Hocevar Hopeful That Spire Will Take Step Forward At Martinsville

Fresh off a fourth-place run at Darlington, Carson Hocevar is optimistic that he and his Spire Motorsports team can contend at Martinsville, a track he's struggled at.

Carson Hocevar is optimistic that his Spire Motorsports team will be able to contend at Martinsville Speedway. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Carson Hocevar impressed last weekend at Darlington Raceway, as he clawed from starting at the rear of the field after unapproved adjustments following qualifying, to finish fourth in the Goodyear 400. It was the latest good finish, in what has been a solid start to the 2026 season for the driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.

However, this weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to Martinsville Speedway, a track where Hocevar, and Spire Motorsports as a whole, have struggled mightily. In five career starts at the 0.526-mile short track in Virginia, Hocevar has yet to record a single top-15 finish, and he has yet to lead a lap around the track affectionately known as the paperclip.

In a media Zoom teleconference, Hocevar admitted that his team hasn't brought the best stuff to Martinsville in the past, but he's optimistic that this time around will be a different story.

"Yeah, our stuff has kind of been awful there, and I hadn't really had a good grasp of how to make it any better," Hocevar explained. "But I think, you know, this time I feel a little bit better about it. You know, there's some ideas that we have."

Hocevar indicated that his team's performance at Bowman Gray Stadium in The Clash the last couple of seasons has them heading down a path, where he expects to have better performance this time around at Martinsville.

"I hope it translates so we'll see," Hocevar said.

It's interesting that Hocevar has struggled at Martinsville, but has excelled at Darlington, known as one of the toughest tracks for young drivers. After last weekend's race, Hocevar now has back-to-back top-10 finishes at Darlington Raceway.

According to Hocevar, learning Darlington has been a more simple process for him that Martinsville, to this point, but he concedes a lot of that could be due to the team he drives for.

"Well, for me, Darlington's been a lot easier than Martinsville. So I just think it's all driver comfortability, driver preference, and two, like I think your car has a lot to do with it," Hocevar stated. "If you're on a team that's dominated Martinsville and you kind of get plugged in, you pick it up pretty quickly, or you're bailed out.

"Where if it's not been a comfortable deal and you go to a race team that has never really figured it out, you know, then you're double whammied up and just you're then just kind of shooting blind a little bit on the team side and driver side and you just have too much of a moving target to even really kind of build a package."

Hocevar continued, "It just depends on your style, but also to what your team's strength is."

This weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series teams will once again be utilizing the high horsepower, low downforce package that was used last weekend at Darlington Raceway, and Hocevar hopes that can help put them in the same ballpark as the Hendrick Motorsports teams, Joe Gibbs Racing teams, and Team Penske teams at Martinsville.

"Yeah, honestly, I'm just hoping that it makes our issues -- I'm hoping it helps us, honestly, that a lot of people kind of swing, and it's just a different package and everything. And for us, I'm hoping that we just can kind of hit on it and you'll be able to manage it," Hocevar said. "I think there's going to be a little difference, but I think really what you'll see is just that the wheel spins are going to be super important to manage. I think the brakes, they're pretty good brake packages that, knock on wood, should be pretty fine, but I think just trying to keep the rear [tires] under you is going to be the biggest hurdle."

Will Hocevar finally break through for a solid finish at Martinsville Speedway this weekend? That remains to be seen, but the 23-year-old racer, who currently ranks 13th in the NASCAR Cup Series standings, sure has a lot of reason to feel hope heading into Sunday's Cook Out 400.

The Cook Out 400 at Martinsville Speedway is scheduled for Sunday, March 29, and will be televised on FS1 with coverage set to begin at 3:30 PM ET. The Motor Racing Network (MRN) and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio will provide radio coverage of the event.