One year ago this weekend, everything took a turn for Carson Hocevar when he climbed into Corey LaJoie’s No. 7 car. Fast forward to today, and he just achieved the best finish of his career at Gateway, a real feather in the cap for the entire #77 team. But let’s go back to last year at the same track, where Hocevar finished last.
A brake rotor on the No. 7 car failed in Stage 2, sending it into the wall and causing terminal damage after just 91 laps. This year, he made a surprising comeback, racing his number 77 car to a top-10 finish, his second-best finish ever. Still, Hocevar couldn’t help but throw a little shade at NASCAR while he was at it, making a cheeky comment about the track.
Carson Hocevar has found his type of track and car
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Last year, Carson Hocevar caused some drama in the truck series with his aggressive tactics of crashing and racing other drivers, which didn’t exactly make him the most popular guy on the track. Despite the heat, his raw talent caught the attention of Spire Motorsports, earning him a full-time job in the Cup Series. It appears he is quickly justifying the team’s faith in him. .
Even last year, he was making a splash before his mishap, rising from P26 to P16 on the same track (Gateway). Although in his Cup debut he didn’t finish on the lead lap, he was proud of how he drove up to that point. Now, after posting a career-best eighth place finish, he looks like he’s on top, really proving his point on the track.
During his pit road interview, when Carson Hocevar was asked if the track worked in his favor against other drivers, he smiled and said, “Yeah, it’s fun! I think this shows what this team is capable of, right? This is the first time I have owned a Spire car and am able to return to the location. “So, show that this is pretty strong and that our cars are good when we can do well and get good track positions.”
However, subtly, Hocevar also weighed in on the current NASCAR horsepower debate without directly talking about it. Drivers like Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson have been pushing for more horsepower, arguing that next-generation cars make it nearly impossible to pass on most tracks, except perhaps during pit stops.
DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA – FEBRUARY 19: Carson Hocevar, driver of the No. 77 Gainbridge/Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet, enters his car for the NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert//Keynote USA/Getty Images) Since the Gateway track really suited him and other drivers, Carson Hocevar decided to take a swipe at NASCAR. He added: “It’s hard to say. I mean the place where you can move and do different things. I feel like it’s my kind of place, so I was running first, second, third and fourth. (…) I love getting a lot of inspiration from My Style Racing, I think that helped.” Christopher Bell also had good things to say about the track, noting, “They have a hidden gem here in St. Louis. Really cool: you can move, you can make passes.”
Hocevar also admitted that while the track seemed like a companion to him, his car gave him some problems at the beginning.
Car number 77 had its ups and downs, but managed a good eighth place.
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Starting the season with a fast exit in the Daytona 500 after just five laps, Hocevar has been at it long over the next 14 races, losing just eight laps in total. “We came in fourth place, so that was a lot of fun,” Hocevar shared. “We lost at some point during our green flag stop because it was slow.”
His eighth place finish is even more impressive considering some teething problems with the car. Thanks to the quick work of his pit crew, they fixed things and he moved into the top 5. He noted, according to a Speedway Digest report, “This #77 Zeigler Auto Group Chevy team did a very good job with everything throughout the race. . We had a very slow stop at the beginning of the race with a nut that came loose.”
Explaining in more detail the strategy the team employed, he added: “We caught the yellow flag well, but after that our car was really good. We reached fourth position and were reaching third. Our lights were on. So we were a little slow on pit road. That was probably the difference between finishing in the top five or not. Overall, it was a really good job by this No. 77 team.”
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That eighth place helped him climb three positions in the drivers’ standings. So far, the 2024 NASCAR Cup Series season has been fairly low-key in the race for Rookie of the Year. Josh Berry in the #4 just posted his first top 10 finish weeks ago at Darlington Raceway. Hocevar has a top-10, 10th-place finish at Texas Motor Speedway, putting him ahead of his Spire Motorsports teammates, rookie Zane Smith and the more experienced Corey LaJoie.
However, even after finishing in the top 10 at the Enjoy Illinois 300, Hocevar finds himself just 5 points behind Josh Berry, who is now 21st in the standings.
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