SOUTH BOSTON, Va. — Kaden Honeycutt has been the dominant force in the two previous editions of the Krush 250 presented by Rogers Heating & Cooling benefitting the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation, winning the inaugural event in 2024 and backing it up with a win in last year’s event.
Can he keep the streak alive with a third straight win?
That is the big question looming ahead of the Krush 250 presented by Rogers Heating & Cooling benefitting the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation on Saturday afternoon, November 14 at South Boston Speedway.
The Texas native, and current NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series points leader, successfully fended off challenges from the best-of-the-best Late Model Stock Car Division drivers and teams to win the Krush 250 each of the last two years.
It is also notable that he has won three of the last four Late Model Stock Car races he has entered at South Boston Speedway – the 2026 Thunder Road Harley Davidson 200, the Krush 250 last November, and the 2025 zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour feature.
Honeycutt is excited about the opportunity to attempt to extend his Krush 250 streak in this year’s $12,000-to-win feature.
“I’m looking forward to coming back for the Krush 250,” Honeycutt remarked. “I was talking to Ward (Burton) recently and he was joking we had stolen all of their money the last couple of years. Hopefully we can steal some more money this year.”
While Honeycutt is excited about the prospect of putting the Tom Usry Racing Team in Victory Lane once again, he knows it will be a tough task to win the race for the third straight year.
“That would be super hard,” he admitted. “It would be really difficult, but I think it’s very doable.”
Last year’s Krush 250 saw Honeycutt survive a pair of late-race restarts and a stout challenge from former CARS Tour champion Bobby McCarty. He edged McCarty by a half second at the finish.
“When we put tires on, I thought the car fired off pretty well,” Honeycutt said, “and then, I went through a really weird phase on a heat cycle for some reason. We couldn’t figure out what it was, but the car ended up being on the tight side, which we hadn’t experienced the whole race.
“I was just doing what I could to hold them off, and that didn’t really work out very well,” he added.
“We had a caution, and we took off on the heat cycle on the next one. and the car drove perfectly fine. That was a really crazy last 30 or 50 laps for sure.”
Honeycutt noted he enjoyed battling McCarty for the win and would like to see that battle repeated in this year’s race.
“We raced each other extremely well and never even put a door mark on either of our cars, and just raced really hard for the win,” he pointed out. “Hopefully, we can do something like that again. That would be really cool.”
According to Honeycutt, the key to success in the 250-lap race is taking care of your equipment.
“You can go hard from the beginning, but it’s really not worth anything to do that until you’re about halfway through,” Honeycutt explained. “I try to take pressure off the brakes and keep all of the heat out of the rear end and all that as much as I can. I think that’s what could shape you up for the end, saving your equipment, saving your body and just being able to give it your all when it’s time to go.”
The Krush 250 presented by Rogers Heating & Cooling benefitting the Ward Burton Wildlife Foundation has become an event that Honeycutt and his team have come to look forward to and enjoy.
“The last two times have been the best experiences we’ve had all season throughout any race that we’ve been at,” Honeycutt said. “It’s one of the most organized races I think we’ve gone to the past two times. You walk through the gate, you run through practice and the schedule is organized. The race pays extremely well and they treat everybody really, really well. Everyone as far as Buck, Jeb, Ward, all the sponsors, everybody on that side as far as organization, the autograph session for the fans, the payout, and the treatment that everyone gets, and all of that part of it is great.
“The car count is really good,” he continued. “They always have good competition, and they always come around and say, thanks for coming. We hope to see you back again. Those little things they do, is, I think, what takes it a long way.”
