TRICON signs Kaden Honeycutt to full-time NASCAR Truck deal
MOORESVILLE, N.C. – TRICON Garage has signed Kaden Honeycutt to a full-time deal with the organization in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for 2026.
Honeycutt will race the No. 11 Safelite Toyota for the 2026 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, TRICON announced Friday. He will take over for Corey Heim, whose departure was announced Wednesday. Heim’s plans are TBA for 2026.
With the move, Honeycutt also signed a deal with Toyota that will see him become an official member of the 2026 Toyota Driver Development lineup.
Honeycutt capped off a breakthrough 2025 season with a berth in the Championship 4 at Phoenix Raceway. In all, he earned four top-five finishes and 14 top-ten finishes. His best finish was second at Martinsville with HFR. He finished third in the standings.
More impressive yet, he raced for three different organizations in doing so — Niece Motorsports, Young’s Motorsports and Halmar-Friesen Racing.
The 22-year-old is also a multi-time CARS Tour winner with 2024 success in the Snowball Derby and a CARS Tour Pro Late Model Championship. Honeycutt also made starts in the ARCA Menards Series platform, securing two West wins in 2023.
“I’ve waited my entire career for an opportunity like this. I can’t thank Toyota and TRICON enough for trusting me to carry the torch for the No. 11 Safelite Tundra and continue its incredible run of success,” Honeycutt said. “I’m truly honored and fired up to chase a championship with this team in 2026.”
The Aledo, Texas native will have veteran crew chief Scott Zipadelli on the box. Zipadelli earned his second career NCTS championship in 2025 with driver Corey Heim.
Since joining TRICON in 2023, the duo earned 21 wins, 45 top-fives and three Championship 4 appearances together. Zipadelli now ranks second all-time among crew chiefs in series victories, with 36 wins.
“This is an exciting transition for TRICON. We’ve watched Kaden perform and overcome uncertainty, and we admire the grit it’s taken to reach this point. We have no doubt he’s worthy of this opportunity and look forward to him continuing to put TRICON and our No. 11 team in a position to win races and contend for championships,” said Kevin Ray, partner and general manager, TRICON.
TRICON will announce further details on their 2026 driver and crew chief lineups at a later date.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com