NORTH WILKESBORO, N.C. — North Wilkesboro Speedway is a track that holds many fond memories for Kaden Honeycutt in the zMAX CARS Tour.
The last time Honeycutt visited the facility in October, he wrapped up the CARS PLM Tour championship by leading 99 of the 100 laps that evening. Honeycutt returned to North Wilkesboro on Thursday with the same team that helped him earn the PLM Tour title in Bryson Lopez Racing, eager to pick up from where he left off.
From the opening green flag in The Reverend Sour Mash Whiskey 75, Honeycutt set a commanding pace in Bryson Lopez’ blue No. 47 Pro Late Model. Even with Dawson Sutton chasing him down in the closing laps, Honeycutt remained stalwart to earn his fifth PLM Tour victory and eighth overall on the CARS Tour platform.
Kaden Honeycutt kicks off busy weekend with PLM Tour victory
As dominant as he was in Thursday’s The Reverend Sour Mash Whiskey 75, Kaden Honeycutt admitted there was a moment where he was unsure about holding onto the win.
Slower traffic drastically slowed Honeycutt’s pace and brought Dawson Sutton to his rear bumper at the white flag. Instead of trying to overtake the lapped cars, Honeycutt elected to be conservative by taking the bottom line from Sutton, which was enough to keep the young driver behind him as the checkered flag waved.
“[My spotter] told me [Sutton] was 15 [car lengths] back when I caught those three lap cars, then I looked in my rearview mirror and he was three [car lengths] back from me,” Honeycutt said. “I just decided to take evasive action and tried not to lap those guys, but man, what an unbelievable car.”
When Honeycutt made the decision to move over to Bryson Lopez’ program with five races remaining on the 2024 CARS PLM Tour season, the two sides established immediate chemistry. Honeycutt never finished outside the top five in a Bryson Lopez car and ended the season with two consecutive victories.
Now a full-time competitor in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Niece Motorsports, Thursday served as Honeycutt’s second PLM Tour start of the 2025 season. He previously competed with Bryson Lopez at Orange County Speedway in April, but issues with his car relegated him to 13th, one lap off the pace.
A more typical, efficient outing for Honeycutt with Bryson Lopez kicked off a hectic weekend that will also include the Window World 100 alongside his Truck Series duties. Honeycutt was grateful that he could return to Bryson Lopez for North Wilkesboro and help them build some cohesion ahead of the remaining PLM Tour races.
“This is a different race car,” Honeycutt said. “Fury [Race Cars] gave us a great race car to come back with. We’ve had so many unfortunate accidents with our drivers. It’s not their fault, but we almost didn’t have any race cars left. [This team] busts their tails and they’ve been working extremely hard getting this thing ready.”
Late charge from Dawson Sutton comes up one spot short
Dawson Sutton’s third visit to North Wilkesboro Speedway nearly saw him take the famed elevator ride up to Cook Out Victory Lane.
With Kaden Honeycutt bogged down by lapped traffic, Sutton did everything possible to hastily erase his deficit and mount a challenge for the lead. Although he could not quite catch Honeycutt in the closing stages, Sutton said his valiant charge was a testament to the hard work exerted by everyone at Rackley W.A.R.
“Overall, we had a really good [night],” Sutton said. “My team gave me a great car. I really couldn’t ask for much more.”
Sutton’s only other CARS PLM Tour start at North Wilkesboro back in 2023 ended before it had a chance to get going. He managed to earn a solid starting position of fifth on North Wilkesboro’s older, abrasive surface, but an early accident knocked him out of the feature after just seven laps.
Running last year’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on North Wilkesboro’s fresh pavement provided Sutton insight into how to approach the updated layout. Knowing a dominant top line would make track position imperative, Sutton put down a strong qualifying lap that placed him second on the 28-car grid.
While Sutton’s car had plenty of short run speed, he struggled to keep pace with Honeycutt during the two long runs of the evening. More laps at his disposal may have helped Sutton push Honeycutt as he attempted to navigate through slower traffic, but the young prospect still found plenty to cherish after a strong second-place run.
“Overall, [Honeycutt] had the better car all night,” Sutton said. “I made the run there at the end, but I’m super thankful for my team giving me this car. We’ll move onto the [Truck Series] race Saturday.”
Landen Lewis hopes to parlay Ace victory into perfect North Wilkesboro weekend
Fresh off his first victory of 2025 at Ace Speedway, Landen Lewis once again showcased the speed of his No. 29 Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet during qualifying for the Window World 100 at North Wilkesboro Speedway on Thursday.
