Leland Honeyman is back to racing after seven months, and on Saturday, he picked a top 15 finish in the recently concluded Charbroil 300 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Following his formidable finish, Honeyman opened up about his race and shared his feelings as he returned with DGM Racing.

"I mean, I expect to be there, like I don't want to, not give myself the top 20 or top 15, whatever it is, and if I go out there and I finish 25th," Honeyman told the media after the race. "I'm gonna be upset with myself like I want to come to these things and win, like that's always my goal."

Honeyman was on a seven-month hiatus after he encountered a contract dispute during his ARCA Menards days with Nitro Motorsports. He was scheduled to race in the series, but had to pull out since a key sponsor of his backed out due to missed payments.

As a result, the entire scenario went under disagreement, and a lawsuit followed. Due to this, Honeyman Jr. was sidelined for over half a year. However, he found a new opportunity with DGM Racing and raced on Saturday.

"We just kept getting better and better all night. There's some cars in front of us, I think we could have picked off, but just goes to show, I think we'll have something good for an actual next week. So I'm very, very proud of this group tonight," Honeyman further added.

After the legal dispute was over, Honeyman signed a two-race deal with DGM Racing to drive the No. 92 Chevrolet Camaro SS, and the Charbroil 300 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway was one of them.

Honeyman started his race from 30th place, but improved to 24th place by the end of Stage 1. He further improved to 18th place in Stage 2, and then finished the race in 15th place, as he came home ahead of Austin Green and behind Dean Thompson.

While Leland Honeyman returned, another NASCAR driver realized his dream

As Leland Honeyman returned to racing, another NASCAR star, Ross Chastain, realized his dream of racing in a JRM car and winning the race. Things go back to 2014 when Chastain noticed a JRM car first, and then landed himself a ride after 11 years in 2025.

However, his win in a JRM car came this season when he won the Charbroil 300. Following his victory, Chastain said, "I first watched a JRM car drive by me here at Charlotte in 2014. I was on the apron in practice, and one drove by, and I decided right then that I wanted to be in one. It took me until 2025 to get in one."

"So for David Erickson to go to work and get me in this car through all of the relationships at JRM and through Chevrolet, you know, I did not think we would win one like this driving into the fence in liquid," he further added.

Chastain started the race from 14th place and improved to third by the end of Stage 1. In Stage 2, he kept his lead and went on to win the race when NASCAR called it after Lap 91. Jesse Love and Austin Hill completed the race in second and third places, respectively.

You can read more on the Daytona Racing Digest!

Written by

Sabyasachi Biswas

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason