“I felt like a very smart Cup driver”: Carson Hocevar credits his strong execution for runner-up Nashville finish

Carson Hocevar shared his satisfaction following his second runner-up finish in the 2025 NASCAR Cup series season. Last Sunday (June 1), Hocevar started from 26th position but navigated through the field to finish second and earn 39 points at Nashville Superspeedway. This strong performance propelled him five points up to 17th in the Cup Series standings, just four points shy of the playoff cutoff.

The No. 77 Spire Motorsports credited his performance to smart execution across all levels, in a post race interview.

I felt like a very smart Cup driver for almost every lap. It wasn't raw speed, unbelievable like Charlotte where it was just almost too easy to pass, where it was just really, really good. Obviously, it was super, super difficult to pass and I felt like we just executed on all levels. Pit road, green flag stop, restarts, everything," Carson Hocevar said.

Hocevar was running in the top 10 by the end of stage two, which Ryan Blaney managed to win after muscling past Denny Hamlin and William Byron. He closed the gap to race winner Blaney to just 2.5 seconds, but the difficulty of passing on the 1.330 mile tri-oval prevented him from challenging for the win.

"To go from 26th to 2nd and make something out of that. So, yeah, really proud of this group, proud of our direction, proud of everything. Right, but still unfortunate to obviously not win," he added.

However, Carson Hocevar's ascent was not without incident. During Stage 2, he drove hard to initiate a collision with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., which sent the latter into the wall and out of the race.

With a history as an aggressive driver, his move saw criticism from some fans and NASCAR personalities. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Denny Hamlin also warned Hocevar of revenge from Stenhouse Jr. in the future.

---

Carson Hocevar to move to home track for this NASCAR Cup weekend

Carson Hocevar will compete in his hometown for the next Cup Series race this weekend at Michigan International Speedway. He finished in the top 10 during the FireKeepers Casino 400 last August, which was his first and only Cup start at the 2-mile oval.

The week before last, Hocevar was running in the top five when his engine failed after a rare reverse spin by fuel-saving tactics. He was forced to retire from the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte and was placed 34th.

Meanwhile, his second-place finish last Sunday was the second top-five result after Atlanta early in the Cup season. The 22-year-old had also managed to score a sixth-place finish four weeks before at Talladega, which was his third top-10. Hocevar is now ranked 17th in the points standings.