Lewis waited patiently as the penultimate car in the qualifying order before proceeding to knock out a blistering pole-winning time of 17.76. With NASCAR Cup Series championship-winning crew chief Rodney Childers now on his side, Lewis is confident he can earn his second consecutive CARS LMSC Tour win.
“They say momentum is a real thing and that’s pretty true right now,” Lewis said. “I’m just riding on a high right now and I’m really thankful for all my guys. We’ve busted our butts the last couple of weeks getting this car ready to go. We built it from the ground up and have done everything we can to make it right for this weekend.”
By earning the pole, Lewis obtained two crucial bonus point over Connor Hall and Kade Brown in the fight for the LMSC Tour points lead. Neither Hall nor Brown managed to qualify inside the top 10 for the Window World 100, which puts Lewis in an optimal position to depart North Wilkesboro not only with a win, but also atop the standings.
The lap Lewis laid down in the waning minutes of qualifying prevented Lanie Buice from earning her first LMSC Tour pole. Despite this, Buice still earned her second consecutive start on the front row and is looking to improve upon a career-best showing of fourth from Ace a couple of weeks ago.
Kaden Honeycutt lines up third on the starting grid in the No. 5 for Hettinger Racing as he looks to complete a clean sweep of the CARS Tour North Wilkesboro events. The most recent LMSC Tour winner at North Wilkesboro in Conner Jones will start 21st on Friday evening.
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With The Reverend Sour Mash Whiskey 75 now in the record books, the Late Model Stocks have the next race up on the docket as part of a busy All-Star Race weekend at North Wilkesboro Speedway. The green flag for the Window World 100 waves at 8:15 p.m. ET, with FS1 and FloRacing providing coverage of the on-track action.
For more information on the zMAX CARS Late Model Stock Tour and the zMAX CARS Pro Late Model Tour, visit www.carsracingtour.com. Be sure to stay active and social with the tour by liking “CARS Tour” on Facebook, following @CARSTour on X (formerly known as Twitter) and scrolling through photos on Instagram cars_tour.
Additional series information can be obtained by calling the CARS Tour series office, located in Mooresville, NC, at 704-662-9212.
PLM Results:
- 47 Kaden Honeycutt
- 26 Dawson Sutton
- 62 Keelan Harvick
- 96 Spencer Davis
- 21 Josh Berry
- 7M Tristan McKee
- 51 Luke Baldwin
- 44 Conner Jones
- 6 Ben Maier
- 6L Brandon Lopez
- 20 Camden Murphy
- 25 Isaac Kitzmiller
- 97 Dylan Garner
- 7 Brody Monahan
- V5 Vito Cancilla -1
- 43 Joshua Horniman -1
- 24 Jade Avedisian -2
- 15 Rodney Dowless -2
- 13 Brandan Marhefka -3
- 54 T.J. DeCaire – OUT
- 8 Toro Rodriguez – OUT
- 97K Jason Kitzmiller – OUT
- 66 Nick Neri – OUT
- 18 Max Reaves – OUT
- 17 Hudson Bulger – OUT
- 28 Kevin Cremonesi – OUT
- 45 Logan Jones – OUT
- 1 Cody Brinson – OUT
LMSC Starting Lineup:
- 29 Landen Lewis
- 03 Lanie Buice
- 5 Kaden Honeycutt
- 71B Jake Bollman
- 22 Carson Loftin
- 32K Carson Kvapil
- 8 Caden Kvapil
- 7 Tristan McKee
- 81 Mini Tyrrell
- 1 Andrew Grady
- 8F Tate Fogleman
- 12S Jonathan Shafer
- 4S Donovan Strauss
- 12 Corey LaJoie
- 11 Buddy Isles Jr.
- 00 Chase Burrow
- 88 Connor Hall
- 28 Landon S. Huffman
- 15 Ryan Millington
- 88B Doug Barnes Jr.
- 44 Conner Jones
- 14 Sam Butler
- 4 Kade Brown
- 97 Michael Bumgarner
- 41 Mason Diaz
- 01 Camden Gullie
- 2 Brandon Pierce
- 04 Ronnie Bassett Jr.
- 09 Riley Gentry
- 17 Daniel Silvestri
- 57 Landon Huffman
- 16 Alex Meggs
- 71 Parker Eatmon
- 2W Ryan Wilson
- 32 Dylon Wilson
- 28S Dustin Storm
