Kaden Honeycutt has put the NASCAR Truck Series title fight on the front row before the first race at Naval Base Coronado has even begun.
The Tricon Garage driver took pole for Friday night’s Navy 250 on the new Qualcomm Circuit, completing a 2m14.782s lap to beat championship leader Layne Riggs to the top starting spot. It gives the inaugural San Diego street-course race a sharper competitive edge than a novelty weekend alone could provide.
Riggs, who arrived as the form driver and points leader, will start second after a 2m15.196s lap, with Chandler Smith third, Jimmie Johnson fourth and Grant Enfinger fifth. Fox Sports’ event page also lists Honeycutt and Riggs at the head of the starting lineup, confirming a race-night front row that mirrors the broader championship tension.
Honeycutt turns pressure back on Riggs
Honeycutt’s pole matters because this was not a clean, predictable qualifying hour on a settled circuit. Racing News reported that Christian Eckes and Stewart Friesen both suffered heavy damage in qualifying, while Honeycutt himself brushed the wall on the right rear during his pole run.
That is exactly the kind of detail that changes the tone of a street race. San Diego is not simply asking who has the best short-run pace. It is already testing who can carry speed between the walls without turning a small error into a race-ending repair bill.
For Riggs, the starting position is still strong. But after arriving in San Diego with the Truck Series title fight leaning his way, losing pole to Honeycutt gives the race a different opening question. He now has his nearest championship threat in front of him at a track where track position could be brutally difficult to win back.
Johnson gives the grid a second story
Johnson’s fourth-place start adds another layer to the evening. His Truck Series return was already one of the headline subplots of the San Diego opener, but qualifying has made it more than a nostalgia item. He will start ahead of Enfinger, Gio Ruggiero, Andres Perez and Ty Majeski, putting a seven-time Cup champion in genuine race-shaping territory.
That gives NASCAR’s first competitive race on the Coronado layout a useful mix: the live title fight at the front, an elite veteran inside the top four, and a circuit that has already taken bites out of several entries. It also builds naturally on the weekend’s broader pressure, after Friday’s compressed Truck Series schedule left teams with little margin before qualifying and race conditions arrived.
Coronado has already made its point
The early running suggested as much. Jayski noted that final practice was interrupted by water on track and then cut short after Justin Marks crashed in a fire-damaged Chevrolet, with Tanner Gray and Kaz Grala also finding the wall. That followed a first practice in which numerous trucks made contact and Adam Andretti suffered the most significant damage.
So Honeycutt’s pole is not just a timing-sheet result. It is the first proper marker on a new NASCAR street course, and it comes with the championship leader starting close enough to make the opening corners feel loaded.
San Diego wanted an immediate test. Honeycutt and Riggs have given it one before the green flag.
