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Hocevar Nearly Pulls Off First Win; Angers Competitors Along the Way

Toby Christie

Carson Hocevar [77] came up just shy of his first career NASCAR Cup Series win, and he also ruffled plenty of feathers in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Carson Hocevar [77] came up just shy of his first career NASCAR Cup Series win, and he also ruffled plenty of feathers in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway. / Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Carson Hocevar is still seeking his first NASCAR Cup Series victory, 47 races into his young career. On Sunday night, in the Ambetter Health 400 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, the 22-year-old nearly broke through for his first career win. However, a caution on the final lap of the race froze the field and didn't allow him a chance to race Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson back to the finish line in what was shaping up to be a fierce three-wide battle for the race win.

Despite narrowly missing out on his first career win with a runner-up finish to the race winner who was Bell, Hocevar was still the focal point on pit road following the race. Unfortunately, for Hocevar, he had the spotlight on him for his aggressive driving throughout the race rather than the fact that he nearly pulled off the second-ever win for the Spire Motorsports team in the NASCAR Cup Series.

Race Results. Results. Ambetter Health 400. dark

After having a pair of conversations, one with Ross Chastain, which lasted several minutes.

Chastain then had a separate conversation with Ryan Blaney.

Following the pair of talks, Hocevar wasn't stressing about ruffling feathers and raising the dander of his competitors. Simply said, Hocevar is here to win races in the NASCAR Cup Series, not to win popularity contests.

"...I mean finishing second, we're here to win races not be a boy band, and love each other, and play on the playground together," Hocevar explained.

While Hocevar admits he has a lot to work on when it comes to superspeedway racing, he feels that being in the mix on Sunday night will allow him to build up his memory bank, and his confidence level for future superspeedway battles for the win.

"Obviously, there are learning lessons. You don't want to piss anybody off or frustrate anybody, and there are things I would clean up, for sure," Hocevar said. "But it's going to come with learning that. It's the first time I ever -- again, I'm normally 40th waiting for them to crash and hoping they crash and I finish in the teens. To be up front and get Stage Points in both Stages and have a shot to win is something to hold my head high [about]. I've always said I'm a really bad superspeedway racer. So, this gives me a little more confidence."

The first instance of Hocevar angering a competitor in Sunday's race came in the opening Stage of the race when he raised the blood pressure of Kyle Busch, who wasn't sure why Hocevar was being as aggressive as he was in the opening Stage of the race. On his in-car radio, Busch threatened to crash Hocevar out of the race as he felt Hocevar continued to make the same mistakes over and over.

"Go tell [Hocevar] he's done that sam [expletive] move 10 [expletive] times. I don't care if I wreck the whole [expletive] field, I'm over him. He's a [expletive] douchebag. I'm going to wreck his ass," Busch stated on Lap 61 over his team radio.

Following the event, Hocevar wasn't able to recall what he did that had Busch steaming in the opening Stage of the race.

"That was a long time ago, I'm sorry, I don't know," Hocevar said.

While he didn't recall what he had done to anger Busch, Hocevar admitted fault in an incident with Ryan Blaney, which sent the driver of the No. 12 Team Penske Ford spinning from a top-five position in Turn 1 on Lap 234.

After being turned by Hocevar, Blaney keyed up his radio and told his team that Hocevar was, "an absolute weapon," and concluded that, "he's just a moron."

"I just said, 'Hey, you've got to calm down.' You know, I mean, I told him a couple of the moves he made earlier in the race were really, really sketchy," Blaney said. "Obviously, me getting spun, he should know better than to hit me in that spot. Like, he can't just run into my bumper as I'm turning into the corner, I'm going to wreck. So, I just told him, 'You've got to calm down. You have a lot of talent, but you've got to be a little easier. In certain moments, be a little smarter.'"

Hocevar said that he apologized to Blaney in their conversation on pit road, and that he's glad Blaney was able to rebound to score a decent finish despite the on-track tussle.

"I mean, I apologized to him. He finished fourth, so, he was able to rebound, and luckily didn't tear anybody else up," Hocevar stated. "Just a few things I probably need to clean up on."

Hocevar says that the incident with Blaney occurred because he was too focused on defending a group of cars attempting to make a run in the middle lane behind him. Due to the momentary loss of focus, Hocevar wasn't quite lined up correctly when he attempted to execute a bump draft. According to Hocevar, the moment was a lesson learned.

"Before the incident, you don't do anything different. Obviously, knowing the result and having that experience, you're going to do something different," Hocevar detailed. "I was more worried about defending the middle and I just got offset of him, and hit him, and got him loose. And then I was trying to check up and ultimately spun. So, yeah, there [are] multiple things I would do different[ly] knowing the result."

While Hocevar opened up about his conversation with Blaney a little, he refused to peel back the curtain to let anyone know what Chastain, who was shuffled out of a shot to win the race by Chastain in the closing laps, said to him, instead choosing to plug one of his Spire Motorsports team sponsors.

"It was literally just honestly about the triple dipper at Chili's, honestly," Hocevar answered when asked what the conversation with Chastain was about. "You know, obviously, that's not true, but that's for me and him to discuss. And if anything, maybe I'll invite him to Chili's."

The beef between Hocevar and Chastain is a little bit awkward as Chastain has served as a mentor to the young product of Michigan. Hocevar followed in the footsteps of Chastain on his path to the NASCAR Cup Series as he built his prominence in a Niece Motorsports NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series entry.

While Hocevar didn't divulge any of his conversation with Chastain, the two clearly didn't see eye-to-eye even after their chat as they didn't seem to want to shake hands near the end of the conversation. Hocevar says at the end of the day, he was doing what race car drivers do, which is do everything in his power to try to win the race for himself.

"Yeah, I mean sometimes you agree and disagree on things, and ultimately, I made the decision that I felt was to win the race," Hocevar stated. "And I think we'll be able to continue to talk about it because obviously we have each others' phone numbers."

Post-race beef with his competitors aside, Hocevar made an aggressive, yet impressive move to the middle lane on the final lap of Sunday's race, and it was a move that nearly paid massive dividends as it almost powered him to the victory.

"Ultimately, I thought that was the best opportunity. You're not going to win the race behind anybody," Hocevar explained. "To get [Bell] off the middle, and get him in the third lane and roll the middle was a really good opportunity for us to have clean air, and ultimately do the three-wide drag race to the line. Unfortunately, they wrecked behind [us] which I had no idea about. Yeah, just unfortunate."

It was unfortunate, sure, but Sunday night was another indicator that Hocevar is zeroing in on his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory, whether his competition likes it or not. Last year, during his NASCAR Cup Series Rookie of the Year campaign, Hocevar scored a third-place finish at Watkins Glen, while battling for the win on the final restart of the race.

Two races into the 2025 season he's had a shot to win a superspeedway race. Now, Hocevar hopes an old addage proves itself to be true, and he hopes it's an expedited process next time he shows up to a superspeedway event.

"Ultimately, I'm glad I've lost one now because it takes losing one to win one," Hocevar said. "So, you talk about the progress, right, and the journey. Hopefully, this is a quick lose one, and then win one. Hopefully soon."

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Toby Christie
TOBY CHRISTIE

Toby Christie is the Editor-in-Chief of Racing America. He has 15 years of experience as a motorsports journalist and has been with Racing America since 2023.

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