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Emerging NASCAR driver Carson Hocevar is all set to kickoff his first season as a full-time driver in the NASCAR Cup Series. The 20-year-old Portage, Michigan native got promotion from Truck Series to Cup Series and will drive the #77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports this season.
Spire Motorsports has belief in Hocevar’s racing skills, which he showed as a part-time driver with Legacy Motor Club and in one race with Spire last year.
In an interview with NBC Sports, Ryan Sparks, Corey LaJoie’s crew chief and Spire’s director of competition, considers Hocevar a standout talent within his generation of drivers.
Sparks recalled Hocevar’s Cup debut race at Gateway where the driver showcased remarkable skills, even overcoming challenges like a brake failure to make an impressive climb from 26th to the top 15 in the first stage. However, Hocevar ended the race in 36th place.
“I think Carson Hocevar is a generational talent. People just haven’t really seen it yet. They saw that 42 car change their performance instantly when he got in it. When he drove the seven car at Gateway — we ended up having a brake failure — but he went from 26th to top 15 in the first stage. Just stuff that doesn’t typically happen. It’s kind of our job to manage him,” Sparks told NBC Sports.
Carson Hocevar made nine Cup starts last year primarily with LMC. He impressed everyone with his performance by keeping their cars clean and contending for top-10 finishes. His best finish of P11 came at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Carson Hocevar has nothing to prove to anyone in the rookie Cup season
The young and promising talent last month on X claimed that he has to prove himself and not to anyone else after bagging a full-time drive in the Cup Series.
“Nothing, atleast i don’t think so, proved to myself that i could compete with some of my hero’s and my team have more confidence in me then i did before getting more chances last year. not sure what more to prove other then for public opinion, but that’s when you overextend. It’s just about execution to our potential as an organization and as a race team," Hocevar wrote on X.
Catch Carson Hocevar in action when the 2024 Cup season kicks-off at the Busch Light Clash at the Coliseum on Feb. 4.
