OT pass sends Honeycutt to first career Truck Series win at Watkins Glen
· Yahoo Sports
When asked after his ARCA Menards Series victory earlier in the day if he considered himself a road-course driver, Kaden Honeycutt replied, "Heck no. Absolutely not.”
Honeycutt's driving delivered a far different answer, with his overtake of Connor Zilisch off an overtime restart giving him his second victory in a span of a few hours Friday, May 8 on the road course at Watkins Glen International.
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The triumph in the Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at The Glen was the first in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Honeycutt, who added to his series points lead with his performance for TRICON Garage in the No. 11 Safelite + Foster Love Toyota.
The emotions on display from Honeycutt just after the race provided a glimpse into the significance of his victory.
"It's amazing," said Honeycutt, a 22-year-old Texas native whose win came in his 67th career start.
"I can't believe I won on a road course. It's just unbelievable."
Moments later he shotgunned a beer on the homestretch to partially fulfill a promise he made to fans. With the gate locked, Honeycutt was unable to 100% the deal by joining fans for the moment.
During his post-race press conference, Honeycutt stuck to his guns and said "still don't" when asked whether he changed his mind about being a road-course driver.
"I have to personally work at it every single day to be good at it," he said of road courses. "It definitely does not mean I'm perfect just from winning this race. I'm just going to keep working at my craft, get better at it, and find some extra pace to be in Zilisch's position when he was leading."
Honeycutt said in between his victory in the General Tire 100 at The Glen and the Truck Series race there were some things he focused on in the ARCA event that would make him better for the Truck race.
He waited for his opportunity in the nightcap after a series of late-race incidents sent the planned 72-lap race into a two-lap overtime.
Honeycutt worked his way past race leader Zilisch off the final restart and didn't give Zilisch a chance to return the favor, winning by .902 seconds.
"I think Zilisch missed a shift a little bit," Honeycutt said. "We were three wide going into (Turn) 1 and I barely got to his right rear and touched him a little bit. It was just enough to get on by him."
The race was Zilisch's first at the road course since he took a fall in victory lane after winning the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race last August. Zilisch suffered a broken collarbone during the scary fall.
He led for a race-high 28 laps but couldn't close it out after a series of incidents led to four cautions over the final 13 scheduled laps.
"Just an unfortunate way to end that race," Zilisch said. "I chose the top (on the last restart) hoping we could get through there without making contact. I knew the bottom would be better if that happened, but I didn't want to be that guy. I wish I could go back and redo it and just pick the inside and do that. It is what it is. We've got two more races this weekend."
During the final stage, race leaders Ross Chastain and Giovanni Riggiero were both hit with penalties for jumping the restart, sending them back in the field. Chastain was later spun by Ty Majeski, ending his day.
Adding a degree of difficult to his victory, Honeycutt was penalized for pitting just after the pits closed on lap 38.
Shane Van Gisbergen, last year's Cup Series winner at Watkins Glen, finished third. Daniel Hemric was fourth, Chandler Smith fifth, AJ Allmendinger sixth, Brent Crews seventh, Mini Tyrrell eighth, Brenden Queen ninth, and Justin Haley 10th.
Virginia native Dystany Spurlock was seeking to become the first Black woman to compete in a race in one of of NASCAR's top-three touring series. She was one of two drivers among 38 who failed to qualify earlier in the day.
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Kaden Honeycutt wins Bully Hill Vineyards 176 at The Glen Truck race