Kevin Harvick has taken it upon himself to help a visibly distraught Kaden Honeycutt. After Kaden Honeycutt was denied his second career win by teammate Corey Heim, Kevin Harvick has taken it upon himself to help him. Honeycutt was frustrated about the way Heim had blocked his advances during the final lap, and while Heim immediately shut down his complaints, Harvick instead has adopted a more strategic approach to help him learn from this incident.

“You don’t want to complain about it to look like a complainer, which, you know, I think, that’s the biggest thing that you don’t want because then it pisses your team off and makes everybody mad and then the fans don’t like you. And so you can do a lot of damage really quick,” Harvick advises Kaden Honeycutt.

His advice likely stems from the behavior that Kaden Honeycutt has been displaying so far in the NASCAR Truck Series compared to his Cup counterparts. Honeycutt is highly vocal about Cup drivers utilizing their experience as an advantage and bullying Truck drivers in their own gear.

Harvick’s message to Honeycutt is clear: learn, accept the gap, and stop comparing yourself to veterans.

“The positives are he’s racing against Corey Heim and Kyle Busch and all the people that he has been able to go against this year. And in the end, he doesn’t have that high-level experience.”

“And I think that the expectations that he has compared to the reality of the situation are probably off a little bit because of Corey Heim. You can learn a lot from Corey Heim, and when he goes back and looks at that situation, he’s going to realize that he just outdid him.”

Harvick’s advice is probably the best mantra that Kaden Honeycutt can use today in order to build himself. He is merely in his second full-time season as a Truck driver. Not only that, but it is also the first time he is being allowed a ride in a competitive truck that can challenge for wins and podiums every weekend. Thus, he is not expected to win a championship or score multiple victories.

His team expects one thing: bring the truck home and chase wins—nothing more. And considering his eight top 5 finishes in 11 races, he has managed to do that pretty well.

He already has his first victory, and there’s no need for him to become impatient while racing Corey Heim, simply because Heim can win more races compared to him. Heim completed three full seasons, made Championship Four all three, and won last year.

It is no wonder that Heim is able to get under his skin so easily. Heim’s only philosophy during a race is to win no matter what. That attitude can only be developed through multiple runs along the season, and multiple races run in different series.

It would be rather unfair for both Heim and Kaden Honeycutt to think that Honeycutt should be posting the same finishes as Corey Heim merely because he is in the same truck. Eight top-5s in 11 races prove Honeycutt is a keeper for Tricon.

So what exactly happened between the Tricon Garage teammates this weekend?

Corey Heim stops Kaden Honeycutt’s advances on the last lap

It was simply not Kaden Honeycutt’s day in Michigan this Saturday. He was only able to lead one lap before Cup driver Carson Hocevar pushed him back once again. That ought to frustrate him, especially due to the unfavorable end to his day he had in Nashville.

Although, to everyone’s surprise, Honeycutt was not ready to give up. He was constantly pestering the final race leader, Corey Heim, with multiple attacks, taking the low and high lines. The duo finished first and second, separated by 0.065 seconds. Now, that didn’t really trouble Heim, but it made Honeycutt completely frustrated.

“Thank God it was a company truck ’cause I definitely wouldn’t have lifted in that situation,” Honeycutt said. “Just, it just sucks. I felt like I’ve given so many away this year, and I think that’s what’s angered me the most, for sure. Just unfortunate.”

It mirrors his earlier complaint about how Cup drivers end up pushing the Truck regulars in their part-time starts to claim victory. While Honeycutt seems to emphasize the value of racing your teammates fairly, Heim just wants him to move on with it.

It is typical of Heim to think that way. He is known for his last-lap advances and last-race passes to take the lead and stick with it through aggressive defense. Perhaps with enough experience, one day Kaden Honeycutt might turn the tables on Heim over the same skill.