“This kid deserves it”: Bubba Wallace’s spotter makes his feelings known about ‘underrated Kaden Honeycutt’

NASCAR Cup Series driver Bubba Wallace’s spotter, Freddie Kraft, praised Kaden Honeycutt and called him one of the most underrated drivers in NASCAR.

Honeycutt, who raced part-time in the NASCAR Truck and Xfinity Series in 2024, won the Tom Dawson trophy at Five Flags Speedway this past Sunday. The 57th Snowball Derby champion held off Stephen Nasse in the final laps and earned his first win after 14 starts.

Kraft praised Honeycutt for his win and wrote on X (formerly Twitter):

"Said it multiple times when asked this year, @KadenWHoneycutt is one of the most underrated drivers in NASCAR"

Honeycutt took the lead on lap 90 and Ty Majeski challenged him on a restart. He lost the lead on lap 163 but again took it from two-time defending champion Majeski with 19 laps to go.

After Majeski fell behind, Nasse closed in on Honeycutt. However, in the final lap, Honeycutt stayed ahead and crossed the finish line first.

"It‘s definitely unbelievable. I grew up walking [at Five Flags]. This is literally where I took my first steps. There‘s a lot of history here for my family here. I knew I could do it, and I knew [my team] could do it. This was a matter of putting the pieces together. We worked our a**es off, and it paid off," Honeycutt said (via Yahoo Sports).

The 21-year-old will compete full-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series for Niece Motorsports in the No. 45 Chevrolet Silverado next year.

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"I want to make sure I watch the whole race" - Bubba Wallace's spotter after Phoenix suspension

23XI's Bubba Wallace and his team were accused of race manipulation at Martinsville in November and were eventually penalized. Wallace was fined $100,000 and his spotter, crew chief, and team executive were suspended for one race. Eric Phillips stepped in as his crew chief and the No. 23 team finished seventh at Phoenix, their best finish in six races.

Wallace’s spotter, Freddie Kraft, talked about the penalty from the race on the Door Bumper Clear podcast last month.

"Obviously, you want to be out there with your team and everything but when they decided to appeal, the appeal I didn’t think was going to go in our favor as you saw," Kraft said. (01:41)

"I want to make sure I watch the whole race because, you know, how it is like being home. It’s hard to just tune in with some of the other stuff that's going on and then two you know we're like just to be, you know, have something to do all," he added. (3:49)

Wallace will have a new crew chief in 2025. 23XI Racing announced in October that Charles Denike will replace Bootie Barker, who has worked with Wallace since 2021.

Wallace won his first Cup race in 2021 and another win in 2022 with Barker. They also made the playoffs in 2023.