Kaden Honeycutt Excited About Return to Alabama 200 At Montgomery

Three races into his full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series campaign with TRICON Garage, Kaden Honeycutt isn't ready to rest on his first off-weekend of the season. Honeycutt, who sits sixth in the NASCAR Truck Series championship standings, is raring to go in Saturday's Show Me The Money Series Alabama 200 at Montgomery Motor Speedway (watch live on Racing America).

While he's only competed in the prestigious Pro Late Model event twice, in 2017 and 2022, Honeycutt says when he saw that his NASCAR schedule lined up an off-week with the Alabama 200 weekend, he had to throw his name into the hat.

"Honestly, I've just never had the chance to go back and race it," Honeycutt said of why he hasn't raced in the Alabama 200 since 2022 in an exclusive interview with Racing America.

Honeycutt continued, "I always love going to Montgomery, going and racing any type of Late Model, and just flat-out going to win races, man. That's all I really care about going to do."

A chance to run at Montgomery is the prime motivation for Honeycutt running this weekend's event, but there is an ulterior motive for the driver, as he feels the Alabama 200 will give him the chance to tune his driving style for the upcoming March 20 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race weekend at Darlington Raceway.

"So, yeah, I think the [Alabama] 200, it's going to work on some throttle control, which is going to be a moment leading up to Darlington, you've got to work on throttle control, taking care of your stuff, and keeping it out of the fence," Honeycutt explained. "So, yeah, I think it'll be fun to go and do that. Looking forward to it with my JC Motorsports group with Alex Roberts and those guys."

Honeycutt has a career-best finish of 14th in the Alabama 200, which he achieved in his first start in the event in 2017. Four years after his most recent start in the race, a more experienced Honeycutt will look to improve on his best finish in this race.

The 22-year-old driver says what makes Montgomery Motor Speedway, and the Alabama 200, specifically, special is the high tire wear that the track surface creates, which forces unique, varying strategies during races at the half-mile semi-banked short track.

"I mean, I just think it's a really good race to win at. The strategy in that race is very clever if you can get away with it. It's just different," Honeycutt said. "I think that's why I love it so much, it's just different, right? I think it's different in the fact of strategy, the way you approach the race, the way that you can race it. I think that's what one of the coolest parts of that track is."

In addition to the Alabama 200, Honeycutt, who seemingly loves racing anything with an engine, will be competing in the Rogers-Dabbs Performance Parts Modifieds of Mayhem powered by Chevrolet Performance event at Montgomery on Saturday evening.

Incredibly, Honeycutt will contest the entirety of the 10-race Modifieds of Mayhem Tour season in addition to his full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series campaign and additional slew of CARS Tour and other Late Model events he'll compete in this year.

"I really love modified racing. I think it's one of the best things to go and do to develop your skill, mostly because there's no grip, and you've got to work on just throttle control. And less slip on the tire is better, right? So, I think it's really cool to go and do that," Honeycutt stated. "I've always wanted to go run modified stuff, and now that I get a chance to do it, I'm looking forward to it with BMF."

While the Texas native plans to compete in every Modifieds of Mayhem event this season, he does accept that contingencies may have to be made as he navigates battling for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship this season.

"I don't know, maybe so," Honeycutt said when asked if there would be some weekends that would be tight for him to make the Modifieds of Mayhem race. "There's a lot of mixed weekends that I'll be doing doubles. When I say that, I say Truck and Late Model stuff the next day. So, there will be some times that that'll happen, but I'm pretty prepared for it.

"I might need to take some races off the schedule, but we'll see. Just the fact of trying to focus on the truck and winning the title and winning races. So, we'll just have to see how that works out."

But for now, Honeycutt has his sights set on this weekend's festivities at Montgomery Motor Speedway, and if all goes well, he'll head into Darlington in a few weeks with a lot of confidence, and possibly some hardware on his mantle.

The Alabama 200 and Modifieds of Mayhem Tour events at Montgomery Motor Speedway are scheduled for Saturday, March 7, and will be streamed live on RacingAmerica.TV for subscribers of the service (click here to subscribe for access to 200+ live pavement grassroots races from across the United States and Canada). Racing America's broadcast coverage of the events kicks off at 7:00 PM ET with the Modifieds of Mayhem Tour event, and will be followed by the 62nd Alabama 200.

-Photo: Jared Bokanoski | Racing America