Darlington, S.C. — When TRICON Garage announced Kaden Honeycutt as the 2026 full-time driver of the team’s No. 11 Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, he was expected to compete for poles, wins, and ultimately, a championship. On Friday afternoon, the 22-year-old collected his first career pole in a blistering lap around the 1.366-mile Darlington Raceway.
On the strength of a 28.848-second (170.466 mph) lap time in the qualifying session, Honeycutt will lead the fierce field of 36 drivers to the green flag in Friday night’s Buckle Up South Carolina 200. The driver didn’t shy away from the fact that he usually struggles in qualifying after securing the pole.
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“Man, it’s awesome. I’m not really so much of a hot-lapping guy, so that was really awesome,” Honeycutt said in an interview with FOX Sports. “Man, I just couldn’t do it without Toyota, TRICON, Safelite, everyone that took a chance on me to take over this 11 truck and do a good job.”
This weekend marks the first together for Honeycutt and his crew chief Scott Zipadelli, who missed the first three events of the season due to an offseason leg injury. Zipadelli, who is wearing a leg brace, and using crutches, is calling the shots from the No. 11 pit box this weekend.
“It was awesome [being] able to have Scott back,” Honeycutt stated. “Scott [played] a huge role today; he did a great job in practice and set me up for a great truck. And a lot of the guys behind the scenes is because of Scott, and this whole team. I’m just the lucky guy who holds the wheel.”
Prior to Honeycutt turning the pole-winning lap time, it looked like full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor Carson Hocevar would score the pole position, as he went to the top of the speed chart with just six trucks remaining to take a lap.
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However, the very next truck was Honeycutt, who bumped him from the pole.
Still, Hocevar’s 28.868-second lap time was enough to secure the driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet Silverado to secure the runner-up starting spot going into his tune-up race ahead of Sunday’s Goodyear 400.
Tanner Gray, who led the way through the majority of the qualifying session, would hang on to snag the third starting spot, which was a pretty good effort considering the TRICON Garage driver’s early qualifying draw.
Gio Ruggiero, and Corey Heim, the driver that Honeycutt succeeded as the full-time driver of the No. 11 entry, locked down the fourth and fifth qualifying spots, which allowed TRICON Garage to land four of its trucks inside the top-five of the starting grid for Friday night’s race.
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Christopher Bell, Ty Majeski, Layne Riggs, Ross Chastain, and Connor Mosack rounded out the top-10 qualifiers for Friday night’s 200-mile event around the treacherous Darlington Raceway.
Frankie Muniz, the star of Malcom in the Middle, was unable to complete a lap in the session after his No. 33 Team Reaume Ford F-150 experienced a mechanical issue in Friday’s practice session. As a result, Muniz will start from the rear of the 36-truck field on Friday evening.
NASCAR Cup Series full-timer A.J. Allmendinger was a late addition to the entry list, as he was tapped to take over the No. 10 Kaulig Racing Ram 1500 this weekend following the suspension of Daniel Dye. Dye was suspended by NASCAR for homophobic comments that he made during a trading card break stream on Whatnot, a video streaming platform.
The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Buckle Up South Carolina 200 at Darlington Raceway is scheduled for Friday, March 20, and will be televised on FS1 with coverage set to begin at 7:30 PM ET.
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Official Buckle Up South Carolina 200 Starting Lineup
1. 11-Kaden Honeycutt
2. 77-Carson Hocevar
3. 15-Tanner Gray
4. 17-Gio Ruggiero
5. 5-Corey Heim
6. 62-Christopher Bell
7. 88-Ty Majeski
8. 34-Layne Riggs
9. 45-Ross Chastain
10. 7-Connor Mosack
11. 9-Grant Enfinger
12. 38-Chandler Smith
13. 52-Stewart Friesen
14. 19-Daniel Hemric
15. 99-Ben Rhodes
16. 91-Christian Eckes
17. 13-Cole Butcher
18. 18-Tyler Ankrum
19. 42-Conner Jones
20. 25-Corey LaJoie
21. 44-Andres Perez de Lara
22. 10-AJ Allmendinger
23. 98-Jake Garcia
24. 26-Dawson Sutton
25. 16-Justin Haley
26. 56-Timmy Hill
27. 1-William Sawalich
28. 81-Kris Wright
29. 12-Brenden Queen
30. 14-Mini Tyrrell
31. 22-Josh Reaume
32. 76-Spencer Boyd
33. 2-Clayton Green
34. 90-Justin Carroll
35. 93-Caleb Costner
36. 33-Frankie Muniz
This article was originally published on www.si.com/onsi/racing-america as Honeycutt Tops Hocevar To Claim Maiden Truck Series Pole Position.
