By David Morgan, Associate Editor
LEBANON, Tenn. – Carson Hocevar has been the surprise of the season in his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, finding himself in the mix on a number of occasions thus far in the NASCAR Cup Series season.
But the results don’t quite reflect that with eight finishes of 24th or worse that has relegated him to 23rd in the standings at the halfway point in the regular season.
A week ago at Charlotte, Hocevar suffered a mechanical failure while challenging for the lead and crashed at Texas three weeks ago after winning the pole.
Despite it all, the 22-year-old has seen the performance gains from the No. 77 team and Spire as a whole this season, noting that he’s excited for the trajectory the team currently finds itself on.
“I think we’re continuing to obviously get better. I don’t know exactly where we evaluate ourselves,” said Hocevar. “I mean, ultimately, we want to be the guy that is leading, you know, get the pole, lead all the laps and win the race, right? Like that’s the only way to be the best.
“I think we’re a lot further along than I think any of us expected to be of having shots to either win races or just be up front at a lot of these places lately. So, I’m excited to see where that trajectory goes.”
Whether or not that trajectory will be enough to get Hocevar into the Playoffs appears to depend entirely on whether they get better treatment from Lady Luck between now and the start of the postseason in late August.
Asked about his chances to make the 16-driver field to compete for the championship, Hocevar was blunt about how things have transpired for him and the team so far.
“Well, we’ve finished like shit all year,” Hocevar said with a laugh.
“I mean for us, there’s probably a universe there where we’re like sixth or eighth in points, but, yeah, I’m just excited to continue just to try to put together the best races we can, the best stage points as we can.
“Ultimately, yes, it would be nice to win and get in the Playoffs, but, you know, I’m still year two of my tenure and I feel like we’re running better than expected. Just when everything falls, right? You know, it’s not just gonna be just getting in the Playoffs, but performing well there.”
Hocevar added that the cartoon anvil that seems to have followed this team this season isn’t fun, but he’d much rather be in the position to capitalize should things finally fall his way than flounder around mid-pack with no hope of challenging for top-fives, top-10s, and wins.
“I mean, it’s not fun to go to bed and know you have like six or seven or eight or however many it feels like 30 something finishes,” said Hocevar. “But I’d much rather, you know, have that happen and have a shot to win the Coke 600 or running up front and running top four at Texas and top three at Bristol and top three here and top two there. And have those then run 27th all day or twenties all day and then somehow finish like 13th.
“So yeah, I’d much rather be fast and have fluke things happen and gremlins and everything. Because when those don’t happen, you’re not gonna have to get lucky. You’re just gonna have to not have bad luck. Just no luck at all would be better for us. And I think we would have shots plural to win races. “
Asked what more his team needs to really turn the page and be a contender, Hocevar explained that Spire as a whole just needs more time and data to build on the foundation they have started so far in 2025.
“Just a little bit more time. Really just need a little bit more time to continue just getting our race cars better, have more info,” said Hocevar.
“Just more, I don’t wanna say experience, but just a bigger notebook that we can continue to build. And the plan and expectation isn’t to win one race or win one this and that. Like our plan together of me and Jeff Dickerson is, you know, he reminds us all the time, we’re not just gonna win one a year.
“Like the plan is to fight for a championship, whether that’s how it could be this year, right? The way the Playoffs works. But, you know, however long it takes, like that’s the plan. Whatever we need to do to get there. That’s the plan. There is no good enough in this group.
“Luckily, we have a lot of great partners, people, funding resources, people outside, inside that want this to be successful. And, you know, we’re all in it together.”
Hocevar was eighth fastest in practice for Sunday’s Cracker Barrel 400 at Nashville, but will have to roll off from deep in the pack after qualifying 26th fastest.
In this race one year ago, Hocevar finished 16th in his debut on the concrete oval.
Be the first to comment