Layne Riggs turned Kaden Honeycutt’s late mistake into a big championship swing at Charlotte Motor Speedway, passing the points leader on Lap 128 of 134 to complete a season sweep at the track. Riggs’ seventh win of 2026 cut his deficit from 37 points to 17 with four NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chase races remaining.
Honeycutt controlled much of the Ecosave 200 and led a race-high 85 laps, but his defensive approach fell apart with six laps remaining.
As Riggs closed in, the Tricon Garage driver tried to cover both lanes, broke loose in Turns 3 and 4, and brushed the outside wall. Riggs drove past, and Christian Eckes took second one lap later. Honeycutt accepted responsibility for letting his attention shift from his own line to the No. 34 Ford.
Kaden Honeycutt’s Mirror Watching Gives Layne Riggs a Championship Opening
“Just seeing the replay, I wish I hadn’t been air-blocking him as much as I did. It just took away what I was trying to do. I just focused on him too much. I should have run my own race,” Honeycutt said.
All the love for Layne! https://t.co/Tf58Qo2Plo
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He thought Riggs sat closer to his rear bumper than the replay later showed and admitted that his attempt to air-block compromised his rhythm. Honeycutt found himself caught between committing to the top and returning to the bottom. However, without suggesting that Riggs forced the mistake, he blamed himself.
Riggs also faced problems throughout the race. Front Row Motorsports repeatedly lost positions during pit stops, forcing him to pass Honeycutt several times after restarts and pit cycles.
The No. 34 driver started 13th, won Stage 1, finished second in Stage 2, and led 47 laps before winning. “We’ve got to still work on pit road. That was our weakness still, but I kept driving to the front,” he said. Meanwhile, Honeycutt’s stronger pit execution repeatedly gave him track position, but Riggs kept erasing that advantage on the oval.
Charlotte also reversed the roles the two title contenders played at Kansas. Riggs ran second there before pushing too hard for the victory, hitting the wall and falling to 19th. He later acknowledged that he put pressure on himself to win.
But at Charlotte, he approached the closing laps differently. “Today, I didn’t have any pressure. I just went out and wheeled it,” Riggs said. Honeycutt then became the driver whose pursuit of the championship leader in his mirror disrupted an otherwise dominant race.
Honeycutt entered Charlotte with 2,197 points, 37 more than Riggs’ 2,160. The FRM driver scored 74 points on Friday, while Honeycutt collected 54 after both drivers earned 19 stage points and the latter added the fastest-lap bonus. That left the standings at 2,251 to 2,234.
Under NASCAR’s 2026 scoring system, a win pays 55 points and second pays 35. If Honeycutt had won and Riggs had finished second while their stage and fastest-lap results stayed unchanged, the #11 driver would have left 58 points ahead. Eckes passing Honeycutt for second after the wall contact cost Honeycutt one additional point.
Although the title still extends beyond the top two, Charlotte strengthened their lead over the rest. Chandler Smith sits third, 77 points behind Honeycutt, while Eckes trails by 88 after consecutive runner-up finishes.
Riggs now owns seven wins this season and 12 across his Truck career, giving the regular-season champion the series’ strongest win total.
Phoenix Raceway will now give both drivers an immediate test on October 16. Honeycutt will want to preserve the pace that allowed him to lead most of Charlotte.
Meanwhile, Front Row must give Riggs cleaner pit-road execution so he does not have to recover the same positions repeatedly. Both already showed speed at Phoenix last year, when Honeycutt finished third, and Riggs came home fourth after starting from the pole.