Toyota Development Driver Kaden Honeycutt had an unforgettable weekend as he claimed victory in four races, across four different disciplines, including his first-ever NASCAR Truck Series win.
NASCAR
Honeycutt battled through adversity in Friday’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race at Watkins Glen International, including a pit road penalty coming into the final stage. The Texas-native drove from the back of the field throughout the final stage and ended up on the front row on the final restart. He took full advantage – passing Connor Zilisch in the first two corners before driving away to his earn his first Truck Series victory in his 67th start. With the win, Honeycutt extended his points advantage to 29. Brent Crews won the pole and led 19 laps before damage to his Tundra, as he was able to battle back to a seventh-place finish.
“It feels amazing,” said Honeycutt. “Thank you Toyota, this whole 11 crew. Thank you Trent (Rodriguez, manager, driver development, TRD), Slugger (Labbe, Engineering Manager, Vehicle Support, TRD), Matt Puccia (competition director, TRICON Garage), Scott (Zipadelli, crew chief) that believed in me to take this truck over after Corey (Heim) drove it last year. It was just amazing. I can’t believe I just won at a road course. That’s just unbelievable. Thank you Safelite, Foster Love, Toyota, TRICON – everyone on this team. My pit crew is just the best pit crew in the pit area; just thank you so much.”
- Kaden Honeycutt
Ty Gibbs executed a perfect fuel save throughout the final stage and delivered a third-place finish to lead Toyota in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen on Sunday won by Shane van Gisbergen. Gibbs, who scored his sixth top-five in 12 races this season with the run, moved up to sixth in the standings. His teammate, Chase Briscoe, followed the same strategy to finish fourth.
“Honestly, it wasn’t too hard, just frustrating,” said Gibbs. “I felt like it would have been fun to race with him for the win. Unfortunately, we had to finish third today, but that was a good points day for us – just having to stretch that fuel out a little bit. It was fun though. I had a great day. Just keep going. Huge thank you to my team, Monster Energy, Oakley, Toyota – everyone that helps me out.”
- Ty Gibbs
Tyler Reddick followed an alternative strategy with a pit stop in the final stage. He charged through the field and finished fifth – his series-leading eighth top-five of the season. With the finish, Reddick extended his points lead to 129 over Denny Hamlin. John Hunter Nemechek (10th) delivered a season-best finish and gave Toyota four of the top-10 finishers.
Taylor Gray did an excellent job in the final stage as he saved just enough gas to cross the finish line in third at Watkins Glen on Saturday. Gray, who ran in the top-10 most of the day, elected to pit at a caution before the fuel window was open, but was able to save enough fuel to make it to the finish. His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Brandon Jones, had another strong run as he finished fifth – his fourth consecutive top-10 - to move up to a season-best fourth in the standings.
“First of all, super proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, and thank you to TOYOTA RACING, Operation 300 and M-Experiment,” said Gray. “It was challenging at times. I was just trying to execute my job inside the car, saving fuel and lifting early, shorting my shifts up to make it to the end. Really proud of Jason Ratcliff (crew chief) for that strategy call. Really good strategy. I felt like straight up we were a fifth-to-seventh place car, but obviously really proud of everyone on the 54 team to be able to score a better finish.”
- Taylor Gray
Brent Crews looked to have the car to beat as he won his first stage and was flying through the field after his final pit stop, before a massive vibration slowed his pace. He was able to hold on to finish sixth – his fifth straight top-six finish. With the result, he moved into the provisional Chase field for the first time in his career – despite missing four races early in the season before he turned 18.
ARCA
The ARCA Menards Series race at Watkins Glen kicked off what ended up being an incredible weekend for Kaden Honeycutt. The Toyota Development Driver started 15th after inclement weather cancelled qualifying but quickly moved through the field to the lead by lap 13. He led the remainder of the race to win his first national ARCA Menards Series race. Nitro Motorsports had a strong race – with all five of their entries finishing in the top-10, including a team-best Thomas Annunziata in third. Jake Bollman held onto his points lead with a 10th-place finish.
LATE MODELS
Wins three and four on the weekend for Honeycutt came at Ace Speedway in CARS Tour action on Saturday night. He won from the pole in the Pro Late Model (PLM) class to start the evening, before moving to the lead around the midpoint of the Late Model Stock Car (LMSC) race that followed. He overcame several late race restarts to hold on to his advantage and become the first driver in CARS Tour history to sweep the weekend.
SPRINT CAR
Buddy Kofoid kicked off a three-race week in fine fashion as he earned his fifth victory of the season at Lincoln Speedway on Tuesday. The Toyota Development Driver started fourth and took the lead with 17 to go before holding off a challenge by Carson Macedo in the closing laps. In the Friday and Saturday doubleheader at Williams Grove Speedway, Kofoid earned a sixth-place result on Friday before finishing 11th on Saturday. He remains third overall in the point standings.
WHAT’S NEXT
NASCAR shifts back to a traditional oval as they compete at Dover Motor Speedway this weekend, affectionally known as The Monster Mile. The NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series is on Friday, May 15 at 5:00 p.m. ET on FS1. On Saturday, May 16, the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series runs at 4:00 p.m. ET on the CW, while the NASCAR Cup Series closes the weekend with its annual All-Star Race on Sunday, May 17 at 1:00 p.m. ET on FS1.
The ARCA Menards Series heads to Ohio as they run at Toledo Speedway. The race is on Saturday, May 16 at 7:00 p.m. ET on FS1.
