Kansas City, KS – The second race of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race was settled today at Kansas Speedway and saw thrilling action in the 134-lap event. Leaving Bristol late last week, Layne Riggs was looking to rebound in his No. 34 Front Row Motorsports entry following a poor finish of 32nd and losing valuable points of his championship lead, which was down to three points entering Saturday’s race, with Kaden Honeycutt hot on his heels.
Honeycutt would stay hot on Riggs’s tail by dominating the Truck Series race to win at Kansas Speedway, but not without facing alternator issues and a four-hour and 47-minute rain delay.
“Man, great job by my whole Safelite crew,” Honeycutt said to Fox Sports 1 in victory lane. “(Crew chief) Scott Zipadelli, the frickin’ GOAT there on pit road. My pit crew man, they are just the best. There’s nothing else I can say about that. I knew the two tires were definitely going to be a bit hard to gain on (Riggs). He had really good speed and just executed all night. Thank you, Kansas Speedway. Thank you, NASCAR for letting us finish that race and put on a show for you fans. Just looking forward to winning more trophies and have some stories to tell (my son) along the way.”
Practice and qualifying were canceled on Friday afternoon due to heavy rain showers plaguing the area. Nick Sanchez was awarded the pole position via the metric system and started on pole position. Stages 30-30-74 would make up the 134-lap race.
Stage 1 – Lap 1 – Lap 30
The leaders were three-wide at the start of the race on the backstretch with Sanchez, Garcia, and Honeycutt. Honeycutt would officially lead the first lap. At Lap 10, Kris Wright in the No. 81 was slow on the backstretch with smoke coming from the rear end. Despite being off the pace, there was no caution.
At Lap 15, Honeycutt was reporting an alternator issue on his No. 11 TriCon Garage Toyota Tundra. Riggs also moved up to the fifth position after starting in the back.
The first stage saw no yellows, and Honeycutt held on to win it. He was followed by Ruggiero, Riggs, Sanchez, Ty Majeski, Christian Eckes, Daniel Hemric, Brent Crews, Ben Rhodes, and Grant Enfinger, who completed the Top 10. This was Honeycutt’s first stage win at Kansas in his career.
During the break, Chandler Smith was given a penalty for vehicle interference after hitting Crews’ tire while trying to enter his pit box. Replays later showed that Crews’ tire was knocked out of his tire carrier’s hands. Landen Lewis was also penalized for vehicle interference with the same issue as Smith.
Stage 2 – Lap 36 – Lap 53
The start of the second stage went green at Lap 36 with Honeycutt as the leader. At Lap 39, Cole Butcher was on the apron of the backstretch for a flat left-front tire. There was no yellow as Butcher successfully brought the truck down to pit road. A caution came out at Lap 43 for the No. 4 of Connor Hall, who spun on the backstretch. This was the first caution for an incident of the day.
The restart came at Lap 48 (12 laps to go in the stage) with Honeycutt the leader. There was a new leader following the restart as Riggs took the lead off Turn 2 in front of Honeycutt, but Honeycutt retook the lead a lap later. Additionally, Honeycutt made contact on the rear bumper of Riggs when he took the lead entering Turn 1.
Hall again brought out the caution at Lap 53 for spinning on the backstretch in the same spot as the previous caution. This would be the end of Stage 2 since it was inside 10 laps to go. Honeycutt would sweep the stages. Riggs, Eckes, Sanchez, Ruggiero, Hemric, Majeski, Tyler Ankrum, Daniel Dye, and Rhodes rounded out the Top 10.
There were some questions about whether or not the teams were going to make their scheduled pit stop due to weather in the area, and potentially shortening the race. There were several trucks that stayed out, such as Rhodes, Enfinger, Corey LaJoie, Mini Tyrell, Brenden Queen, Conor Daly, Clayton Green, Toni Breidinger, and Connor Hall. Eckes was the first truck off pit road with fresher tires. During the pit stop, Riggs had an issue when he attempted to leave his pit box, as there was not a single lug nut that was tight on his truck.
Stage 3 – Lap 64 (70 to go) – Lap 134
The final stage went green with 70 laps to go, with Enfinger and Rhodes as the leaders. As the leaders approached the backstretch, a multi-truck crash broke out with multiple drivers involved. Leland Honeyman Jr., Dye, Green, and many more were involved. After the crash occurred, rain entered the area and was too much for the vehicles to handle. NASCAR brought the trucks down pit road and began drying the track.
