By AMANDA VINCENT
Kaden Honeycutt dominated the Race to Stop Suicide 200, the second race of the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase, Saturday at Kansas Speedway. He won the race for his third victory of the season.
“Great job by this Safelite crew,” Honeycutt said. “This No. 11 for TRICON Garage, Scott Zipadelli (crew chief) — the freaking goat. 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 hard to gain on the 34 (Layne Riggs); he had really good speed. We just executed, just executed all night. We had really good speed all night. Sorry we didn’t do any burnouts. Got to save this thing for Homestead; the motors cost a lot, too.”
Christian Eckes finished second, NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series regular Brent Crews was third, Daniel Hemric fourth and Ben Rhodes fifth.
On lap 70, the race was red-flagged for rain. Racing, then, resumed nearly five hours later.
“Thank you, Kansas Speedway, and thank you, NASCAR, for letting us finish that race and put on a show for the fans,” Honeycutt said.
Honeycutt led a race-high 111 laps of the 134-lap race. Scott Riggs was his biggest competition for most of the race, but Riggs hit the wall multiple times in the closing laps and wound up 19th at the checkered flag.
Tyler Ankrum also struggled late in the race and wound up making an unscheduled pit stop with a flat left-front tire on lap 130.
Grant Enfinger was the leader after the red flag, but Honeycutt retook the lead on the lap 78 restart.
Ty Majeski made an unscheduled stop for a flat right-front tire on lap 89, and his trouble was compounded by a commitment-line violation.
Daniel Dye and “Mini” Tyrrell stayed out during a lap-116 caution for Landen Lewis, but on the lap-122 restart, Riggs took the lead and Honeycutt second. By the completion of the lap, Honeycutt was the new leader.
A lap later, a stalled Enfinger brought out the seventh and final caution of the race. He, then, was penalized two laps for intentionally causing a caution.
Honeycutt won the 30-lap opening stage with Gio Ruggiero second.
Honeycutt started the race in the fourth position but was the leader by the end of lap one. He was credited with leading the entire stage.
Pole sitter Nick Sanchez was fourth at the end of the opening stage. Riggs was third.
Chandler Smith made an extra pit stop after stage one for repairs to damage sustained when he hit a tire from Crews’ team on his initial stop.
Honeycutt completed a stage sweep by winning stage two on lap 54. The stage was scheduled for completion on lap 60 but ended early because of a caution for a Connor Hall spin.
Riggs was second and Eckes third at the end of the second stage.
Spins by Hall resulted in two cautions in stage two. He also brought out a caution on stage 44. Riggs took the lead on the lap-49 restart from the first Hall caution, but Honeycutt retook the lead on the next lap.
After stage two, Rhodes and Enfinger led a group of trucks that stayed out. Enfinger took the lead before a caution for a multi-truck crash involving Leland Honeyman, Dye, Stewart Friesen, Clayton Green, Nick Leitz and Tanner Gray on lap 65.
Riggs was among those who pitted and suffered a slow stop as a result of having to back up to get his left-front wheel tightened.
Smith finished the race in the sixth position. Leitz finished seventh, Gray eighth, Garcia ninth and Corey LaJoie 10th.
