“I could’ve been on the couch”: Kaden Honeycutt grateful to Stewart Friesen for NASCAR Truck opportunity

Kaden Honeycutt thanked Stewart Freisen after reaching the championship four in Halmar Freisen Motorsports' No.52 Toyota. The 22-year-old won a tie-breaker for the final transfer spot by finishing second at Martinsville Speedway.

Honeycutt began the season driving the No.45 Chevy for Niece Motorsports, but was dropped just two races before the playoffs. The team's General Manager, Cody Efaw, revealed that Honeycutt had signed a 2026 ride with a different OEM, which raised a conflict of interest with the Chevrolet program. As a result, the decision was made to release him.

The Texas native promptly found a seat with HFM as Stewart Freisen's replacement. His first race in the No.52 Toyota ended in a DNF, but Honeycutt has rallied to his season-best result at Martinsville. He had to overcome polesitter Layne Riggs, who was initially tied in points after setting the fastest lap.

In a post-race interview with NASCAR reporter Peter Stratta, Honeycutt shared his reaction to the race result.

"I very easily could have been on the couch and watching the rest of this year," he said, "and you know thanks to Toyota and Halmar and Chris Larsen and Stewart. I wanted to run this for the championship so bad for him. You know he deserved to be in the playoffs and I hate that he got hurt. But you know, with the opportunity to come and go to the championship four, to even have a chance, I'm just so grateful." "We've had speed this whole playoff run and we just haven't had the results of show for it. And finally tonight we got it get finished. So I drove my a** off there," Kaden Honeycutt added.

Corey Heim reached victory lane and took home his 11th win of the season. Ty Majeski and Tyler Ankrum form the rest of the final four entries.

Meanwhile, Kaden Honeycutt's race wasn't without incident. He shared contact with Raja Caruth that left the Spire Motorsports driver with a flat left tire. Caurth was ultimately towed away from the track after he crashed into the outside SAFER barrier.

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Kaden Honeycutt reveals reason for keeping Stewart Freisen's name on the windshield

Kaden Honeycutt still runs with Stewart Freisen's name displayed on the No.52 Toyota, instead of his own. When asked about the reason for the unusual detail, Honeycutt shared a heartfelt response.

“It was my decision to leave Stews name on the truck. He deserves to have it for the rest of the year. This playoff run is for him and this HFR team."

Freisen was ruled out of the season after he suffered injuries during a dirt race in Canada. While Kaden Honeycutt continues in his stead, Fox analyst Bob Pockrass has suggested that Honeycutt will probably drive for TRICON Garage next year.

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Edited by Vignesh Kanna