HONEYCUTT DELIVERS TOP-FIVE AT TALLADEGA, EXPANDS POINTS LEAD
Toyota Development Driver continues top-10 streak, increases lead to 43 with two races to go
TALLADEGA, Ala. (October 23, 2026) – Kaden Honeycutt (fifth) earned the most stage points and delivered another top-five finish in the Chase to lead Toyota in Friday night’s NASCAR Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway. The Toyota Development Driver leads Layne Riggs by 43 points with two races remaining. No other driver is within 100 points of the front duo heading to Talladega.
In the last 10 races, Honeycutt has seven top-five finishes – and no finish worse than 11th. He has finished every Chase race in the top-eight. Toyota drivers Gio Ruggiero and Tanner Gray also swept the stages – both earning their first stage wins of the season.
TOYOTA RACING Post-Race Recap
NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series (NCTS)
Talladega Superspeedway
Race 23 of 25 – 226.1 Miles, 85 Laps
TOYOTA FINISHING POSITIONS
1st, Sammy Smith*
2nd, Tyler Ankrum*
3rd, Austin Green*
4th, Ty Majeski*
5th, KADEN HONEYCUTT
10th, COREY HEIM
11th, TANNER GRAY
16th, TIMMY HILL
18th, CORY ROPER
23rd, THOMAS ANNUNZIATA
25th, GIO RUGGIERO
30th, STEWART FRIESEN
*non-Toyota driver
TOYOTA QUOTES
KADEN HONEYCUTT, No. 11 Safelite Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, TRICON Garage
Finishing Position: 5th
How do you process this finish?
“It is good. I’m just so disappointed in myself to not make the right moves at the end of the race to get the win. I should have locked on to Ty (Majeski) longer than trying to make the move too quick. I did the same thing at Daytona, and just didn’t execute where I needed to, to finish the race off. Just thank you to Safelite, TOYOTA RACING, TRICON Garage, Mobil 1 – everyone on this race team, Scott Zipadelli (crew chief), and this entire crew that does a great job. Looking forward to Martinsville, and got a good cushion, but you never say it is over till it is over. I’m sure we will be racing hard for the win next week, and we will move on to Martinsville. I also want to apologize to my teammate, Thomas (Annunziata). Definitely got plummeted by the 77 (Austin Green) from behind and got him in the left and spun him out, so very sorry to him and his team. I hated to see that happen. P5. We will take it and move on to Martinsville.”
STEWART FRIESEN, No. 52 Halmar International Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, Halmar-Friesen Racing
Finishing Position: 30th
What happened from your point of view?
“Must have hit something going into (turn) one and cut down a tire, and tried to get out of it, and there was nowhere to go. Couldn’t hang on to it and collected a bunch of trucks. Bummed. I felt like our Halmar Tundra was pretty good and really upset that we had an issue and tore up a bunch of stuff.”
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.
