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.
“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.”
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.
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race — Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at The Glen
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen, New York
Friday, May 8, 2026
1. (7) Kaden Honeycutt, Toyota, 74.
2. (5) Connor Zilisch(i), Chevrolet, 74.
3. (8) Shane Van Gisbergen(i), Chevrolet, 74.
4. (3) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 74.
5. (11) Chandler Smith, Ford, 74.
6. (16) AJ Allmendinger(i), RAM, 74.
7. (1) Brent Crews(i), Toyota, 74.
8. (30) Mini Tyrrell, RAM, 74.
9. (29) Brenden Queen #, RAM, 74.
10. (4) Connor Mosack, Chevrolet, 74.
11. (17) Jake Garcia, Ford, 74.
12. (23) Corey LaJoie, RAM, 74.
13. (22) Andres Perez De Lara, Chevrolet, 74.
14. (20) Tyler Reif, Chevrolet, 74.
15. (6) Giovanni Ruggiero, Toyota, 74.
16. (15) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 74.
17. (18) Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 74.
18. (19) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 74.
19. (27) Dawson Sutton, Chevrolet, 74.
20. (31) Nathan Nicholson, Chevrolet, 74.
21. (13) Layne Riggs, Ford, 74.
22. (35) Stephen Mallozzi, Ford, 74.
23. (25) Justin Haley, RAM, 74.
24. (2) Ty Majeski, Ford, 74.
25. (21) Adam Andretti, Toyota, Accident, 73.
26. (34) Jackson Lee, Ford, 70.
27. (28) Timmy Hill, Toyota, Accident, 68.
28. (33) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 68.
29. (26) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, Accident, 64.
30. (14) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 64.
31. (10) Carson Hocevar(i), Chevrolet, Accident, 60.
32. (9) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 60.
33. (12) Grant Enfinger, Chevrolet, Transmission, 57.
34. (32) Wesley Slimp, Toyota, Accident, 34.
35. (24) Cole Butcher #, Ford, DVP, 31.
36. (36) Natalie Decker, Ford, Too Slow, 20.
–Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service
