Kaden Honeycutt - Kubota Tractor 200 Race Preview
Race: Kubota Tractor 200 (134 laps / 201 miles) | Race 19 of 23
Track: Kansas Speedway
Location: Kansas City, Kansas
Date & Time: Friday, September 27th | 8:30 PM ET
Tune-In: FOX Sports 1 | Motor Racing Network (MRN) | Sirius XM Ch. 90
No. 45 AutoVentive / Precision Vehicle Logistics Chevrolet Silverado RST
Driver: Kaden Honeycutt | Crew Chief: Phil Gould
- Honeycutt's Kansas Stats: Kaden Honeycutt has made three starts at Kansas Speedway since 2022. Honeycutt put a strong run together in the spring, where he clawed his way up from a 23rd-place qualifying run up to the top-five. His No. 45 Chevrolet crossed the line in fourth back in April and he earned his best-career finish in the process.
- Gould's Kansas Stats: Phil Gould has called 10 Truck Series races at Kansas Speedway since joining Niece Motorsports in 2019. In his first NCTS start at the track, he guided Ross Chastain to the team's first victory. Gould has produced three top-fives in the trucks including Honeycutt's fourth-place result in the spring, along with five total top-10s. He's also called six Xfinity Series races here that garnered three top-10 finishes showing a personal best of seventh with Ryan Reed in 2018.
- On the Truck: Honeycutt's No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado RST will race with support from AutoVentive and Precision Vehicle Logistics. This is the second race of the season that the two companies have sponsored Honeycutt's truck.
- Honoring a Cancer Hero: Through a partnership with The NASCAR Foundation & MTJ Foundation, Kaden Honeycutt will have a special passenger riding along his No. 45 this week. Thelma Dixon, a cancer victim who sadly lost her battle with breast cancer, was nominated by a family member, Kevin Huneycutt. Huneycutt (no relation) is an avid Kaden Honeycutt fan who believes he is a rising NASCAR star. Kevin and his family will join Niece Motorsports as honorary crew members for Friday night's race.
- Recapping Bristol: Kaden Honeycutt and the No. 45 team fought adversity throughout the day at Bristol. The team suffered a broken track bar mount in practice which forced them to start in the tail. In stage one, Honeycutt advanced through the field to lead the way for the team in 17th, but a costly speeding penalty dropped him to the tail once more in stage two. He recovered nicely, and was running right outside the top-15 when another competitor blew a tire and made heavy contact with his truck. Unfortunately, the No. 45 was done for the night and relegated to a 35th-place finish.
- Owner Points Outlook: With Honeycutt's disappointing end to the Bristol truck race, the No. 45 team was relegated to 10th in the Owner Playoff standings. Entering Kansas, a cutoff race in the Round of 10, the team finds themselves 20 points below the provisional eighth position. They are in search of another solid outing like the spring to keep their championship hopes alive.
- Quoting Honeycutt: Since you had that great run in the spring, does that give you the confidence you need to advance?
“Definitely Kansas is one of our strong suits here at Niece Motorsports. I feel like we had a really good run here in the spring, and over time we’ve been working hard at a lot of things that we’ll take to Kansas which are new and hopefully improved. I’ll do a better job of aero racing this time; I was inexperienced at that the first time and had a hard time learning how to pass other guys. Now, going back there, I know how to race more efficient and make those passes quicker. Hopefully we can take home a win and rack up the momentum to keep us hungry if we advance into the Round of 8.”
- Quoting Gould: Are you bringing a similar setup to the spring in hopes of another good showing this week?
“Yeah, we have the same truck that we raced here in the spring and the same setup that we’ll unload with. That race was another one that we had a great run going. We were running second when we had a slow pit stop take us out of contention and dropped us to fourth. We ran well with this truck at Charlotte and Nashville also, and so I think we have a good baseline to start off with and make some slight tweaks.”
About Niece Motorsports: Niece Motorsports is owned by United States Marine Corps Veteran Al Niece. In 2024, Niece Motorsports enters its ninth season in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. Niece also owns Niece Equipment, which has for over 40 years provided clients with reliable products at competitive prices. Niece Equipment’s reputation is built on service, integrity and dependability. The company provides water and fuel/lube trucks that are engineered with quality and durability in mind for the construction and mining industry. Follow the team on Facebook and Instagram @NieceMotorsports as well as X @NieceMotorsport.
About AutoVentive: AutoVentive is an industry-leading Software as a Service (SaaS) applications developer providing customized solutions to the automotive logistics industry. The company is part of Liberty Hill Equity Partners, LLC, a Cincinnati-based private equity firm.
About Precision Vehicle Logistics: Precision Vehicle Logistics is a customer-focused group of professionals committed to service excellence in finished vehicle logistics. Precision offers a unique combination of talented experience, industry-leading software and systems, and a network of partners and resources to deliver customized solutions to the world’s leading automakers.
