PHOENIX, Ariz. — Leland Honeyman Jr., will return to Young’s Motorsports to compete in Friday night’s ARCA Menards Series General Tire 150 at Phoenix Raceway.
Honeyman, a native of Phoenix, Ariz., will rejoin the Mooresville, N.C.-based team on the heels of finishing third in last year’s ARCA Menards Series East standings — a seven-race series that Honeyman highlighted with a runner-up finish at Five Flags (Fla.) Speedway.
The 18-year-old driver is utilizing the 150-lap race, which is a combination event for the premier ARCA Menards Series and the season-opening ARCA Menards Series West race, as additional seat time ahead of his NASCAR Xfinity Series debut at the Avondale, Ariz., race track on Mar. 11 driving the No. 45 Chevrolet Camaro for Alpha Prime Racing.
Klean Freak will join Honeyman as the primary partner of his No. 02 Chevrolet SS for his weekend of double-duty status.
“I am excited to be back with Young’s Motorsports this weekend at Phoenix Raceway,” Honeyman Jr. said. “I had a great time being a part of the Young’s Motorsports family last year and look forward to the opportunity to capitalize on our strong performances from 2022.”
Honeyman began honing his racing skills at the tender age of two racing quads. By four years old, he moved into Trophy Karts and then subsequently collected three series championships in off-road racing Trophy Karts. After an instrumental tenure in go karts, he moved into Bandolero competition in 2015 and two years later, was crowned a Bandolero National Champion.
From there, he moved into limited late models before graduating to the Carolina Pro Late Model Series division in 2021.
Before graduating to the ARCA Menards Series East last year, he exited the Carolina Pro Late Model Series scene after earning runner-up honors in the championship. He also picked up a victory in the annual Hickory (N.C.) Motor Speedway Fall Brawl.
This year, Honeyman, who also made his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut last fall with Young’s Motorsports at Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, will run a partial Xfinity schedule for Alpha Prime.
“I’ve never been to Phoenix, but I cannot wait to get there,” Honeyman said. “This is probably the biggest weekend of my racing career with my Xfinity Series debut on deck. But, before all the concentration is poured on the Xfinity program, there is work to do in the ARCA garage and that is to be fast and competitive with our No. 02 Klean Freak Young’s Motorsports Chevrolet on Friday night.”