BAYLEY CURREY DELIVERS CAREER-BEST IN SEASON DEBUT AT BRISTOL
Kaden Honeycutt cuts points deficit to single digits heading to Kansas
BRISTOL, Tenn. (September 17, 2026) – Bayley Currey made his season debut count as he led Toyota with a career-best second-place finish in the NASCAR Truck Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Thursday evening. Currey, who is the truck chief on the no. 1 TRICON Toyota Tundra, scored his best finish across nearly 200 starts in NASCAR’s top-three divisions.
It was a strong night for non-Chase drivers as Currey and fellow Tundra driver Stewart Friesen battled for the final two podium finishes in the closing laps with Friesen scored in third. He led the charge in a stellar night for Halmar-Friesen Racing (HFR), as William Sawalich delivered in his HFR debut, finishing seventh.
Gio Ruggiero led all Chase drivers with a sixth-place finish, while Kaden Honeycutt drove through the field after a late pit stop to finish eighth. With the result, Honeycutt has cut his points deficit to first place to just to just three points.
TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS)
Bristol Motor Speedway
Race 19 of 25 – 133.25 Miles, 250 Laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Jake Garcia*
2nd, BAYLEY CURREY
3rd, STEWART FRIESEN
4th, Justin Haley*
5th, Tristan McKee*
6th, GIO RUGGIERO
7th, WILLIAM SAWALICH
8th, KADEN HONEYCUTT
16th, TANNER GRAY
22nd, TIMMY HILL
34th, NICK LEITZ
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
BAYLEY CURREY, No. 5 Monster Truck Wars Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 2nd
What do you take away from tonight?
“I’ve still got it, I guess. Just huge, huge thank you to everyone at TRICON, Toyota – just a great opportunity and glad we were able to make the most of it. I thought I was going to fumble it there at the end, but we were able to fight there and bring it home p2. Obviously wanted to win, but coming off the couch, I’m alright with it.”
Hard fought battle. What are the emotions right now?
“They are all good ones. Huge thank you to TRICON, Toyota. The effort these guys put in is unmatched. I’ve been truck chiefing all year, but to be a part of it and get a good finish for these guys is truly special.”
STEWART FRIESEN, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, Halmar-Friesen Racing
Finishing Position: 3rd
How difficult was that final run?
“It wasn’t that bad. We had a really, really good Halmar Tundra TRD Pro. The guys did a good job getting me the track position, and track position was key for us. Clean air was good – had the lead there, but just too many laps left to hold on. We started losing front turn with 15, 20 to go. Just kind of hanging on those last five. Proud of the effort from these guys. Found a brake problem in practice and was able to, somewhat, get that remedied – but proud of these guys. It was close. I was hoping for another green-white-checkered or something to be able to mix it up from the top again. Another good top-five. We will keep building and keep digging.”
GIO RUGGIERO, No. 17 First Auto Group Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 6th
Top Chase finisher, and mostly clean truck except for the fluid being on the track. How was your race?
“There was fluid all over the track, and I just got into it. It felt like ice off of turn four there, and thought we were going to have some serious damage but no, it was a decent race from where we started. This is a super hard race, track position wise, if you start in the back – it is just so hard to pass when the bottom is super locked down. I thought our First Auto Group Tundra was really, really good in the first stage, and on that initial start I lost some ground actually and as the long run came, I kind of made it up and felt really good about our truck – just getting in the second stage I was a little bit tight, and struggled being tight throughout the rest of the race, but to have a good clean day at the end of it and have a decent points day is good for us and good momentum to start the Chase. I’m excited for Kansas and Charlotte. I feel like if we keep bringing the speed we had today and actually are able to qualify for the next two and be able to start up front we will be in a lot better position.”
KADEN HONEYCUTT, No. 11 Mobil 1 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 8th
What was it like behind the wheel tonight?
“It definitely sucks. Our Mobil 1 Tundra was so good tonight. I didn’t lead a lot of laps, but were throwing it at the 34 (Layne Riggs). I felt like we were better than him for sure. I just needed a long run, and the 98 (Jake Garcia) had clean air and I was just biding my time, waiting for the track to widen out and attack and as soon as I went to go and attack is when I had the vibration. It was getting worse and worse. Thank goodness we had the caution and I was able to come down and fix it. Just man so unfortunate. Thanks to Mobil 1, Safelite – this whole team 11 – everyone does such a great job. My pit crew has been amazing – it’s probably the second mistake I’ve seen them make all season. They are the best, and I will stand by that all day. Win and lose as team. We will go into these next six weeks and keep bringing trucks like this each week.”
About Toyota
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