Chevrolet driver Carson Hocevar is on the verge of doing something enormous in the NASCAR Cup Series, and he would love to do it this Sunday at Michigan International Speedway in the Firekeepers Casino 400 in Brooklyn, Mich.
Hocevar’s aim: Winning his first race in NASCAR’s most prestigious series.
The 2024 Rookie of the Year is 17th in driver points, just two behind Ford driver Ryan Preece, who sits on the north side of the cut line with 289 points to Hocevar’s 287.
Hocevar has been the lead dog for Spire Motorsports with two top-five finishes in his 14 starts, both runner-up efforts behind race winners Christopher Bell at Atlanta and Ryan Blaney at Nashville.
While seemingly on the brink of being victorious against stock car racing’s top aces, the Portage, Mich., native returned home early this week to race at Berlin Raceway, where he obliterated the Money in the Bank 150 super late model field on Tuesday night.
It was his third career victory in the event, which also featured fellow Michigander and Cup competitor Erik Jones placing fourth. It also followed Hocevar’s Truck Series victory last month at the Heart of Health Care 200.
“Super good to go back-to-back almost here, with (the 200), now Money in the Bank and hopefully we do the sweep,” Hocevar said.
Now Hocevar will try his luck at Michigan, where Tyler Reddick is the defending champion. Hocevar placed 10th last year.
Honing his skills and getting more track time is vital to the 22-year-old Hocevar’s development. Plenty of Cup drivers would surely agree with that assessment.
Hocevar has impressed many in the business with his speed because he flat-out has it. And he is blazing tracks across the country in the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire, not for elite stables like Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing or Team Penske.
Yet his success has come at a price.
While Ross Chastain is generally considered the hardest driver to pass, Hocevar certainly holds the current distinction of being the hardest driver to race with, against, beside or just all of the above.
The result has been a motley collection of wrecked cars including Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who did not receive a call this week from Hocevar after the nose of his Chevrolet booted the No. 47 to a last-place finish at Nashville last Sunday.
“Here’s the thing about Carson: Carson’s fast and is — to me, he’s able to keep making these mistakes and not let it mentally bother him,” Kevin Harvick said on his Happy Hour podcast on Tuesday. “(He’s) got the mental ability to just let it go. It didn’t bother him the rest of the race. It isn’t the first time that this has happened this year or last year and it is going to ruffle some feathers along the way.”
But Harvick, who had many stubborn tussles on the track during his 23-year Cup career, had some advice for Hocevar.
“That stuff will eventually come back to bite you because you’re going to get wrecked when you get around those guys (you’ve wrecked), or they’re going to squeeze you in the fence or put you in a bad position or block you in the pits,” the 2014 Cup champ warned.
Added Dale Earnhardt Jr., “People are probably gonna go crazy over this one, but Hocevar, a little bit, is kind of like a young Dale Earnhardt in a way. Makes a lot of mistakes and ruffles a lot of feathers, but he’s very fast, very aggressive.”
Back home in Michigan this weekend, Hocevar likely stands a good chance of crossing that threshold, knocking like a new visitor and waiting for his hometown track to let him in to Victory Lane for the first time in his 60th Cup start.
But will the field of drivers allow it?
–Field Level Media
