Thanksgiving Classic Winner Sends Heartfelt Apology to Kaden Honeycutt After Late Race Drama at Southern Nationals

Despite the void left by NASCAR in the absence of its National series, the racing community did not have a gloomy Thanksgiving weekend. In fact, fans got a thriller of a race at Southern National Motorsports Park on Sunday afternoon’s Thanksgiving classic. It was an exhilarating race between some of the best short-track racers in the country now with local hero Brenden Queen aka “Butterbean” emerging on top, edging out defending champion Josh Berry and pole-sitter Kaden Honeycutt to a decisive win.

The race was pretty much a perfect package with drivers going balls to the wall for the win, racing each other hard with a touch of drama in the late laps. With the field going bonkers in the closing laps, contact was inevitable as Queen himself made contact with his fellow driver more than once.

This however did not sit well with NASCAR part-timer Honeycutt who was bumped by the 26-year-old late in the fray. Queen reacting to his win, tried to make up for the late race stint, offering an apology to Honeycutt in an effort to bury the hatchet.

Brenden “Butterbean” Queen bags $15,000 as he comes home victorious in Thanksgiving Classic

As mentioned above, the 250-lap Late Model showdown had all the bells and whistles for a spectacular race. Three drivers put on a great show at the track as all three of them pushed beyond the limit, eyeing to rack up the win, but it was “Butterbean” who took home the $15,000 cheque. While Josh Berry, who was coming off a win from last year, looked to retain his dominance, Queen proved his mettle, edging the SHR driver to the 3rd spot in the closing lap battle.

And so was Kaden Honeycutt. Though the race was devoid of any vicious wrecks or dramatic spills, the Queen-Honeycutt duel caught the attention of the crowd as both drivers went toe-to-toe, trading blows until Queen made a brief contact with the #17 car. Reflecting on his battle with the part-time Truck Series driver, Queen offered a resounding apology, relaying that the contact he made was never part of his strategy and didn’t mean to bump the #17 other than to race him hard.

He said, “I thought he (Honeycutt) was a lap down and caught me off-guard running 3 wide for the lead, and I was trying to get all the info that he was on the lead lap. I think that he was a little upset with me, but I love Kaden Honeycutt to death, man. I respect him so much, and I felt like we got 3 wide and knocked me up a little bit, and I got inside, and I thought I barely got into him, and I have to watch the replay. If I hit him harder, I’m sorry, but I felt we were racing for the lead there, and man, everybody was driving the wheel off, and I’m so glad, so thankful we came out on top, man.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Josh Berry takes the wheel from Kevin Harvick 

“I’m tired of getting run over” – Honeycutt issues a stern warning to the field

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Ardent fans might know Kaden Honeycutt as one of the cleanest racers out there. However, Sunday’s action might have prompted him to rethink his game plan. After climbing out of the race car and following the tussle with Queen, he did not hold his tongue. According to Racing America, he said, “It hurts for a lot of different emotional reasons, I’m not really going to say, but I’m telling you, if the piece of dump truck didn’t run into me going into [Turn] 1, that’s the only opportunity he had after he raced Josh. That’s why his nose looked like the way it did. I’m done getting run into.”

He then put out a cold warning, saying, “I promise you, the first person who runs into me is probably going to go head-on into the fence.” The 20-year-old further vented out his frustration, adding, “I’m tired of getting run over. I feel like I’m probably one of the nicest people in the field, and I’m done with getting done dirty. I caught them from probably four seconds back and didn’t touch either one of them. And as soon as he had the opportunity, Brenden ran straight into me.”‘

READ MORE: Josh Berry Turns Diplomatic After Thanksgiving Classic Run Leaves Kevin Harvick’s Former Crew Chief Disappointed

While Honeycutt seemed to have put a lot out there given the late disappointment, the driver looked like he got back to his composure shortly after the race. But moving forward, will this be another game plan the driver might have in his arsenal? Well, we never know until we get to see it.