Ross Chastain blew a golden chance to grab a rare NASCAR win at a road course on Friday.
Chastain, who has won one road course race in his NASCAR career (2022, COTA, Cup Series), was moonlighting in the Truck Series on Friday at Watkins Glen for the first part of the triple-duty that he and his Trackhouse Racing team-mates are pulling.
An electrical issue meant that he could only qualify 33rd for the race, but he worked his way up through the pack through the race to restart first after a final stage caution.
Unfortunately, it was that restart which caught him out. Chastain, in the No. 45 Niece Motorsports truck, clearly hit the gas well before the start of the restart zone. As such, he was given a penalty to drag him right to the back of the field, just as another caution flew for an unrelated incident.
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Honeycutt grabs first NASCAR win
The race, as sometimes happens at Watkins Glen, descended into a farcical cycle of restarts and cautions for the last dozen laps into overtime. Chastain didn't make it that far though, getting wrecked at the back of the field to bring out that overtime period.
Kaden Honeycutt passed Chastain's Trackhouse team-mate Connor Zilisch at the overtime restart to go out in front and take his first ever Truck Series victory from road course experts Zilisch and Shane van Gisbergen, just hours after winning the day's ARCA Menards Series race.
As a bizarre footnote, Gio Ruggiero was also pinged for a restart violation from the lead at the penultimate restart – although his was more marginal, and appeared to be prompted by a nudge in the back from Brenden Queen.
UPDATE: 19:52 ET – FOX's Bob Pockrass has given a possible explanation for Chastain's costly mistake (below)
Here is the video I took this morning. I believe the black line is the former start to the zone, which was moved this year closer to the turn. https://t.co/XawGBjftoQ pic.twitter.com/UjroW6P2P6
— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) May 8, 2026
NASCAR Truck Series result from Watkins Glen
| Pos | Driver (Car No.) | Team (Manufacturer) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kaden Honeycutt (11) | TRICON Garage (Toyota) |
| 2 | Connor Zilisch (71) | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 3 | Shane Van Gisbergen (4) | Niece Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 4 | Daniel Hemric (19) | McAnally Hilgemann Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 5 | Chandler Smith (38) | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) |
| 6 | AJ Allmendinger (25) | Kaulig Racing (RAM) |
| 7 | Brent Crews (1) | TRICON Garage (Toyota) |
| 8 | Mini Tyrrell (14) | Kaulig Racing (RAM) |
| 9 | Brenden Queen (12) | Kaulig Racing (RAM) |
| 10 | Connor Mosack (7) | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 11 | Jake Garcia (98) | ThorSport Racing (Ford) |
| 12 | Corey LaJoie (10) | Kaulig Racing (RAM) |
| 13 | Andres Perez De Lara (43) | Niece Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 14 | Tyler Reif (42) | Niece Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 15 | Giovanni Ruggiero (17) | TRICON Garage (Toyota) |
| 16 | Christian Eckes (91) | McAnally Hilgemann Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 17 | Tyler Ankrum (18) | McAnally Hilgemann Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 18 | Stewart Friesen (52) | Halmar Friesen Racing (Toyota) |
| 19 | Dawson Sutton (26) | Rackley W.A.R. (Chevrolet) |
| 20 | Nathan Nicholson (76) | Freedom Racing Enterprises (Chevrolet) |
| 21 | Layne Riggs (34) | Front Row Motorsports (Ford) |
| 22 | Stephen Mallozzi (33) | Team Reaume (Ford) |
| 23 | Justin Haley (16) | Kaulig Racing (RAM) |
| 24 | Ty Majeski (88) | ThorSport Racing (Ford) |
| 25 | Adam Andretti (5) | TRICON Garage (Toyota) |
| 26 | Jackson Lee (2) | Team Reaume (Ford) |
| 27 | Timmy Hill (56) | Hill Motorsports (Toyota) |
| 28 | Ross Chastain (45) | Niece Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 29 | Kris Wright (81) | McAnally Hilgemann Racing (Chevrolet) |
| 30 | Tanner Gray (15) | TRICON Garage (Toyota) |
| 31 | Carson Hocevar (77) | Spire Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 32 | Ben Rhodes (99) | ThorSport Racing (Ford) |
| 33 | Grant Enfinger (9) | CR7 Motorsports (Chevrolet) |
| 34 | Wesley Slimp (62) | Halmar Friesen Racing (Toyota) |
| 35 | Cole Butcher (13) | ThorSport Racing (Ford) |
| 36 | Natalie Decker (22) | Team Reaume (Ford) |
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