‘t have anybody around you that believes in you, then it doesn‘t really work out great. It‘s been amazing to work with the people I‘ve been working with the past couple of years and this year with Toyota Racing.
“It improved my race craft, and it improved myself as a person, so it‘s been really fun.”
As the weight of what he accomplished settled in at Ace during the post-race festivities with the fans and his team, Honeycutt knew he did not have to be there. He could have ended his weekend after two races, especially since he achieved a lifelong goal of winning a national NASCAR event the day before.
That is not who Honeycutt is. Honeycutt is a racer, determined to do whatever he can to prove he is capable of being a NASCAR Cup Series driver one day.
Winning four races in two days does not guarantee Honeycutt a path to that mountaintop, but it does get him closer than he’s ever been.
