NCTS Race Recap: Championship Race

The stage was set for the Championship Race in NASCAR’s Craftsman Truck Series at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Nick Sanchez put a blistering lap down, which earned him the pole. Chandler Smith joined him on the front row. Layne Riggs was the fastest of the two remaining championship hopefuls, as he qualified in fourth. Kaden Honeycutt was not far behind though, as he started the race in fifth. Stages one and two were 30 laps with the final stage being 74 laps. The championship standings before the race started had Honeycutt ahead of Riggs by 20 points.

Trouble for a Contender

Smith got a good launch and took the lead out of turn two. Corey Heim cleared Sanchez for second into turn one.

Riggs got sideways on the backstretch but was able to save it. That allowed Honeycutt to get around him in fourth.

Sanchez and Smith got back around Heim to take first and second. Smith stayed close to the leader.

Stewart Friesen got to the inside of Riggs and completed the pass for fifth. Riggs dove to the inside to try to take the spot back, but could not.

Ty Majeski caught the tailgate of Riggs and began to hound him for the spot. Riggs held him off as best as he could.

Smith took a huge shot at the lead but, could not pass. Heim used the opportunity to get around Smith and fight for the lead behind Sanchez. Heim used a huge run on the high side of turns three and four. He dove into turn three and was able to take the lead out of four.

Heim and Sanchez began to throw haymakers at each other. They swapped the lead in back-to-back corners. Heim would ultimately take the lead.

Honeycutt patiently ran in fourth. He tracked Smith down and made quick work of him for third.

Riggs to the Pits

Riggs made an unscheduled pit stop for a shredded right rear tire. He had substantial damage from the tire blowing and from having to nurse it to pit road. He went two laps down.

Honeycutt caught Sanchez and made the pass on the inside of turns one and two. Sanchez took the spot back into turn three.

Heim held on to the lead to win stage one in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race! Sanchez, Honeycutt, Daniel Hemric, and Smith rounded out the top five. Riggs ended the stage two laps down.

Heim Time is Back

Heim and Sanchez restarted the race on the front row. Honeycutt quickly dove to the inside of Heim to take the lead out of turn two. Hemric got around Heim to take second.

Heim continued to fall after getting passed by Sanchez.

Hemric took the lead using a great run through turns three and four. Honeycutt was also passed by Sanchez.

Honeycutt fell to fifth after being passed by Heim and Majeski.

Heim took the lead with Hemric, Sanchez, and Majeski fighting for second.

Riggs had to pit after hitting the wall and sustaining further damage on his right rear quarter panel. He got a pass-through penalty on the stop after having too many men over the wall.

Hemric was able to hold onto second, leaving Sanchez and Majeski behind him.

Hemric caught and began to challenge for the lead from Heim.

Heim held onto the lead to sweep the stages in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship Race! Hemric, Sanchez, Christian Eckes, and Majeski finished the stage in the top five. Layne Riggs ended up in 35th and seven laps down at the stage end.

Shakeup at the Front

Eckes joined Heim on the front row for the restart. Smith, from third, dove to the inside of Heim. He took the lead out of turn two with Grant Enfinger, Eckes, and Heim three wide behind him. Enfinger and Eckes got to the outside of Smith, but only Eckes made the pass, while Enfinger fell to third.

Enfinger attacked Smith for several laps but could not do anything. He took a swing, and it cost him. He got passed by Heim and almost fell to Honeycutt.

Heim quickly caught and passed Smith for second.

Enfinger continued to pay for his aggression. Honeycutt caught his tailgate and made the pass for fourth. The two passed Smith, who fell to fifth.

Eckes pulled away from Heim by over a second. Heim was three seconds ahead of Honeycutt.

Smith was the first truck, among the leaders, to pit. That was on lap 95.

Heim and Honeycutt pitted on lap 98. They both had clean stops. Eckes pitted on the next lap.

Eckes was able to hold onto the lead after the leaders’ pit cycle. Heim did close the gap a bit but could not get around the leader.

The third caution of the day came when Sanchez’s truck caught fire. He was able to get out of it safely on the access road.

21 to go

After a lengthy cleanup, Connor Mosack and Justin Haley restarted the race on the front row. Mosack got a great launch and took the lead into turn one. Eckes used new tires and took the lead on the outside line out of the corner. Honeycutt got behind the leader right before the fourth caution came out.

Tanner Gray turned sideways and collected several trucks in turn four. Tyler Ankrum, Landen Lewis, and Andres Perez were involved.

Eckes and Honeycutt brought the field back to green with 14 to go. Heim and Mosack restarted behind them. Eckes and Heim got a great restart. Honeycutt almost took the lead out of turn four, but Eckes held on.

Honeycutt used a huge run on the backstretch to take the lead with 12 to go.

With ten to go, Eckes clipped the wall trying to gain time on the leader.

Heim got into the wall with eight to go. He fell outside of the top five.

Kaden Honeycutt held onto the lead to win the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Championship! He stayed patient all race long and got the job done. Eckes, Hemric, Majeski, and Friesen finished the race in the top five. Riggs finished the race in 32nd.

Marvins Minute

Nobody should be surprised that Kaden Honeycutt is the champion. He was fast last year on several different teams and even different manufacturers. He has shown his consistency. Honeycutt has matured so much in the last two seasons. He is a deserving champion and could even repeat next season.

Layne Riggs had trouble early, which kept him out of it most of the race. He lost the championship through no fault of his own. It was a racing incident between two drivers going for the same space, in my opinion. He was also a deserving champion. He has shown tremendous growth and maturity over the last few seasons. Layne Riggs should also be on the list of favorites to win the championship next season.

Next season will be a good one. The two finalists for the trophy this past season are only getting better throughout the offseason. I believe that will make the racing between those two even better.