Honeycutt’s Late-Season Charge Ends In CARS PLM Title

WILKESBORO, N.C. – Kaden Honeycutt converted a night where his Bryson Lopez Racing team did everything right into a zMAX CARS Pro Late Model Tour championship Saturday at North Wilkesboro Speedway.

After starting second at the historic five-eighths-mile oval, Honeycutt led all but one lap in the zMAX 100 en route to a season-ending victory that also gave the Willow Park, Texas, native his first CARS Tour-sanctioned title.

His only scare came on lap 80, when a shot in the rear bumper from Tristan McKee sent Honeycutt up into the marbles and back two positions to third for a brief moment.

A caution flag moments later allowed the 21-year-old to regroup, return to the lead, and hold it to the finish from there, though he did have to weather a final-lap charge from T.J. DeCaire to finish the job.

Honeycutt was perfect when it mattered, though, taking the checkered flag in front by .256 seconds for his third CARS Tour pro late model win of the season, second in a row, and fourth of his young career.

Combined with his title rival Spencer Davis’ 14th-place finish, after Davis suffered a broken track bar in the early laps and fell as far as four laps down, the end result was two trophies and one emotional lift ride to North Wilkesboro’s iconic elevated victory lane for Honeycutt and company.

“For these guys to go pro late model racing for the first time ever this year, come to the (CARS) Tour and take on the hardest series there is on the planet, in my mind … to do what we’ve done in the last five weeks is really freaking cool,” said an elated Honeycutt. “I had no idea who these guys were at first, to be honest, and now we’ve won races together since I came over here and done things already that I could have only dreamed of.

“When the 6 (of McKee) hit me and I got up in the speedy dry, I was trying to do everything that I could not to hit the fence … but I chewed and swallowed (that moment), and luckily the next restart came back around really fast and gave us another chance to get back where we needed to be,” he added. “Just so happy that everything worked out for us.

“[Bryson Lopez Racing] gave me the opportunity to finish out the year, but [Mavrick Page Motorsports] got me into this position. A lot of people have done so much for me, and I can’t thank them enough. To win at [North] Wilkesboro and get the championship at the same time is so unbelievably cool.”

Saturday marked the perfect conclusion to a wild year where Honeycutt was the tour’s most dominant driver, but took perhaps the most unorthodox road possible to the season-long hardware.

A summer swoon saw Honeycutt leave Mavrick Page Motorsports, the team with whom he’d started the CARS Tour campaign, after eight races and shift to the unheralded No. 47 operation under the guidance of team co-owner Dustin Bryson.

In five CARS Tour pro late model starts together, Honeycutt’s chemistry with the BLR crew was immediate. He never finished worse than fourth and won the final two races to secure the crown in come-from-behind fashion.

“From the moment I hooked up with these guys and we ran our first race together at Ace (Speedway in August), I knew we had something special here and could go out and finish off a championship together,” said Honeycutt, who led the CARS Pro Late Model Tour in wins (with three), top fives (with nine), and top 10s (with 13) while never finishing worse than ninth.

“They put everything behind me and were committed to giving me everything that I needed to go out and be successful at a high level, even though we hadn’t been together long at all,” he continued. “To ride the elevator here (at North Wilkesboro) and know that we did what we set out to do … I’m emotional because of that and emotional because there’s a lot of family members that I’ve lost over the past few years who I wish could be here to see what we’ve done. They would be proud, I know.

“Some people will say, ‘Oh, it’s just a pro late model championship,’ but man … any championship is awesome, especially in a series like the CARS Tour where both divisions are just so deep. It’s special.”

Honeycutt will move on to a full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series campaign with Niece Motorsports in 2025, but before that, will attempt to add another big win to the Bryson Lopez Racing trophy case at Five Flags Speedway’s famed Snowflake 100 in early December.

He also left the door open to selected starts with the BLR team again next year, adding that “these guys just want to race, and I love doing it with them.”

“[Dustin Bryson] told me we’re going to run a whole lot more races together, so I’m excited for that for next year and the years to come, for sure.”

Honeycutt’s next on-track activities will be with Niece Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Homestead-Miami (Fla.) Speedway on Saturday, Oct. 26.

Broadcast coverage of the Baptist Health 200 is slated for noon ET, live on FS1, the Motor Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.

It’s just the continuation of a career Honeycutt said “wouldn’t be where it is now” without the fierce competition of the CARS Tour and the tools he’s learned from it since his debut three years ago.

“The CARS Tour has ignited my career since 2021,” Honeycutt said. “This is the way to go to move up to the Truck Series, ARCA [Menards Series] or what not. If you can win in this deal, you can win in just about anything. The series will continue to get better, especially with the new staff.

“It’s definitely going to go a long way. To be part of that history with a championship now means a lot.”

About Kaden Honeycutt

Kaden Honeycutt is a 21-year-old, multi-discipline racer from Willow Park, Texas, who competes in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Niece Motorsports. He also races in the zMAX CARS Tour in both the Pro Late Model and Late Model Stock Car divisions – driving for Bryson Lopez Racing and R&S Race Cars, respectively – and in super late models on rare occasions with Jett Motorsports.

On the dirt side, Honeycutt cut his teeth in the Gulf South region of the United States, both in his home state of Texas and the surrounding areas. He first ran factory stocks and dirt modifieds before more recently branching out into dirt late model racing, attending premier events like the Wild West Shootout and selected races with the World of Outlaws Case Construction Late Model Series.

Proving his extreme versatility, Honeycutt also raced at the prestigious Chili Bowl Midget Nationals powered by NOS Energy Drink in 2023, earning a B-main finish on Championship Saturday among a field of nearly 400 entries inside Tulsa, Oklahoma’s SageNet Center.

Honeycutt has been a persistent worker on his own race vehicles, routinely helping his various teams at the racetrack, as well as in the Niece Motorsports shop through the week. He continues to push up the NASCAR ladder as a prospect to eventually reach the premier NASCAR Cup Series, and will tackle the full Truck Series calendar in 2025 under the guidance of team owner and Marine Corps veteran Al Niece.

Off the racetrack, Honeycutt is passionately involved with the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, where he supports children battling pediatric brain tumors and other childhood cancers. He runs the FOJ logo on both his car and uniform, including a tribute to his adopted child Jackson, who passed away in 2020.

For more information, visit his website at https://kadenhoneycuttracing.com/.