May 8, 2026 | By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service

Kaden Honeycutt outduels Connor Zilisch for first NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series win

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y.—A week after chastising himself at Texas for repeated failure to win NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series races, Kaden Honeycutt pulled off his first career victory over the two drivers who have dominated NASCAR road courses over the past two years.

Honeycutt grabbed the lead from Connor Zilisch through tight Turn 1 on the first lap of overtime and pulled away for his first victory in the series in Friday’s Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at The Glen.

A few hours earlier, Honeycutt had won the ARCA Menards Series race on the 2.45-mile Watkins Glen International circuit. With the Truck Series win, he became the second driver to win both an ARCA race and Truck Series event on the same day, joining Sam Mayer (2020 at Bristol) in that distinction.

“It’s just amazing,” said Honeycutt, who got to the finish line 0.902 second ahead of Zilisch. “I can’t believe I just won on a road course. It’s just unbelievable.”

Honeycutt proceeded to shotgun a beer beneath the flag stand, reveling in the liquid pouring across his face.

The victory was no easy accomplishment for the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota, which went to Victory Lane last year at The Glen with Corey Heim behind the wheel.

Honeycutt drew a penalty near the end of the second stage for pitting when pit road was closed and was forced to restart the final 32-lap stage from the rear of the field. A series of cautions and restart violations by both Ross Chastain and Gio Ruggiero, however, helped Honeycutt on his march back to the front.

Ruggiero’s infraction while leading on Lap 69 put Honeycutt on the front row next to then-leader Zilisch for the overtime restart. Zilisch chose the outside lane for the two-lap shootout but lost the top spot to Honeycutt as they navigated the right-hand first turn.

“On the restart, I think Zilisch missed a shift a little bit coming off of (Turn) 7, and I was tight to him,” Honeycutt said. “The only option I had… we were three-wide going into (Turn) 1, and I barely got to his right rear and touched him a little bit.

“It was just enough to scoot by him. As soon as I got the lead, I pulled my visor up, and I was full-blown focused after that.”

After the race, Zilisch rued his lane choice for the overtime.

“It was just an unfortunate way to end that race,” said Zilisch, who was denied his first Truck Series victory in his ninth start. “I chose the top, hoping we could get through there without making contact. I knew that the bottom would be better if that happened, but I didn’t want to be that guy.

“Yeah, I just wish I could go back and re-do it and pick the inside, but we’ve got two more races this weekend (O’Reilly Auto Parts Series and NASCAR Cup Series). I appreciate Spire Motorsports for giving me a really fast truck.”

Five-time 2025 NASCAR Cup Series road course winner Shane van Gisbergen finished third, thanks to the New Zealander’s ability to pick off cars during the series of late restarts.

Daniel Hemric was fourth and Chandler Smith fifth, followed by Ram Free Agent driver AJ Allmendinger, pole winner Brent Crews, Mini Tyrrell, Brenden Queen and Connor Mosack. The race marked the first time multiple Ram drivers (Allmendinger, Tyrrell and Queen) finished in the top 10 in the brand’s return to NASCAR racing this year.

Honeycutt led only the two overtime laps. Zilisch led a race-high 28 laps and won the second stage. Crews led 17 laps from the start (19 overall) before pitting and handing the stage win to Daniel Hemric.

Honeycutt leaves The Glen with the series lead by 29 points over Smith.

Chastain held the lead over Zilisch for a restart with eight laps left in regulation but powered his Niece Motorsports Chevrolet before he reached the restart zone.

“What?!” exclaimed Chastain over his radio. “You can’t get a penalty when you’re the control car.”

Video, however, showed the car launching early. Sent to the back, Chastain fell victim to a wreck in Turn 5 on Lap 70 and finished 28th. That incident forced the overtime.

Connor Hocevar, last week’s Truck Series race winner at Texas, ran in the top 10 for most of the afternoon before checking up on a Lap 62 restart and nosing into the inside frontstretch wall off Allmendinger’s bumper.

“I’m sure AJ didn’t plan on me lifting,” said Hocevar, who will race in the NASCAR Cup Series’ Go Bowing at the Glen on Sunday. “I just enjoyed getting my butt kicked by the teenagers.”

Hocevar is 23 years old.


NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race Number 8
Race Results for the Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at The Glen - Friday, May 8, 2026
Watkins Glen International - Watkins Glen, NY - 2.45 - Mile Road

Total Race Length - 74 Laps - 181.3 Miles

                                                    Stage 1   Stage 2  
Fin Str Trk Driver Team Laps Pts Pos           Pos Status Tms Laps

