TWO TUNDRA TOP-FIVES IN TEXAS
Honeycutt, Jones Lead Toyota with Third and Fourth Place Finishes
FORT WORTH (May 1, 2026) – TRICON Garage teammates Kaden Honeycutt and Brandon Jones led the Toyota Tundra contingent with third and fourth-place results, respectively, on Friday night at Texas Motor Speedway.
Gio Ruggiero also ran among the top five throughout much of the race, pacing the field for 22 laps late in the race. Tundra drivers led a total of 43 laps (of 172) around the 1.5-mile Texas oval on Friday evening.
TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS)
Texas Motor Speedway
Race 7 of 23 – 250.5 Miles, 167 Laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Carson Hocevar*
2nd, Kyle Busch*
3rd, KADEN HONEYCUTT
4th, BRANDON JONES
5th, Ben Rhodes*
14th, GIO RUGGIERO
17th, WILLIAM SAWALICH
19th, STEWART FRIESEN
28th, TANNER GRAY
34th, CORY ROPER
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
KADEN HONEYCUTT, No. 11 Safelite + Foster Love Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 3rd
What are some things you can be proud of after today’s race?
“I’m proud to be able to drive a truck like this. It’s disappointing that I just keep failing. There’s no excuse for it. As soon as I got the lead, I didn’t protect it right, I didn’t do the right things and ultimately that’s what led us to lose. I just want to thank this whole 11 crew, Safelite, Foster Love, Toyota Racing, TRICON. All my guys have done such an excellent job. Scott (Zipadelli, crew chief) did really good adjustments all day to help me out and I felt like once we got the track position at that last stage I thought we were one of the best trucks. I thought I could’ve run the 17 (Gio Ruggiero) down on that green flag run and pass him and if it went green, I thought I would’ve won it. Just gotta figure out how to get restarts done. I’ve gotta figure out how to win races. It’s eating me alive, I can promise you that. Just want to thank everyone at Toyota Racing – Toyota Tundras are built here in Texas, and I just wanted to get a win for them today because we definitely had a truck to do it. I’m disappointed that we didn’t but thanks to Scott’s leadership and everyone that we’ll keep on going.”
BRANDON JONES, No. 1 Sprecher Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 4th
How was your race?
“Heck, I’ll take that. What a long, crazy night that was. Just trying to learn these trucks again. This was our first of four this year, and just fun to come over to TRICON and have Sprecher Root Beer come on board. They ran some races with us last year and really enjoyed themselves. It was fun to get them a top five and a really nice way to kick off my Truck Series run here. I think we had a really fast truck here tonight and circumstantial – could’ve won the race. It all just depended on what lane you were in. There was a lot of chaos at the end of that race obviously. A lot of beating and banging so it was just about picking the right lane and being in the right place at the right time. I was happy with that. Gio (Ruggerio) almost had one too, so we were really close as an organization, I think. Just really, really fun tonight.”
GIO RUGGIERO, No. 17 JBL Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 14th
Can you talk about your race tonight after leading late in the race?
“It was a good race. I definitely held onto track position the whole time. We had a fast truck so it was easy to do that. But yeah, definitely just didn’t finish anywhere near where we should’ve with the truck we had. I’m happy with how good the truck was. I think that’s really good as a team moving forward into the next few races to have that speed. If we can run like that every race, we’ll win a lot of races. Definitely a positive note on that side. Just was tough on those restarts there at the end of the race. It’s so hard to break away from the trucks behind you here. I feel like the draft – they can get such a huge run on you. You just have to really be super aggressive on defense mode. It was tough at the end there. Just have to execute the last restart better and probably would’ve won the race.”
About Toyota
Toyota (NYSE:TM) has been a part of the cultural fabric in North America for nearly 70 years, and is committed to advancing sustainable, next-generation mobility through our Toyota and Lexus brands, plus our more than 1,800 dealerships.
Toyota directly employs nearly 64,000 people in North America who have contributed to the design, engineering, and assembly of over 50 million cars and trucks at our 14 manufacturing plants. In 2025, Toyota’s plant in North Carolina began to assemble automotive batteries for electrified vehicles.
For more information about Toyota, visit www.ToyotaNewsroom.com.
