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Kaden Honeycutt is getting a major opportunity in the next Truck Series race at Pocono, driving the 44 truck for Niece Motorsports. It is not his first truck Series start, but he called it his “Biggest Truck Opportunity” on his Twitter page. This raises the question, who is Kaden Honeycutt, and how did he get here?
Kaden Honeycutt was born on June 23, 2003 in Aledo, Texas. According to his website, he started racing in 2012 racing in the Bandolero Division in Alabama and Texas up until 2016. From there, he moved his way up to legends cars and Pro Trucks.
His first taste of professional racing came in the ARCA Menards Series. In 2018, at the age of 15, he made his first two ARCA starts for John Corr at Salem and Indianapolis Raceway Park. Honeycutt qualified inside the top-10 for both events, but he failed to get top-10 finishes in both.
He finished in 19th at Salem after a faulty oil line ended his race after 134 laps. At IRP, Honeycutt finished in 18th eight laps down following a tangle with current Cup Series driver Harrison Burton.
In 2019, Honeycutt made three starts for a family-owned team at Five Flags Speedway, the Nashville Fairgrounds, and Iowa Speedway. Once again, he qualified in the top-10 for all three races, leading his first laps at Pensacola, and finishing ninth after leading 10 laps. His best finish came at the Nashville Fairgrounds, where he finished in seventh, but, his career was about to take a strange turn.
According to The Pit Lane, Honeycutt was supposed to run in four ARCA races and one Truck Series race that season. The Gateway ARCA race and his Truck Series debut were both scrapped, and he would not make an ARCA or Truck start in the pandemic-stricken 2020 season. He would, however, make a name for himself in late models.
According to his website, Honeycutt spent 2020 running in dirt modifieds and late models where he would win 19 races. His breakout race came on the asphalt scene, where he ran in the prestigious Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. Honeycutt qualified on the front row in second, beating out a star-studded field including Ty Majeski, Chase Elliott, Chandler Smith, Kyle Busch, Grant Enfinger, and Corey Heim.
He led 25 laps on the day on the way home to a fifth place finish. His impressive season was enough to garner the attention of Justin Johnson and the CARS Tour.
He ran full-time in the CARS Tour in 2021. He finished 12th in his debut, and he would never finish outside of the top-10 for the rest of the season. He won his first pole at Langley Speedway in Hampton, Virginia, and won the race as well leading 125 laps. He would win a second race at Florence Motor Speedway after passing Carson Kvapil with nine laps to go.
He would run more late models on both dirt and asphalt for 2022 and 2023, continuing to win races. However, NASCAR also came calling in 2022.
In 2022, Honeycutt finally worked his way into a NASCAR National Touring Series on a part-time basis, running in nine races in the Craftsman Truck Series. He qualified 34th in his debut, and tangled with Austin Wayne Self on lap 109, finishing the race behind the wall in 34th. Honeycutt would team up with owner Steven Lane for seven races towards the end of the season, and the results would gradually improve.
In his final four starts for the team, Honeycutt recorded three top-15 finishes at Bristol, Talladega, and Phoenix. Phoenix was by far his best race, finishing in ninth. This season, he has continued to impress.
After a forgetful debut in Daytona, Honeycutt ran in each of the next five races for Roper Racing. He led his first lap at Atlanta, and he recorded his best finish in the series at Bristol Dirt with a ninth place finish after qualifying in third. Randy Young would pick up Honeycutt for two more races at Darlington and North Wilkesboro.
Another top-10 followed for Honeycutt finishing 10th at Darlington. He also made his Xfinity Series debut at Martinsville, finishing 38th after an engine failure driving for Mike Harmon. Now he is running in the Truck Series at Pocono for one of the top teams in the series, and this may not be his last start either.
“We’re hopeful that we can get some more partners to come on board and make some more starts this season. I’ve been working at the shop the last few months, so I know how hard this organization is working to field fast trucks. I’m looking forward to Pocono.”
Kaden Honeycutt on niecemotorsports.com
A young driver who has impressed in sometimes less than stellar equipment. How much farther can Kaden Honeycutt go? Time will only tell, but this is far from his last big opportunity.
