It was already impressive enough to see Kaden Honeycutt take his maiden ARCA victory at The Glen just a few hours earlier. And while the celebrations for that continued, he went on to take the Truck race as well, finishing 0.902 seconds ahead of Connor Zilisch, to mark his maiden NASCAR victory. The win didn’t come easy, though. Honeycutt drew a pit road penalty near the end of the second stage and was forced to restart the final 32-lap stage from the rear of the field, making his victory all the more extraordinary.

“I can’t believe I just won on a road course. It’s just unbelievable,” he said. “My pit crew’s the best pit crew there is in that pit area, and they did a great job all day. Thank you so much, thanks to Scott. I wish I can get a hug in, but I’m sure he’s walking his way over here, but just unbelievable.”

“The restart, I think Zilisch missed a shift a little bit coming off of seven, and I was just tight to him […] I barely got to his right rear and touched him a little bit, and it was just enough to scoot on by. As soon as I got the lead, I pulled my visor up, and I was full-on focused after that,” Honeycutt revealed.

Zilisch is sometimes called the master of Watkins Glen. He is the two-time defending winner of the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series event at the track, having triumphed there in his NASCAR series debut in 2024 and then again during a dominant 11-win campaign in 2025.

In the Truck race itself, Zilisch had been the dominant force all day, leading a race-high 28 laps and winning the second stage. It was almost a given that he would win the race. However, a final overtime restart turned the sides around, as Honeycutt found himself in the perfect position to become a NASCAR race winner.

But what Honeycutt didn’t mention was just how unlikely his position at the front of that final restart even was. A series of late-race cautions, including a crash from Carson Hocevar with 11 laps to go, and restart violations by both Ross Chastain and Gio Ruggiero had completely reshuffled the running order. Ruggiero’s infraction while leading on Lap 69 was ultimately what handed Honeycutt the front row slot alongside Zilisch for the overtime shootout.

Still, Zilisch wasn’t the only challenge Honeycutt faced. Shane van Gisbergen was also on the track, who is perhaps the most competitive road course driver in NASCAR currently. His immense experience racing in the Supercars Series gives him an edge over other drivers who have spent their lives learning how to race on ovals. However, he missed out on the chance to win. Zilisch finished in second place; meanwhile, SVG had to settle for third.

There was more to his race win. In early April, Honeycutt had made a social media post about winning his first race in the future, writing: “I will literally go in the stands and shotgun a beer with the fans when it happens and take a group photo. Bookmark this.” He did exactly that, as he looked on the verge of crying. He was even heard crying over the radio as he crossed the line.

Honeycutt has been around for quite some time, and to say it has been challenging would be an understatement. Only recently, Honeycutt nearly won at Texas, only to see Carson Hocevar take the chance away, coming off five top 10s and four top fives through the first seven races of 2026.

“Disappointing for sure,” Honeycutt told Fox Sports. “I just gotta figure out how to win. There’s no other excuse for it. When I got to the lead, I didn’t protect on Carson right, just gave up my left-rear. He ran me out of the groove in [turns] 3 and 4, as suspected.”

And that is just one part of it.

The massive challenges Honeycutt faced prior to this maiden win

At one point, it seemed that Kaden Honeycutt couldn’t catch a break. He had been dubbed a prodigy quite a few times, but never had equipment competitive enough to showcase his true pace. He was racing for Niece Motorsports in the 2025 season, but the announcement to drop him the following season came midway through.

It was a bit unexpected, especially considering that he had been one of the most consistent drivers on the field. But he refused to give up.

“My plan is to continue to contend for race wins and position myself to make the playoffs this season,” he wrote on social media shortly after the announcement. Honeycutt then finished the season in third place, earning a full-time seat with Tricon Garage.

Even before the season kicked off, Honeycutt was seemingly serious about racing this year. Earlier in January, he revealed that he was going to be running a total of 46 races this season. He was, in fact, quite calm while saying that, not breaking a sweat.

His run in the ARCA Series was a part of that commitment to 46 races. The versatility that he showcased on a single day just proved how good he really has been all these years.