Kansas Truck Recap: Honeycutt Takes Control as Riggs' Late Gamble Unravels

Kaden Honeycutt accepted a short-term loss of track position for four fresh tires, then needed only a brief opening to reclaim Kansas. Layne Riggs led Lap 122 after taking two tires on the final round of stops, but Honeycutt was back in front on Lap 123. The No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota stayed there through the finish of Saturday's Race to Stop Suicide.com 200, completing a stage sweep and a 111-lap performance that changed the Truck Series championship lead.

Honeycutt had established the pace long before that last exchange. Starting fourth, he took the lead on the opening lap and controlled Stage 1. Riggs interrupted his run on a restart, but Honeycutt recovered the position and won Stage 2 as well. The stage break introduced a different gamble: Ben Rhodes and Grant Enfinger stayed out while Honeycutt took service. Enfinger emerged ahead, and a multicar crash involving Clayton Green, Leland Honeyman, Stewart Friesen and Daniel Dye slowed the field before rain stopped it altogether.

The red flag lasted four hours and 47 minutes. When racing resumed, the old-tire advantage in track position disappeared quickly: Honeycutt led again from Lap 78. Riggs also recovered from a botched stop in which his crew lowered the jack before the left-front wheel was secured. By the closing stretch, the two championship rivals were fighting at the front again. As Nick DeGroot reported for Motorsport.com, the final tire split briefly put Honeycutt back in traffic, but his four-tire choice gave him the speed to answer.

Riggs' last pursuit ended against the outside wall with two laps remaining. A cut tire dropped him to 19th, while Christian Eckes inherited second and finished 1.358 seconds behind Honeycutt. Brent Crews, Daniel Hemric and Rhodes completed the top five. Honeycutt left with his third victory of 2026 and a 37-point championship advantage over Riggs. Post-race inspection confirmed the result. After a long afternoon and evening, the biggest change came in those final two laps.

FantasyJolt base points below are the settled race scores before lineup multipliers. They are separate from NASCAR championship points.

Four tires gave Honeycutt a way back

The final stop asked Honeycutt to trade position for grip at a point when there was little time to recover. Riggs gained the immediate advantage, while Daniel Dye and Mini Tyrrell stayed out. Honeycutt still had to navigate the restart and make the pass; the tire choice did not award him the lead. His return to first made the strategy work, turning an apparent setback into the decisive move of a race he had largely controlled.

Riggs' recovery deserved a better ending

Riggs had already rescued a race damaged by pit-road execution. Dustin Albino's NASCAR report described him charging from 16th to ninth on the first lap after the weather delay, then reaching second six laps later. His late wall contact erased that recovery. "I tried too hard," Riggs said. Front Row competition director Drew Blickensderfer consoled him afterward and urged him to move on. The speed was present; the challenge now is turning it into complete races across the five remaining Chase events.

Honeycutt was thinking beyond the celebration

"We just executed," Honeycutt told NASCAR after the win. His decision to skip a burnout offered a small detail about the larger objective: he wanted to preserve the truck for Homestead and avoid unnecessary engine expense. Kansas brought a trophy and the points lead, but the team still has a championship to finish. That measured celebration fitted a performance built on repeated recoveries of the lead, rather than one isolated late opportunity.

Honeycutt led FantasyJolt scoring with 76.10 base points at $14, combining 45 for winning, 20 from stages and 11.10 for laps led. Eckes followed with 54.00 at $14, supported by sixth and third in the stages. His climb from 25th to second was impressive, but standard FantasyJolt scoring adds no separate place-differential points. Placing those two in Groups A and B returned 246.70 points.

Hemric's 47.00 at $11 made him the next driver in the best combination. Two seventh-place stage results helped him outscore Crews' 43.00 at $13 despite finishing one place behind him. Butcher's 29.00 at $6 and Tyrrell's 23.00 at $5 supplied the affordable final slots. The five-driver lineup therefore included finishers from outside the top ten, leaving enough budget for the strongest scores at the top.

Leitz also returned 35.00 at $8, while Queen supplied 27.00 at $6. The costly disappointments included Enfinger's 12.40 at $12 and Majeski's 23.00 at $12. Riggs still scored 39.30 at $14 thanks to 17 stage points and three laps led, but the late damage kept him well below Honeycutt and Eckes at the same price.

Perfect Lineup

Salary: $50. Total: 376.45 points. This retrospective lineup uses the final scores, actual salaries and FantasyJolt's per-slot rounding.

The Truck Series returns October 9 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, with the race scheduled for 5 p.m. Eastern on FOX. Honeycutt now has 37 points over Riggs and 71 over Chandler Smith. Kansas showed that a late mistake can undo a long recovery, even for a contender with winning speed. With five races left, the title remains open, but Honeycutt has earned room that his closest rivals no longer possess.

• 134 laps and 201 miles; 36 starters.
• 111 laps led by Honeycutt, with both stage wins.
• Nine lead changes among five drivers.
• Seven cautions covering 47 laps; a 4-hour, 47-minute red flag.
• Winning margin: 1.358 seconds.
• Tyler Ankrum's fastest green-flag lap: Lap 103 in 31.148 seconds.