Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect the results of Friday’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Watkins Glen International.
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Stewart Friesen may not have been at Watkins Glen International Friday, but he was still helping his team from afar.
Sidelined after a savage dirt modified crash in Quebec on July 28 that left the 42-year-old with a shattered pelvis, compound fracture to his right leg, fractured C7 vertebra and fractured left hip, Friesen was texting with his Halmar Friesen Racing crew Friday as the team’s Nos. 52 and 62 Toyotas prepared for the group’s first NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race without Friesen.
MORE: Truck Series standings | Watkins Glen photos
NASCAR Cup Series regular Christopher Bell filled in for Friesen at the 2.45-mile road course, piloting Friesen’s flagship No. 52 Toyota to a fourth-place finish in the Mission 176 at The Glen. Bell, the 2017 Truck Series champion, had previously discussed opportunities to drive a second HFR truck for the organization this season, but those discussions never came to fruition. With Friesen out, the timing aligned for Bell to climb behind the wheel, albeit in an unfortunate circumstance. Bell wanted to make Friesen and crew chief Jimmy Villeneuve proud Friday. A top-five effort surely did the job.
“I had a ton of fun, but I’m sure it looked very weird seeing that 52 truck out there without Stewart in it,” Bell said. “Just happy to give them a good run and get a good finish out of it. They told me at one time, checkers or wreckers. And I’m like, yeah, well, I want to make sure that I get it to the checkered flag and walked out of here with a fourth-place finish after all the chaos.”
Bell did his best to make Friesen proud in qualifying, coming up just 0.192 seconds short of Corey Heim’s pole-setting time. Villeneuve, who was Bell’s truck chief during their 2017 title run, also serves as the general manager of Halmar Friesen Racing and told NASCAR.com that Friesen was texting the team all afternoon.
“Stew is doing good, and I talked to him yesterday,” Villeneuve said. “He’s in good spirits. He’s been plugged in all day. Luckily, our sport is broader than just being at the race track. He is putting input, helping us adjust the truck and giving the driver feedback from what he has felt in the past. So we’re very lucky to have a guy like him still clicked in and helping us.
“He is a huge, huge factor of this race team and will be till he comes back, and then he’ll be a bigger factor because then he’s back in the seat.”
In an Aug. 5 press release, the team announced Kaden Honeycutt would replace Friesen “for the balance of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season,” starting next week at Richmond Raceway. However, Villeneuve pulled the reins back on those plans a tad on Friday afternoon.
“Kaden is going to fill in for Richmond, and then after that’s a little TBD to see where Stewart’s at and all that, and see where his health is at,” Villeneuve said.
Now that Friesen officially missed Friday’s race at Watkins Glen, he may apply for a waiver to remain playoff eligible, thanks to his June 7 win at Michigan International Speedway. Ready as needed, Honeycutt is eager to get the opportunity to work with the Halmar Friesen Racing team.
“The opportunity is definitely to go win races for sure, right?” Honeycutt told NASCAR.com.” That’s all that group wants to do, and win a title and Owner’s Championship. So that’s what I’m going to try to deliver for them. But the way it came about was in the worst way possible, with Stewart getting hurt. And that’s his priority is to get better first. And just the chance from Stewart and Mrs. (Jessica) Friesen and Chris Larsen (team co-owner and CEO of Halmar International) for even thinking about me to fill in the rest of the year for them and do a good job. I can’t thank them enough for even thinking of me.”
Honeycutt entered Friday’s race sixth in the driver standings and had been competing full-time for Niece Motorsports in its No. 45 Chevrolet. However, the team announced Aug. 4 it was parting ways with Honeycutt immediately due to a new deal Honeycutt signed for 2026 that will move him to a new team and manufacturer.
Cody Efaw, general manager of Niece Motorsports, told NASCAR.com Friday he viewed the rest of the 2025 season as a “lame-duck term” if Honeycutt remained with the team since he would lose access to much of Chevrolet’s and Josh Wise’s driver training programs.
“There’s a lot of information goes into that that he would get turned off to,” Efaw said. “Another large contributing factor too is the fact that Precision Vehicle Logistics (and) DQS Solutions and Staffing, they’re huge partners of ours. Their largest customer is General Motors. So I have a hard time continuing to have them partner and spend money because we funded and found money for Kaden to race ever since he’s been in Niece. So I have a hard time having them spend money towards a driver that’s going to help Toyota. That’s where he’s headed.
“And I like Kaden. Me and Kaden rode on a plane up here together and sat beside each other and talked, and we have no bad blood. But he’s going to be in meetings at Toyota, right? Even if he’s driving here, they’re going to be talking. They already have been. That’s how they got a deal done. So it’s not that I think he’d give information, but we’d have to shut all that off to protect ourselves. So therefore, I don’t think that running for a championship is — I don’t say it’s impossible, but this stuff’s so hard at that level.”
Honeycutt, who drove the No. 02 Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet at Watkins Glen and finished 34th due to mechanical issues, told NASCAR.com before Friday’s race that he was “definitely shocked” by the team’s decision to part ways so abruptly and that he didn’t consider this outcome when making his plans for the 2026 campaign. He informed the team of his plans so Niece could prepare to find someone to fill the seat in his absence. That absence, instead, was fairly instant. But Honeycutt confirmed all is good between him and his former team manager.
“We’re all good. We still talk,” Honeycutt said. “Like I said, I still love that crew over there. They did nothing but great things for me. They worked really hard for me, and they’re the first team that gave me a chance to run a full season and put me in the position where I’m at now. So yeah, definitely all good between both of us.”
In fact, Efaw said he was the one who reached out to Toyota Racing Development’s Slugger Labbe to initiate Honeycutt’s opportunity to get behind the wheel of the No. 52 truck in place of Friesen. Following Friday’s race, Honeycutt sits eighth in the regular-season driver standings.
Whether NASCAR officials grant Friesen a playoff waiver or not, the No. 52 Toyota will remain eligible for the owners’ championship in the Truck Series this season so long as it attempts each of the remaining races on the schedule. Honeycutt remains in position to contend for the drivers’ championship and would remain in that position so long as he attempts each race as well. At Niece, the No. 45 truck remains eligible for the owners’ title fight as well, with Connor Zilisch piloting the vehicle on Friday at Watkins Glen and Bayley Currey getting behind the wheel for the rest of the season.
“We’ve got Bayley in-house. (Honeycutt’s) got the 52. We still can run for an owner’s championship. That’s important to us,” Efaw said. “He can still run for a driver’s championship with a team that can run for an owner’s championship. In my eyes, everyone’s happy. Am I wrong? It don’t affect anyone’s finances. It ain’t brilliant; it’s just simple.”