Following a four-hour and 47-minute rain delay, the race eventually went back green with 57 laps to go. Honeycutt took the lead back from Enfinger off Turn 2. With 50 laps to go, Eckes closed in on the race leader, but Riggs charged to second by passing Eckes in Turns 3 and 4.
Majeski brought his truck down pit road with 46 laps to go as he had a flat right-front tire after contact with Eckes. He also had a penalty for not making the commitment line violation. While trying to serve the penalty, Majeski suffered another commitment line violation penalty and had to come back down pit road again.
A caution came out with 40 laps to go for the No. 93 of Caleb Costner, who spun off Turn 4 and went sliding into the infield grass, tearing off his front nose. The race leaders came down pit road under this caution flag. There were two penalties for speeding, which was for Enfinger and Brennan Poole.
Honeycutt led the field back to green with 33 laps to go and had Riggs and Eckes in pursuit of the lead. With 25 laps to go, Andres Perez De Lara had a tire go down, and Hall was off the pace. The green-flag run was short-lived as Lewis spun on the backstretch and hit the inside wall to bring out the caution with 19 laps to go.
A number of chase drivers decided to come down pit road with 16 laps to go for their final pit stops. Riggs won the race off pit road by taking two tires and was followed by Tanner Gray, Enfinger, who also took two tires, and then Honeycutt, the first with four tires. Dye and Tyrell stayed out to assume the top two spots.
Dye, Tyrell, Riggs, Tanner Gray, and Enfinger were the top five for the restart with 13 laps to go. Riggs assumed the lead momentarily before another yellow flew a lap later for Enfinger, who was slow by the wall and had a flat tire as well. Enfinger was given a two-lap penalty for rolling to a stop and intentionally bringing out the caution.
The final restart of the night was seen with seven laps to go. Honeycutt and Riggs were in the top two spots. Honeycutt again took the lead with Riggs closely behind in second. Ankrum had trouble with his truck after hitting the wall and suffering a flat tire. Riggs also had the same issue by brushing the wall multiple times while challenging for the lead.
Riggs would drop like a rock, while Honeycutt went on to win the race over Eckes by 1.358 seconds for his third victory of the season, which is also his third career Truck Series victory. He also led four times for 111 laps en route to victory.
There were seven cautions for 47 laps and nine lead changes among five different drivers.
Official Race Results Following The Race To Stop Suicide 250 at Kansas Speedway
- Kaden Honeycutt won both stages and led 111 laps
- Christian Eckes
- Brent Crews
- Daniel Hemric
- Ben Rhodes, led three laps
- Chandler Smith
- Nick Leitz
- Tanner Gray
- Jake Garcia
- Corey LaJoie
- Justin Haley
- Cole Butcher
- Giovanni Ruggiero
- Brenden Queen
- Daniel Dye, led three laps
- Conor Daly
- Brennan Poole
- Mini Tyrell
- Layne Riggs, led three laps
- Spencer Boyd
- Stewart Friesen
- Parker Eatmon
- Clayton Green, 1 Lap Down
- Andres Perez De Lara, 2 Laps Down
- Tyler Ankrum, 2 Laps Down
- Toni Breidinger, 2 Laps Down
- Stephen Mallozzi, 2 Laps Down
- Nick Sanchez, 3 Laps Down
- Ty Majeski, 4 Laps Down
- Leland Honeyman Jr., 4 Laps Down
- Grant Enfinger, led 14 laps, 5 Laps Down
- Connor Hall, 6 Laps Down
- Josh Reaume, 15 Laps Down
- Landen Lewis, OUT, Accident
- Caleb Costner, OUT, Accident
- Kris Wright, OUT, Oil Pump
Updated Top 10 Chase for the Champions Points Standings
- Kaden Honeycutt, +37
- Layne Riggs, -37
- Chandler Smith, -71
- Gio Ruggerio, -72
- Christian Eckes, -82
- Daniel Hemric, -87
- Ty Majeski, -88
- Ben Rhodes, -98
- Grant Enfinger, -118
- Tyler Ankrum, -127
Up Next – The next NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race is scheduled for Friday, October 9, at Charlotte Motor Speedway, live on FOX and MRN Radio at 5 p.m./ET.
