One year after veteran crew chief Scott Zipadelli guided Corey Heim to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship, he collected another title with 23-year-old Kaden Honeycutt in the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Zipadelli, who missed the season's first three races due to a severe leg injury sustained in a dirt bike crash, is now the first crew chief to win three Truck Series championships with three different drivers. His first came in 2018 with Brett Moffitt at Hattori Racing Enterprises. Then the last two years with TRICON Garage.
"Scott Zipadelli is the best damn crew chief on that pit road," said Honeycutt, who provided Toyota with its 11th driver championship in the Truck Series. "He's not just a Hall of Fame crew chief, he's a Hall of Fame man. He's done nothing but mentor me and make me better every single week."
Honeycutt dedicated his championship to "all the dirt track racers back home in Texas that I raced with when I was 12 years old all the way until 17."
"I worked with my daddy in the shop for so dang long to even be in the dirt track business running Friday and Saturday, running a stock car, running a Modified, anything I could hop in.
"I moved to North Carolina to work on the trucks. The only opportunity I had was to work on the vehicles I was going to drive."
Honeycutt said when he started the season he was out of his comfort zone.
"I was caving into the pressure so much just from the team that had the success last year," Honeycutt said about his No. 11 team that won the championship with Heim and produced a season record 12 victories in 2025. "Thanks to Scott they didn't give up on me. He constantly was working with me off the race track, in the simulator. David (Gilliland, team co-owner) as well. I wouldn't be here without 'em."
Honeycutt entered the championship race with a 20-point advantage over Layne Riggs. However, Riggs saw his title hopes evaporate on lap two of the 134-lap race when he collided with Nick Sanchez. On lap 16, Rigg's right-rear tire went flat and after repairs, the North Carolina native was two laps down in 34th. He cut another right-rear tire on lap 47. That dropped him to 35th, six laps down. By the end of Stage 2, he was seven laps down. Zipadelli knew he just had to make sure Honeycutt managed his race with the championship at the forefront of his mind.
However, that was easier said than done. At the beginning of Stage 2, Honeycutt reported an alternator problem. Then he got hit in the rear on pit road, and as the laps wound down he was concerned about Riggs' teammate Chandler Smith, who finished third in the standings. Approaching the choose line for the final restart with 14 laps remaining, Honeycutt told his team, "I don't think I can afford the 38 (Smith) truck behind me."
However, Smith was never an issue as Honeycutt quickly grabbed the lead and led the final 13 laps. Immediately after winning the event, the tearful Honeycutt told his team, "I love you guys so much! Thank you!"
"The first half of the race I did not want to push it too hard," the Texas native said. "It fell in our hands. I put my nuts on the dash and wanted to win the race."
After Riggs realized his championship hopes were gone, he said he thought about the success his Front Row Motorsports team had throughout the seven-victory season.
"Obviously, we weren't able to put the consistency together to be champions tonight," Riggs said. "We knew we were going to have to run an almost perfect race. That's hard to do anytime, any series, any level and division. I'm not going to put a bad look on the entire season just from this one race when we knew it was going to be a Hail Mary to get it done away."
