Kaden Honeycutt earns first NASCAR Truck win in Watkins Glen
- TSN MOTORSPORTS INSIDER
- May 9
- 3 min read
Kaden Honeycutt has achieved his first victory in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. He overtook Connor Zilisch during overtime, securing the win for Tricon Garage. Earlier in the day, he also claimed a win in the ARCA Menards Series race.
Zilisch, who led the most laps, ended up in second place, while Shane van Gisbergen made a late surge to secure third in only his second Truck Series race. Daniel Hemric and Chandler Smith completed the top five.
A.J. Allmendinger achieved Ram's best result of the year by finishing sixth, spearheading a triple top ten for Kaulig Racing. Brent Crews took seventh, Mini Tyrrell came in eighth, Brenden Queen finished ninth, and Connor Mosack rounded out the top ten.
Crews started the race from pole position, and the first problem arose for Ben Rhodes, who had to go behind the wall due to transmission issues.
Natalie Decker was also black-flagged early on for not meeting the minimum speed requirement.
As anticipated, several trucks opted to short-pit the stage, while Hemric remained on track to secure the Stage 1 victory. He was followed by Ruggiero, Riggs, Allmendinger, Ankrum, Chastain, Perez, Tan, Gray, LaJoie, and Crews (the first among drivers who pitted).
There were several penalties, including an uncontrolled tire penalty for Ruggiero, which relegated him to the rear of the field.
During the restart, Cole Butcher experienced an issue that caused him to slow down and subsequently be pushed into the frontstretch wall. Zilisch made contact with Crews through the esses, seizing the lead.
Chastain, leading those who chose to pit during the stage break, advanced into the top five after starting in 33rd position.
Following contact from Mini Tyrrell, Kris Wright spun off the track but was able to continue without further incident.
Once again, several trucks opted to short-pit the stage, with the exception of Zilisch. He secured victory in Stage 2, finishing ahead of Hocevar, C. Smith, Riggs, Perez, Van Gisbergen, Enfinger, Ankrum, Ty. Reif, and Mosack.
During a caution, Wesley Slimp drove through the wet grass at the bus stop, tearing off the splitter and sending the No. 62 truck airborne.
Chastain was in the lead with Zilisch restarting in eighth. Zilisch charged forward and at one point, clashed doors with Crews as they battled for second place.
Chastain maintained the lead as Zilisch closed in, and with 15 laps remaining, Enfinger stalled on the track.
Riggs was the highest-placed truck that had pitted, positioned in tenth.
Upon the restart, Hocevar spun off Allmendinger's nose and crashed into the inside wall, prompting another caution.
Chastain was leading with ten laps left, but NASCAR penalized him for starting before the restart zone, sending him to the back of the field.
The subsequent restart was chaotic. Ruggiero leaned on Zilisch and took the lead through Turn 1. Behind them, Riggs spun, causing several trucks to swerve. Some hit the tire packs, sustaining damage; Wright, who crashed into two different tire packs, wrecked the front of his truck.
Zilisch was frustrated with Ruggiero, and the two trucks collided under caution.
Ruggiero lost the lead after a tense restart, and Zilisch pulled away. Further back, Chastain was turned off Majeski's nose, ending his race after leading 19 laps. Timmy Hill also suffered major damage, ending his race as well.
This pushed the race into overtime, and under yellow, NASCAR penalized Ruggiero for jumping the previous start, similar to Chastain's situation.
In the final restart, Honeycutt muscled past Zilisch and maintained his lead.
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