Honeycutt Survives the Rain to Win at Kansas!
KANSAS CITY, K.S. - Kaden Honeycutt put all the stops together in a statement victory at Kansas Speedway Saturday, September 26, as he won the Race to Stop Suicide.com 200. Only two things halted Honeycutt from pure dominance over the day as the race was mixed in with numerous cautions in the early stages, as well mother nature. WIth the win Honeycutt now finds himself atop the Craftsman Truck Series Chase standings.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Qualifying was rained out allowing Nick Sanchez to start the Spire Motorsports #77 on pole via the metric. Sanchez though did not lead a lap, as Honeycutt, who started 4th took control of the race lead with his excellent jump right from the start on lap one.
Honeycutt led the first 47 laps of the race, including winning the first stage on lap on lap 30. Layne Riggs, Kaden's biggest rival in the race for the championship was the first driver to secure the lead from the TRICON Garage #11 on a restart on lap 48. But his lead was incredibly brief as Honeycutt took the lead back on lap 50.
From that point on for Honeycutt the only reason's he lost the lead had nothing to do all with race pace, but rather strategy mixing things up due to cautions. Kaden did win a shortened stage two as Connor Hall brought out a caution for a spin on lap 55 allowing him to secure the sweep.
On lap 60 majority of the leaders decided to pit once pit road opened, but it was strategy that attempted to be played as sprinkles had been flirting with the track from the start of the second stage.
Ben Rhodes led the restart to green on lap 63, but it was Grant Enfinger who took control as both drivers attempted to gamble big time. A four-car accident down the backstretch proceeded bringing out the yellow for the 4th time.
It was at this moment rain began to fall with Enfinger praying the race would not get restarted as the field was brought down to pit road on lap 70. Unfortunately for Grant what proceeded was a 4 hour, 47-minute red flag with the race being resumed on lap 78 with Honeycutt taking the lead back.
Honeycutt then led the next 41 laps in dominant fashion, but would have it slowed down again by another caution as on lap 115 Landen Lewis went for a spin into the inside wall bringing out a yellow to mix up the bag of strategies.
Daniel Dye opted to stay out and control the lead, meanwhile in pit road, Layne Riggs decided to get bold and work a two-tire strategy. Riggs took the lead with this strategy on the restart on lap 122 but simply didn't have enough to beat Honeycutt's four as he took control a lap later.
One last caution also came out on lap 123, but on the final restart in the closing laps Riggs put himself in the wall while Honeycutt gapped the field leading to a near effortless victory for Kaden and a free fall for Layne.
Riggs fell to 19th losing crucial points for the second straight week in a row. Last weekend at Bristol it was pit road failure mixed with a crash that lost Riggs major points. That played hand again at Kansas as during the stop at the end of stage two, Riggs overshot his box and then had a slow stop losing him key track position. With it taking time to recover, it was that issue that led to the two-tire decision. Riggs did have a truck good enough to stay in second, but another self-inflicted mistake cost him big time.
Riggs entered Kansas three points ahead of Kaden Honeycutt starting the race. Instead, Honeycutt's near perfect day compounded with Riggs having issues late puts the #34 Front Row Motorsports team in a -37 point deficit heading to Charlotte Motor Speedway in two weeks.
UP NEXT:
As mentioned, the Craftsman Truck Series will head back home to Charlotte for its second try at the 1.5 mile oval for the Ecosave 200. In May, it was Layne Riggs who had a statement day in a shortened race due to weather, catapulting the start of what had been an excellent regular season. Riggs will need a strong display again if he wants to get back into the championship hunt. Additionally it will be an emotional day, as the track will feature a public memorial after the race on Friday, October 9.
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