Kaden Honeycutt Survives Overtime Chaos to Win FIRST Truck Series Race at Watkins Glen

RPW EXCLUSIVE COLUMN BY: Steven Brien / RACEPROWEEKLY – WATKINS GLEN, NY  – Kaden Honeycutt survived a chaotic overtime restart and held off Connor Zilisch to earn his first career NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series victory Friday at Watkins Glen International.

Honeycutt, who earlier in the day won the ARCA Menards Series race at the Glen, completed the sweep after outdueling Zilisch over the final two laps of the Bully Hill Vineyards 176.

“I can’t believe I just won a road course,” Honeycutt said after climbing from his No. 11 Toyota. “That’s just unbelievable.”

Zilisch finished second, leading 28 laps, the most on the day.

“I chose the top [lane], hoping we could get through there without making contact,” Zilisch said. “I knew the bottom [lane] would be better if that happened, but I didn’t want to be that guy.”

Shane van Gisbergen finished third, Daniel Hemric fourth, and Chandler Smith rounded out the top five. A.J. Allmendinger finished sixth, followed by polesitter Brent Crews in seventh, Mini Tyrrell was eighth, Brenden Queen ninth, and Justin Haley completed the top ten.

The late race chaos continued with two laps remaining when Ross Chastain was spun by Ty Majeski exiting Turn 5, bringing out the caution and forcing NASCAR overtime. Moments earlier, Zilisch had muscled past Gio Ruggiero for the lead entering the esses, a move he had used earlier to pass Crews.

Ruggiero’s hopes ended before the restart when NASCAR penalized him for a restart violation after contact from Queen entering the restart zone. It was the second restart violation penalty issued during the race. 

Chastain appeared on his way towards victory after staying out at the end of Stage 2, but his chances evaporated when he was penalized for jumping the restart on Lap 62 and was subsequently sent to the rear of the field.

That same restart produced a hard crash for Carson Hocevar, who was turned by Allmendinger entering the frontstretch and slammed into the outside pit wall. Hocevar ultimately finished 31st.

Another late-race restart on Lap 65 also triggered a major incident when Layne Riggs spun in front of the entire field entering Turn 1 and was struck hard by Kris Wright, whose truck then slid into one of the newly added tire barriers. 

Earlier in the race, Zilisch and Crews battled aggressively for the lead following the Stage 2 restart on Lap 24. Entering the esses, Zilisch was on the inside lane and made contact with the left front of Crews Toyota, who had dominated the first stage before pitting under green to maintain track position. This contact cost Crews several spots, dropping him down to fourth.

Zilisch went on to dominate the stage, while Crews, Chastain and several other contenders pitted before the stage end in an effort to gain track position for the final segment. Hocevar finished second in the stage, followed by Smith, Riggs and Andres Perez de Lara. Shane van Gisbergen was sixth, Grant Enfinger seventh, Tyler Ankrum eighth, Tyler Reif was 9th, and Connor Mosack rounded out the top ten.

Hemric captured the first stage victory of his Truck Series career after Crews, who led every lap from the pole, surrendered the lead by pitting with two laps remaining in the stage. Ruggiero finished second, followed by Riggs, Allmendinger and Ankrum. Chastain finished sixth, Perez de Lara was seventh, Tanner Gray eighth, Corey LaJoie ninth, and Crews completed the top ten.

Mechanical problems also took out contenders throughout the day. Grant Enfinger stopped on track with 15 laps remaining because of a mechanical failure and finished 33rd. Ben Rhodes lost a transmission on Lap 9 and spent most of the race in the garage. Majeski also lost a lap because of a lengthy pit stop for mechanical repairs before recovering to finish 24th. 

Cole Butcher crashed into the frontstretch wall on a Stage 2 restart and finished 35th. Earlier, Christian Eckes was spun into a tire barrier after contact from LaJoie in Turn 1, though the incident did not bring out a caution.

Tyrrell also suffered a tire failure entering Turn 6 on Lap 33 and collided with Wright, sending Wright into the sand trap. Both drivers continued without a caution.

At the conclusion of Stage 2, Wesley Slimp locked up his brakes entering the bus stop and his splitter dug into wet grass, destroying the nose of his Toyota that ultimately ended his race.

NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series Race – Bully Hill Vineyards 176

Watkins Glen International Raceway

Watkins Glen, NY

Friday May 8, 2026

1. (7) Kaden Honeycutt, Toyota, 73.
2. (5) Connor Zilisch, Chevrolet, 73.
3. (8) Shane van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 73.
4. (3) Daniel Hemric, Chevrolet, 73.
5. (11) Chandler Smith, Ford, 73.
6. (16) A.J. Allmendinger, RAM, 73.
7. (1) Brent Crews, Toyota, 73.
8. (30) Mini Tyrrell, RAM, 73.
9. (29) Brenden Queen, RAM, 73.
10.  (4) Connor Mosack, Chevrolet, 73.
11.  (17) Jake Garcia, Ford, 73.
12.  (23) Corey LaJoie, RAM, 73.
13.  (22) Andres Perez de Lara, Chevrolet, 73.
14.  (20) Tyler Reif, Chevrolet, 73.
15.  (2) Ty Majeski, Ford, 73.
16.  (6) Giovanni Ruggiero, Toyota, 73.
17.  (15) Christian Eckes, Chevrolet, 73.
18.  (19) Stewart Friesen, Toyota, 73.
19.  (31) Nathan Nicholson, Chevrolet, 73.
20.  (18) Tyler Ankrum, Chevrolet, 73.
21.  (27) Dawson Sutton, Chevrolet, 73.
22.  (21) Adam Andretti, Toyota, 73.
23.  (25) Justin Haley, RAM, 73.
24.  (13) Layne Riggs, Ford, 73.
25.  (35) Stephen Mallozzi, Ford, 73.
26.  (34) Jackson Lee, Ford, 69.
27.  (28) Timmy Hill, Toyota, Accident, 68.
28.  (33) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, Accident, 68.
29.  (26) Kris Wright, Chevrolet, Accident, 64.
30.  (14) Tanner Gray, Toyota, 63.
31.  (10) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, Accident, 60.
32.  (9) Ben Rhodes, Ford, 59.
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.