“No excuse,” is what Kaden Honeycutt said earlier last week at Texas after missing out on yet another chance at his maiden victory in the Truck Series, finishing in third place. While this seemed like a tough moment of luck, there were other plans for him, far better, far more celebratory, as he marked an amazing weekend of dominance at Watkins Glen.

Kaden Honeycutt becomes a NASCAR race winner

It was already impressive enough to see Honeycutt taking his maiden ARCA victory on the track just a few hours ago at The Glen. While the celebrations for that continued, he led the Truck Race to mark his maiden victory, that too against Connor Zilisch. He became the only driver in history after Sam Mayer to win an ARCA race and a Truck Series race on the same day.

“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.”

Zilisch is sometimes called the master of Watkins Glen. He won at the track on his Xfinity (now the O’Reilly Auto Parts) Series debut in 2024, and then managed to win one again in 2025. It was almost a given that he would win the race. However, a final restart turned the sides around, as Honeycutt found himself in the perfect position to become a NASCAR race winner.

“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 wasn’t the only challenge Honeycutt faced. The former was also joined by Shane van Gisbergen on the track, perhaps the most competitive road course driver in NASCAR currently. His immense experience racing in the Supercars Series gives him the edge over other drivers who have spent all 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.

The celebrations were loud, as one might expect them to be. Honeycutt has been around for quite some time, and to just say that it has been challenging would be an understatement.

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.

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 throughout the years. Within the first eight rounds, there were five instances in which he managed to finish in the top 5. This has been rather impressive.

The only void remaining in his racing portfolio was a NASCAR win, which he achieved in style, defeating some of the best road course drivers to take the flag. The tears were justified, and so was the beer shotgun. There is still a lot to come of his career, and his performance just promises a championship in the future.