DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — When Kaden Honeycutt stepped out of the Niece Motorsports hauler at Daytona International Speedway on Thursday morning, the warm Florida air was refreshing in more ways than one.
Honeycutt made the Speedweeks trek once before back in 2023, but it did not come with the guarantee of a full-time ride or a secured future in the industry. This time around, Honeycutt has an assured opportunity to pursue a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series title behind the wheel of Niece’s No. 45 AutoVentive/Precision Chevrolet.
The path toward this moment in Honeycutt’s career was strenuous. With his funding a constant question mark, Honeycutt took any ride that was available at both the national and short track level to prove he was capable of being an efficient competitor.
Endless gambles and sacrifices have led Honeycutt back to Daytona with a future more coherent than ever before.
“I have a lot of confidence in this team,” Honeycutt said. “We expect to win races and we expect to go to Phoenix and fight for a championship. That’s all we want to do here at Niece, so I’m thankful for them choosing me to drive their [truck] this year and we’ll make sure to kick it off on the right foot at Daytona.”
Dedication is a vital part of Honeycutt’s modus operandi as a competitor. It was present when he started his career on the dirt tracks in his home state of Texas and has followed him across several different disciplines in motorsports.
Honeycutt has needed that vigilance in nearly every aspect of his grind toward the top. With other young competitors in his age group possessing far more resources than him, Honeycutt knew the best method to accomplish his goals was to keep racing, no matter the cost.
After a brief ARCA Menards Series East stint, Honeycutt regrouped and centered his efforts on short tracks in the southeast during the 2020s, competing in Late Model Stocks and Pro Late Models. As he started finding success, different organizations began realizing how much talent the Willow Park, Texas native possessed.
Honeycutt made their investments pay off. He guided MMI Racing to an ARCA Menards Series West owner’s championship after joining them for the final four races in 2023. The following year, Honeycutt earned a Pro Late Model title after making a late-season switch from Mavrick Page Motorsports to Bryson Lopez Racing.
All this occurred while Honeycutt stayed relentless to refine his race craft. In one instance, Honeycutt competed in four races across a two-day stretch between Phoenix Raceway and Caraway Speedway, located in Asheboro, North Carolina.
The result of the rigorous endeavor: one victory and no finishes outside the top 10.
Every victory, moral and tangible, culminated in what is currently Honeycutt’s crowning achievement as a driver at the end of 2024: his first Snowball Derby victory at Five Flags Speedway.
Besting Super Late Model stalwarts like Ty Majeski, Stephen Nasse and Bubba Pollard was not the only reason why winning the Snowball Derby was so special for Honeycutt. The jubilation also stemmed from his connection to the track and the car owners who took a chance on him during his early development.
“I’ve been going to Pensacola since I was 5 years old,” Honeycutt said. “I learned how to actually walk at Pensacola, and my mom has a video of that. It was really incredible [to win the Snowball Derby] Patt [Jett] and Larry [Blount]. I’ve known them for years, and that was the first time I got to drive one of their Super Late Models.
“It was emotional for everybody involved, and we worked extremely hard for it.”
The Snowball Derby triumph was one of several major achievements Honeycutt enjoyed in 2024. Along with that win and his Pro Late Model title, he also secured the deal to compete for Niece’s Truck Series program full-time in 2025.
Honeycutt was already well-ingrained into Niece’s culture, having worked for the organization since May 2023. During his time with the company, Honeycutt has fulfilled numerous roles around the shop while also amassing six top 10s in limited starts, including a career-best of fourth twice.
It was a top 10 finish in an unsponsored Young’s Motorsports truck at Darlington Raceway the same year that led to Honeycutt’s initial conversation with Niece’s general manager Cody Efaw. For Honeycutt, overachieving in underfunded equipment was essential toward surviving and maintaining a positive reputation in the NASCAR garage area.
“The chance I had to move up in the series was to take the not-seen teams and go run well with them,” Honeycutt said. “We did that with Tyler [Young] at Darlington and I think that’s where my career changed with taking the job with Niece. Cody [Efaw] let me run Pocono two years ago, I got the part-time season last year and now I’m full-time this year.”
“Other GMs ask for $3 million to run a full season, Cody asks what can we do to put you in the truck.”
The call Honeycutt received from Efaw in August confirming his role as a full-time competitor for Niece was equal parts cathartic and shocking. With so many emotions going through his mind, Honeycutt immediately thought of his family and everything they did to ensure his dream of competing in NASCAR endured.
“The first person I called was my dad [Kirby],” Honeycutt said. “It was a pretty big moment for both of us, considering how much effort he put into me by selling homes, businesses, everything for me to race even my dirt car. I can’t wait to share the moment throughout the year with him and my whole family.”
Honeycutt only recalls a few instances in his career where he has not had to worry about funding. All 25 races on the Truck Series schedule will have Honeycutt in a Niece truck, which allows him to center his focus on team chemistry and optimizing his performance across so many diverse tracks.
Daytona presents an ideal opportunity for Honeycutt to kickstart a potential championship run on a high note. Although drafting tracks are not his preference, Honeycutt believes he is starting to comprehend how to be successful in the pack, as he led three laps at Talladega Superspeedway last fall.
For as much of an equalizer as the draft is, Honeycutt knows one mistake on his behalf or someone else’s could put him in an early points deficit. With so many extraneous factors that could dictate his race on Friday, Honeycutt intends to implement a conservative, but methodical approach.
“[We’ll be fine] as long as we can [put ourselves in the mix] and stay in the top 10 for stage points,” Honeycutt said. Me and [crew chief] Phil [Gould] have talked a lot about how there are a lot of different people in the Truck Series this year, so you’re not really going to know what you’re going to get.
“If we can get stage points, that’s awesome, but if not, we’ll try to survive.”
The idea of a Daytona victory is enticing to Honeycutt, but he also understands it is just one leg of an intense marathon. Consistency is going to be imperative across the board for Honeycutt in his quest to stay one step ahead of drivers like Corey Heim, Grant Enfinger and Majeski, a familiar opponent who is also the defending Truck Series champion.
Nothing will come easy for Honeycutt in 2025, but that is a trend he has grown accustomed to. Through every form of adversity, Honeycutt emerged a more refined, disciplined competitor who has taken advantage of every opportunity in front of him.
Only a few years ago, Honeycutt was unsure if his relentless work to prove himself would translate into a national NASCAR ride. Being in Daytona has given Honeycutt time to reflect on his arduous journey, one that was improbable at times but also rewarding.
“It’s not really comparable,” Honeycutt said. “You don’t really think about it until you actually get here. It’s pretty crazy because I’ve always dreamed about starting a season at Daytona and running throughout the rest of the year. At the dirt track, I always watched every race at Daytona, so I’m excited [to be here].
“This is a thanks to all the Texas drivers I’ve had run-ins with in the past and everyone else that’s taught me to be a better person and led to this moment right here.”
What Honeycutt does with the moment ahead is to be determined, but the devoted work ethic prevalent throughout his entire career has molded him into a driver prepared to battle the Truck Series regulars and embark on a long, sustainable NASCAR career.