Over the course of three years and 71 races together, Corey Heim and Scott Zipadelli amassed 21 wins and 45 top-5s with three final four appearances and the 2025 Truck Series championship.
It’s objectively a hard act to follow but Kaden Honeycutt isn’t allowing the pressure to exceed the privilege and intends to just put in the work in pursuit of the same results.
“From my end, I think it's very important to wipe that slate clean and treat it like it didn’t happen,” Honeycutt told Motorsport.com on Wednesday. “I just want to try to be who I am, and definitely want to back up the success they’ve had the past three years, but also recognize that I’m my own person and need to figure out how to get there first.
“So there’s definitely some pressure, but I don’t feel much of it right now, because I’m just going to go out there and do the best I possibly can.”
And so far, Honeycutt’s best has methodically landed him in a position to get noticed by Toyota Racing Development and Tricon Garage’s No. 11.
“I feel like, being in that equipment, I’m going to be able to show what I can do,” Honeycatt added. “It’s going to be really fun. I want to enjoy every second of it and just try to go out there and win races, and give ourselves a title shot, whatever the format comes out to be.”
Honeycutt got to this point by being willing to do whatever it took to earn opportunities. He worked in the shop at OnPoint Motorsports and Niece Motorsports alongside the races he put the funding together for.
He won at the CARS Tour and ASA levels. He won the prestigious Snowball Derby in 2024. He made the playoffs last year for Niece and then advanced to the final four when signing with Tricon necessitated a move to Halmar Friesen Racing.
His story is very old school, conceptually.
“When I first moved to North Carolina, it was strictly as a working job,” Honeycutt said. “I was able to put together seven to eight races a year on the pavement Late Model side but was a full-time employee at whatever Truck Series shop I worked for.
“I worked really hard, and they knew I was a racer and wanted to drive, and eventually, when you work hard enough, opportunities will come and you need to be prepared to capitalize on it.”
So now, after working with successful crew chiefs like JC Umscheid and Phil Gould, Honeycutt’s journey has taken him to Zipadelli, the two-time champion and winner of 39 national touring series races atop the pit box.
“He doesn’t talk a lot but when he does, you listen to him, and take in what he’s saying because it’s really important and something you need to learn from,” Honeycutt said of Zipadelli. “He’s an extremely smart guy. He and David do a great job together and know what they need from their job.
“But from my experience, Scott is one of the quieter type guys and does his talking on the race track, and will talk afterwards once you’ve seen the hard work. I think that’s been awesome to see first hand.”
Honeycutt just met Zipadelli last year, once he signed with the team, but largely kept it casual as both of their teams chased the championship. But being able to make a playoff run last year with Toyota and HFR is what has Honeycutt most excited for this year.
He’s seen the tools and now he knows how to use them.
“Having that head start last year was huge for sure,” Honeycutt said. “Getting acclimated with the sim, how Toyota approaches races, working out of the performance center and being involved in, early, with everything we’re going to be doing this year helped a lot.
“I know my way around.
“I’ve been at the shop a lot since the off-season has started and the guys going back to work. Scott and I have a good relationship going. It’s basically their same team from last year, besides one, and that’s really important. So now we just have to go out and win races, try to repeat what they did the last years. We’re going to try and work towards that and I’m really optimistic about our chances.”
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