PENSACOLA, Fla. – What a past few months it has been for Kaden Honeycutt.
Niece Motorsports announced at the start of October that the Texan will run full time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2025. Three weeks later he won the zMAX CARS Tour Pro Late Model championship, snatching the points lead with a victory in the final race.
Those moments made for a big October, but Honeycutt’s best moment of 2024 was yet to come. On Sunday (Dec. 8), Honeycutt scored the biggest victory of his career when he claimed the Snowball Derby at Five Flags Speedway.
Honeycutt prevailed in a late 21-lap dash to the finish ahead of Stephen Nasse, Ty Majeski, Jace Hansen and William Sawalich.
But while Honeycutt was the star of the show, there were many storylines at play during Sunday’s race. Here are three things that stood out from the 57th running of the famed Derby.
Honeycutt Aims to Further His Successes
Amazingly, Honeycutt’s Derby triumph is his first Super Late Model win, coming in less than 10 total starts. The result proved the 21-year-old to be a wheelman and major prospect.
Even with CARS Tour trophies and a pair of ARCA Menards Series West trophies to his name, winning the prestigious Tom Dawson trophy beats them all.
“This is No. 1,” he told Frontstretch post-race. “There is nothing better than this, man. And anything in motorsports, this can’t even (be beaten by) the Daytona 500 of the Cup Series. Hopefully, we can get our first Truck trophy next year. But I’m sorry, this is better. This is the hardest thing you’ll ever do, this is the hardest race in the country. And this is where hard-nosed grassroots racing comes about and that’s why. It’s (the) most prestigious for a reason.”
Current NASCAR Cup Series driver Carson Hocevar served as one of the announcers for the Derby. Hocevar previously competed in Trucks for Niece. Phil Gould was his crew chief and Hocevar was quite successful, accruing four wins, three top-10 points finishes and one Championship 4 appearance.
Honeycutt’s crew chief for next year? Gould. It’s a neat connection but also provides a goal for Honeycutt.
Winning races, making the playoffs and contending for the title are Honeycutt’s primary goals for 2025, he told Frontstretch during the Derby race weekend. He’ll also return to the Derby to defend his crown.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at …