Roulette Recap follows a randomly selected driver throughout a race to break down their efforts. There is no telling ahead of time how the race will go. The driver could face calamity on the opening lap or start from the rear and win the race. With that, may the odds be ever in the driver’s favor.
Fr8 208
Prior to the 2024 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season, Niece Motorsports announced their driver lineup. Included was a four-way ride share for the No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado. Kaden Honeycutt faced his first opportunity at Atlanta Motor Speedway. NASCAR nixed all practice sessions, save a pit road speed check, for the Fr8 208. With that, Honeycutt jumped behind the wheel and laid down a lap that had him line up P25.
Before taking the green flag, Honeycutt thanked his team noting this was “the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Stage 1
The race immediately went three-wide, but by Lap 2, settled into two-by-two and Honeycutt went to work, picking off one truck at a time. Despite having an “extremely squirrelly” truck, within 13 laps, Honeycutt had worked his way to P21.
The first caution came on Lap 16 when Keith McGee went for a spin. Honeycutt sat P19 and radioed in with a very positive update on his truck.
Crew Chief Paul Gould opted to keep Honeycutt on track to gain position and save tires for later in the race. Given the short stages, there would only be nine laps remaining in the opening stage. Honeycutt lined up P16 for a shaky restart. Fortunately, the race stayed clean, and as the race went three-wide with eight to go, spotter TJ Bell noted, “We’re picking up three spots.”
Honeycutt moved to P12 but settled in at P14 with five to go. Two laps later, he fell to P17 and lost his help to gain back the spots at the stage end.
He noted his truck got “real tight” at the end of the stage and Gould immediately made the decision to pit for four tires to check out the wear.
Stage 2
Following the pit stop, Honeycutt returned to the track to start the second stage in P17 on Lap 37. Within a lap, he was sitting three-wide as numerous drivers were falling back. Bell encouraged his driver about his line having the numbers to move forward, and sure enough, in another lap, Honeycutt gained a spot.
Honeycutt floated between P14 and P15 over the next few laps. On Lap 46, he was last (P14) in a string of cars, awaiting the chance to move forward with help. However, within a lap, the entire field was stretched out single file. Before any ground could be made, a caution came out. This occurred on Lap 46 as the No. 46 of Thad Moffitt got loose and slammed the No. 13 of Jake Garcia and the No. 38 of Layne Riggs. Honeycutt immediately came over the radio yelling, “That was close!”
After the chaos, Honeycutt was sitting P12 but opted to pit for right-side tires. He would line up P13 with six to go in the stage.
The green flag waved and there was a cluster of four trucks off with the lead, but with five to go, it was back to single file with Honeycutt in P11. Before he could march forward, or help out his teammate, Bayley Currey, the No. 91 of Jack Wood went for a hard spin through the infield grass.
This incident would force a stage end under caution with Honeycutt in P12.
Stage 3
During the stage break, Honeycutt came to his crew to top off on fuel and started the final stage in P7. However, he took the bottom lane allowing him to start on the second row. He jumped up to P3, but unfortunately, coming out of Turn 3, he lost the run and fell to P10.
Lap 70 saw the front of the field sitting three wide with a good deal of shuffling. Honeycutt made contact with the No. 77 of Rajah Curth but held on and got a push from Stewart Friesen to surge ahead to P8.
By Lap 72 the field fell back to two wide. Four laps later, Friesen hit the wall just behind Honeycutt and fell to the back of the field. Fortunately, the No. 52 made it to pit road and the race stayed green.
Lap 78 saw Honeycutt in P7 in a single-file line, but a lap later, the caution was out for debris on the front stretch. Gould decided to pit for fuel and fresh tires, stating, “We’ll be good till the end.”
The next restart came with 50 to go and Honeycutt sitting P8. Throughout the subsequent laps, Honeycutt maintained a P9 run, tucked between the Nos. 99 of Ty Majeski and 88 of Matt Crafton.
With 42 to go, the caution waved as Currey’s roof went flying. Honeycutt remained in P9 and on track through the caution to restart P8 with 36 to go.
The caution was immediately out again, this time for debris. A wild restart saw Honeycutt fall from P10 to P13. Within two laps he jumped back into the top 10 with 26 to go. A lap later, he hit P7 in a single-file line of trucks.
20 to Go
As drivers took 20 to go, Honeycutt radioed Bell and said, “Tell the 2 (Nick Sanchez) I will help him…we gotta time that run just right.”
The laps were ticking by quickly on the mile-and-a-half superspeedway-like track and Honeycutt maintained his position, awaiting the opportune moment.
Behind him, drivers were starting to get antsy and making moves with 10 to go but Honeycutt remained P7.
With eight to go, Honeycutt was all over the bumper of Sanchez. He quickly radioed in, “I can’t get my water temp down!”
Honeycutt gained a spot as race leader, Grant Enfinger, got a flat tire after a push from Kyle Busch and fell back, allowing Busch to take the lead.
Coming to the stripe, Honeycutt was in a drag race with Tyler Ankrum and beat him to the line for a P6 finish.
A very thankful Honeycutt came over the radio and said, “Thank you so much! I loved every bit of that. I can’t wait for more!”
Sponsor Shoutout + Driver & Team Socials
NASCAR fans know sponsors make the sport go ’round. We want to give a shoutout to the Georgia Governor’s Office of Highway Safety who played a huge part of the weekend for Kaden and the No. 45 team.
Be sure to give Kaden Honeycutt (Facebook, Instagram, X) and Niece Motorsports (Facebook, Instagram, X) a follow to keep up with the latest news from the driver and team.
