Honeycutt Paces NASCAR Truck Practice At Daytona

Kaden Honeycutt's tenure as the driver of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota got off to a fast start as he paced NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series practice at Daytona.

Kaden Honeycutt topped the speed charts in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series practice at Daytona International Speedway. | Ricky Martinez | Racing America On SI

Kaden Honeycutt, in his first race weekend behind the wheel of the No. 11 TRICON Garage Toyota Tundra TRD Pro, set the fastest lap time in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series practice on Thursday afternoon at Daytona International Speedway.

Honeycutt turned a fast lap time of 48.439 seconds, which allowed him to top Taylor Gray, driving the No. 1 TRICON Garage truck to a runner-up speed in the session, by a thin margin of 0.009 seconds. Grant Enfinger was third-fastest, while Michael McDowell, and Cole Butcher rounded out the top-five fastest in the lone practice session for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series ahead of Friday night's Fresh From Florida 250.

While practice at superspeedways aren't usually indicative of much, it was a great way for Honeycutt to begin his tenure as the driver of the No. 11 Toyota. Last year, Corey Heim piloted the No. 11 truck to a series-record 12 wins, and took home the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship.

It was a rough first session on track for Ram Trucks, which is making its return to NASCAR this weekend. Brenden Queen, driving the No. 12 Kaulig Racing Ram truck, was the fastest of the five Ram Trucks entries in the practice session.

As for the other Ram Trucks drivers, Daniel Dye was 29th, Justin Haley was 30th, Tony Stewart was 31st, and Mini Tyrrell was 34th.

Stewart making is first-ever NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series start at Daytona International Speedway shut down questions about whether he would be returning to NASCAR with an expanded schedule in 2026 in a media availability on Thursday.

Due to issues in the inspection bay, only 36 of the 44 trucks entered into the event were able to make it onto the racetrack to turn a lap during the 50-minute practice. With four to eight trucks set to go home after Friday's qualifying session, not getting to turn a lap in practice could prove costly.

The drivers who failed to get on track during the session included Daniel Hemric, Toni Breidinger, Bryan Dauzat, Greg Van Alst, Kris Wright, Justin Carroll, Clay Greenfield, and Jason Kitzmiller.

Full-time NASCAR Cup Series competitor Carson Hocevar, who is competing behind the wheel of the No. 77 Best Buy/IKEA Chevrolet Silverado in this event, encountered mechanical issues in the session, which derailed his afternoon. However, prior to the issues, Hocevar turned the 24th-fastest lap time.

Qualifying for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Fresh From Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway is set for Friday, February 13, and will be televised on FS1 with coverage set to begin at 3 PM ET. The race will also be televised on FS1 on Friday evening at 7:30 PM ET.