1 7 11 Kaden Honeycutt Safelite + Foster Love Toyota 74 55 Running 1 2
2 5 71 Connor Zilisch(i) Trackhouse Labs Chevrolet 74 1 0 Running 3 28
3 8 4 Shane Van Gisbergen(i) Circle B Motorsports Auctions Chevrolet 74 6 0 Running
4 3 19 Daniel Hemric Delphi Chevrolet 74 1 43 Running 2 5
5 11 38 Chandler Smith VisitOswegoCounty.com Ford 74 3 40 Running
6 16 25 AJ Allmendinger(i) RAM RAM 74 4 0 Running
7 1 1 Brent Crews(i) Mobil 1 Toyota 74 10 0 Running 2 19
8 30 14 Mini Tyrrell # Ram's Race for the Seat RAM 74 29 Running
9 29 12 Brenden Queen # Cummins RAM 74 28 Running
10 4 7 Connor Mosack Friends of Jaclyn Foundation Chevrolet 74 10 28 Running
11 17 98 Jake Garcia Quanta/Curb Records Ford 74 26 Running
12 23 10 Corey LaJoie Mopar RAM 74 9 27 Running
13 22 44 Andres Perez De Lara BLAC/Go Kart Mania Academy Chevrolet 74 7 5 34 Running
14 20 42 Tyler Reif J.F. Electric/Utilitra Chevrolet 74 9 25 Running
15 6 17 Giovanni Ruggiero First Auto Group Toyota 74 2 31 Running 1 3
16 15 91 Christian Eckes NAPA Auto Care Chevrolet 74 21 Running
17 18 18 Tyler Ankrum LIUNA Chevrolet 74 5 8 29 Running
18 19 52 Stewart Friesen Halmar International Toyota 74 19 Running
19 27 26 Dawson Sutton Rackley Roofing Chevrolet 74 18 Running
20 31 76 Nathan Nicholson Whelen Engineering Chevrolet 74 17 Running
21 13 34 Layne Riggs Love's Travel Stops Ford 74 3 4 31 Running
22 35 33 Stephen Mallozzi Southside Restaurants/Spirits Ford 74 15 Running
23 25 16 Justin Haley Declaration of Deals Sales Event RAM 74 14 Running
24 2 88 Ty Majeski Menards/Armstrong Flooring Bruce Ford 74 13 Running
25 21 5 Adam Andretti TopLiner Toyota 73 12 Accident
26 34 2 Jackson Lee Levrack Ford 70 11 Running
27 28 56 Timmy Hill Coble Enterprises Toyota 68 10 Accident
28 33 45 Ross Chastain(i) 0
NY Governor's Traffic Safety Committee 68 6 Accident 2 17
29 26 81 Kris Wright AHN Chevrolet 64 8 Accident
30 14 15 Tanner Gray Place of Hope Toyota 64 8 10 Running
31 10 77 Carson Hocevar(i) Delaware Life Chevrolet 60 2 0 Accident
32 9 99 Ben Rhodes TYM Ford 60 5 Running
33 12 9 Grant Enfinger Grant County Mulch Chevrolet 57 7 8 Transmission
34 32 62 Wesley Slimp HNTB Toyota 34 3 Accident
35 24 13 Cole Butcher # Atlantic Tilt Load Ford 31 2 DVP
36 36 22 Natalie Decker Nico's Bagels and Brunch Ford 20 1 Too Slow

Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 10 Mins, 43 Secs. Average Speed: 82.218 MPH Margin of Victory: .902 Seconds

Stage 1 Top 10: 19, 17, 34, 25, 18, 45, 44, 15, 10, 1
Stage 2 Top 10: 71, 77, 38, 34, 44, 4, 9, 18, 42, 7

Race Comments: Kaden Honeycutt has won the Bully Hill 176 Vineyards at The Glen, his first career victory in the NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series. Prior to the start of the race, the following vehicle(s) dropped to the rear of the field under penalty for the reason(s) indicated: Nos. 81, 26 & 42 (unapproved adjustments).

Failed to Qualify: (2) 20 Toni Breidinger, 69 Dystany Spurlock(i).

Caution Flags: 6 for 15 laps; Laps: 22-23 (Stage 1 Conclusion  [33]); 42-44 (Stage 2 Conclusion  [52]); 59-61 (Spin No. 9 Turn 1 [88]); 63-64 (Incident No. 77 & 25 Frontstretch  [2]); 66-68 (Incident Nos. 34, 91 & 81 Frontstretch  [18]); 71-72 (Incident No. 45 & 56 Turn 5 [2]).

Lead Changes: 10 among 6 drivers; B. Crews(i) 1-17; D. Hemric 18-21; B. Crews(i) 22-23; C. Zilisch(i) 24-42; R. Chastain(i) 43; D. Hemric 44; R. Chastain(i) 45-60; C. Zilisch(i) 61-64; G. Ruggiero 65-67; C. Zilisch(i) 68-72; K. Honeycutt 73-74.

(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series

Next Race: May 15, 2026 - Dover Motor Speedway

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CURRENT NASCAR CRAFTSMAN TRUCK SERIES STANDINGS

Through May 8, 2026

UNOFFICIAL UNOFFICIAL

1. Kaden Honeycutt 11 8 0 312 0 0 1 1
2. Chandler Smith 38 8 0 283 -29 29 1 1
3. Layne Riggs 34 8 0 269 -43 14 1 1
4. Giovanni Ruggiero 17 8 0 257 -55 12 0 0
5. Christian Eckes 91 8 1 241 -71 16 0 2
6. Ben Rhodes 99 8 -1 228 -84 13 0 3
7. Ty Majeski 88 8 0 225 -87 3 0 0
8. Corey Heim 4 0 204 -108 21 2 3
9. Tyler Ankrum 18 8 0 194 -118 10 0 0
10. Daniel Hemric 19 8 3 189 -123 5 0 1

11. Stewart Friesen 52 8 -1 182 -130 7 0 1
12. Jake Garcia 98 8 -1 181 -131 1 0 0
13. Brenden Queen # 12 8 1 172 -140 9 0 0
14. Justin Haley 16 8 -2 168 -144 4 0 0
15. Andres Perez De Lara 44 8 2 157 -155 11 0 0
16. Tanner Gray 15 8 -1 145 -167 12 0 0
17. Grant Enfinger 9 8 -1 140 -172 5 0 0
18. Dawson Sutton 26 8 0 135 -177 5 0 0
19. Mini Tyrrell 14 8 1 128 -184 7 0 0
20. Cole Butcher # 13 8 -1 108 -204 20 0 0