The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship is coming down to the wire, with Kaden Honeycutt and Layne Riggs emerging as the top contenders. Following their top-10 finishes at the Love’s RV Stop 225 at Talladega Superspeedway, Honeycutt now leads Riggs by 43 points with two races remaining.
Riggs has won seven races this year, while Honeycutt has won four. Riggs also has 12 Stage victories to Honeycutt’s seven, giving him an edge in the championship fight. Despite this, Riggs remains optimistic about his chances, saying “we’re gonna have to go dominate the next two races.”
In Friday’s race, both Honeycutt and Riggs were poised to claim a victory, but ultimately finished fifth and eighth, respectively. The victory went to Sammy Smith, who claimed his first-ever win in the Truck Series. Smith led 21 laps in the 86-lap race, with Austin Green leading 14 laps and finishing third in his Truck Series debut.
Smith’s win was his second at the 2.66-mile Talladega track, having previously won a NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at the track in 2024. He credited his team with putting him in a good position to win, saying “I felt like we did a good job putting ourselves there in a good spot.”
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The championship fight is now essentially a two-driver race between Honeycutt and Riggs. With two races remaining, Honeycutt has a 43-point lead over Riggs. However, Riggs is confident that his team can dominate the next two races and close the gap. Ty Majeski, who finished fourth in the recent race, moved into third in the standings, 141 points behind Honeycutt.
Honeycutt was disappointed with his finish, saying “I’m just so disappointed in myself to not make the right moves at the end of the race to get the win.” Despite his lead in the standings, Honeycutt knows that the championship is far from over, saying “you never say it is over till it is over.”
As the season winds down, the focus will be on the remaining two races, with Honeycutt and Riggs battling it out for the championship. With the points gap narrow, the next two races are likely to be intense and closely contested. The outcome of the championship will depend on which driver can perform better in the final two races.
