NASCAR
Is There a Truck Series Title Standout Between Honeycutt and Riggs?
Twenty-four races over eight months and thousands of miles of competition have whittled the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series down to two contenders. Friday night will see either Kaden Honeycutt or Layne Riggs crowned the 2026 champion, with both drivers having title-caliber campaigns. Heading into the season finale from Homestead-Miami Speedway, is there a favorite between these two truckers? Twenty points are all that separate them for their final 200-mile chess match. Both heavyweights have been in near-lockstep all season long. In short, the championship-deciding race may be another great battle between these two teams.
Honeycutt and Riggs have very similar Homestead stats entering Friday. Honeycutt has three Homestead starts under his belt, finishing 10th here last year. Riggs, meanwhile, has been in the last two Homestead Truck races, and was the 2025 runner-up after leading late.
Across The Chase so far for both drivers, they’ve done an excellent job of running in near-formation for six weeks. Honeycutt owns two wins in this span (Kansas and Phoenix), four top-fives, and 258 laps led. Chase consistency has paid off for the No. 11, with only one result worse than eighth. Riggs, the regular season champion, has seen one Chase win (Charlotte), three top-fives, and 390 laps led so far. Going against the No. 34, however, were two races finishing worse than 15th to start The Chase.
Homestead will mark the seventh intermediate oval of the season for the Truckers, with both drivers looking for more success. The past intermediate stops have seen Riggs take three wins to Honeycutt’s one. Laps led on intermediates also narrowly favor Riggs, 207 to 200.
If anything, last year’s Homestead Truck race could have been a precursor to Friday night’s feature event. The TRICON No. 11 led until four laps remaining with Corey Heim behind the wheel, before the Toyota’s motor stumbled. This briefly gave the top spot to Riggs, until Kyle Larson blew by both of them with two laps left. Any way you slice it, the Nos. 11 and 34 are just about evenly matched for this final title throwdown.
If recent momentum is any judgement too, then Riggs had Honeycutt covered at Martinsville last week. The No. 34 led the opening 109 laps and swept both stages, before losing ground late to teammate Chandler Smith. Honeycutt, meanwhile, was at best a fifth-place truck before restart contact sent the 11 back to 14th-place. Riggs was able to cut Honeycutt’s points lead nearly in half that night. The dynamic duo is now only 20 points apart going into race 25 of the year. It may very well be winner-take-all between these two for the championship, reminiscent of the past playoff format.
Regardless of how it happened, we are all in store for a Truck Series title heavyweight bout for the ages. Friday will likely see either Riggs take an eighth checkered flag of 2026 or Honeycutt a fifth trip to victory lane. No matter who pulls off the ultimate feat, a very deserving team will take its second Truck title with a new driver. It all comes down to Friday’s 134-lap dash, going green at 7:30 p.m. ET on FS1, NRN, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio. One of these two title hopefuls is only a few hours away from being the newest name on the Craftsman Truck Series Championship trophy.
Written by Peter Stratta
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