Kaden Honeycutt runs the bottom of the track in the DQS Solutions & Staffing Chevrolet during qualifying for the MillerTech Battery 200 at Pocono Raceway on Friday, June 20, 2025. (Photo: Holden Barnes | The Podium Finish)
LONG POND, Pa. — After a tough 16th place finish at Michigan International Speedway two weeks ago, Kaden Honeycutt found his way back to a great result with a top five finish in the MillerTech Battery 200 at Pocono Raceway.
After starting on the outside of pole-sitter Layne Riggs, Honeycutt was able to find the speed that his No. 45 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet has had all season. By the end of Stage 1, Honeycutt held his ground in the second place running position.
After Stage 1 concluded, Riggs, Honeycutt and most of the front runners came down pit road for scheduled service to their race trucks. As a result, Honeycutt came off of pit road in the eighth position and on the following restart, the Niece Motorsports driver fell back to ninth, the lowest the No. 45 truck would run all evening.
Throughout Stage 2, Honeycutt moved his way back into the sixth position, battling with the likes of Tyler Ankrum and defending NASCAR Craftsman Truck series champion Ty Majeski. Everything was looking great for the No. 45, and that momentum continued as the race went on.
On the restart to begin the final stage, Honeycutt found himself back inside the top five, running in fourth place when Grant Enfinger and Ben Rhodes were collected in a wreck coming out of Turn 2 with only 32 laps to go.
From there on out, the remainder of the event was pretty smooth for the driver out of Willow Park, Texas. The No. 45 truck barely fell outside the top five, running in sixth place for a few laps. By Lap 64, Honeycutt moved into the third position after NASCAR Cup Series regular Carson Hocevar was black-flagged for a restart violation and forced to come down pit road from the lead.
Kaden Honeycutt exiting Turn 3 during the MillerTech Battery 200 at Pocono Raceway on Friday, June 20, 2025. (Photo Holden Barnes | The Podium Finish)
Honeycutt was no match for the No. 34 truck of Riggs, and the No. 45 Niece Motorsports truck went on to finish third in the running order, a result that Honeycutt needed as he was sitting to the good on points for the playoffs.
“Just lacked front turn really all day. I’m not really sure why,” said Honeycutt during his post-race comments. “I really thought we actually had really good turn in practice and on sims.”
Honeycutt may have been down on the fact that there might have been more turn and speed that he could have taken advantage of in his race truck, but he was still proud of the result that came out of the race.
“Just unfortunate, but still, it’s good to be frustrated with a top five.”
As of right now, Honeycutt currently sits ninth in the playoff standings with a handful of short tracks and a road course coming up in the remaining segment of the regular season.
“We’ll just focus on winning races and racking as much points as possible and we can do that by running up front every week. So, we’ll just focus on doing that.”
The driver of the No. 45 team and his Niece Motorsports crew will head into unfamiliar territory next weekend with an inaugural event at Lime Rock Park, a road course that could play into the hands of a new winner and upset the playoff picture.
