Chevrolet driver Carson Hocevar is on the verge of doing one thing huge within the NASCAR Cup Sequence, and he would like to do it this Sunday at Michigan Worldwide Speedway within the Firekeepers On line casino 400 in Brooklyn, Mich.
Hocevar’s purpose: Successful his first race in NASCAR’s most prestigious sequence.
The 2024 Rookie of the 12 months is seventeenth in driver factors, simply two behind Ford driver Ryan Preece, who sits on the north facet of the lower line with 289 factors to Hocevar’s 287.
Hocevar has been the lead canine for Spire Motorsports with two top-five finishes in his 14 begins, each runner-up efforts behind race winners Christopher Bell at Atlanta and Ryan Blaney at Nashville.
Whereas seemingly on the point of being victorious towards inventory automotive racing’s high aces, the Portage, Mich., native returned dwelling early this week to race at Berlin Raceway, the place he obliterated the Cash within the Financial institution 150 tremendous late mannequin area on Tuesday night time.
It was his third profession victory within the occasion, which additionally featured fellow Michigander and Cup competitor Erik Jones putting fourth. It additionally adopted Hocevar’s Truck Sequence victory final month on the Coronary heart of Well being Care 200.
“Tremendous good to go back-to-back virtually right here, with (the 200), now Cash within the Financial institution and hopefully we do the sweep,” Hocevar mentioned.
Now Hocevar will strive his luck at Michigan, the place Tyler Reddick is the defending champion. Hocevar positioned tenth final 12 months.
Honing his abilities and getting extra monitor time is significant to the 22-year-old Hocevar’s improvement. Loads of Cup drivers would certainly agree with that evaluation.
Hocevar has impressed many within the enterprise together with his pace as a result of he flat-out has it. And he’s blazing tracks throughout the nation within the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire, not for elite stables like Hendrick Motorsports, Joe Gibbs Racing or Group Penske.
But his success has come at a value.
Whereas Ross Chastain is usually thought-about the toughest driver to move, Hocevar definitely holds the present distinction of being the toughest driver to race with, towards, beside or simply the entire above.
The outcome has been a motley assortment of wrecked automobiles together with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who didn’t obtain a name this week from Hocevar after the nostril of his Chevrolet booted the No. 47 to a last-place end at Nashville final Sunday.
“This is the factor about Carson: Carson’s quick and is — to me, he is capable of hold making these errors and never let it mentally trouble him,” Kevin Harvick mentioned on his Pleased Hour podcast on Tuesday. “(He is) bought the psychological skill to only let it go. It did not trouble him the remainder of the race. It is not the primary time that this has occurred this 12 months or final 12 months and it will ruffle some feathers alongside the best way.”
However Harvick, who had many cussed tussles on the monitor throughout his 23-year Cup profession, had some recommendation for Hocevar.
“That stuff will finally come again to chew you as a result of you are going to get wrecked once you get round these guys (you have wrecked), or they’ll squeeze you within the fence or put you in a foul place or block you within the pits,” the 2014 Cup champ warned.
Added Dale Earnhardt Jr., “Individuals are in all probability gonna go loopy over this one, however Hocevar, just a little bit, is type of like a younger Dale Earnhardt in a manner. Makes lots of errors and ruffles lots of feathers, however he is very quick, very aggressive.”
Again dwelling in Michigan this weekend, Hocevar probably stands a great probability of crossing that threshold, knocking like a brand new customer and ready for his hometown monitor to let him in to Victory Lane for the primary time in his sixtieth Cup begin.
However will the sphere of drivers permit it?
–Discipline Degree Media