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Carson Hocevar is set to replace Corey LaJoie. Hendrick Motorsports' No. 9 will be driven by LaJoie instead of the suspended Chase Elliott in the NASCAR Cup Series contest at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway. A May 30 statement from the team disclosed this information.
Carson Hocevar, who will be competing in his first Cup race, will take LaJoie's place in the No. 7 car.
Hocevar drives the No. 77 for Spire in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on a sporadic basis. He has two top-10 finishes in three Xfinity appearances, all in 2023, both of which involved Spire. He drives regularly for Niece Motorsports in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, where he has already achieved one victory, four top-five finishes, and five top-10 finishes in 2023.
In 2023, LaJoie finished in the top five once and the top 10 once. His best finish was a fourth-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Carson Hocevar's early life
Carson Hocevar was 7 years old when he started racing on the track. He was raised in Michigan. Success quickly followed, and in the USAC quarter-midget levels, he won 79 feature races and 15 national titles.
Hocevar advanced to full-bodied stock cars at the age of 12 under the instruction of NASCAR Truck Series champion Johnny Benson Jr. His career took off as he became the youngest winner in both Late Model categories.
He had victories in the Outlaw Late Model Division early in the 2015 Berlin Raceway Season and the Super Late Model Division later in the year. Unfortunately, his triumph was fleeting since soon after his historic victory in the late model class, a new age limit forced him to retire from racing.
As soon as he turned 14, Carson had a breakthrough season that saw him win three JEGS/CRA All-Stars Pro Late Model Tour races. He became the youngest track champion in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series history.
After winning the Super Late Model Championship at Berlin Raceway in 2017, Hocevar focused on the national stock car divisions. He advanced to the ARCA Menards Series by 2018 and gained experience on tracks around the nation there.
In 2019, Carson took the largest step forward in his career by competing for Jordan Anderson Racing in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series dirt race at Eldora. Carson was prepared for a limited schedule for the 2020 Truck Season with Niece Motorsports after making another appearance in the season finale in Phoenix.
Carson Hocevar, who joined Niece Motorsports in 2020 on a part-time basis and for the entire 2021 season, has driven the #42 Silverado to eight top-10 finishes. He also has had three top-five finishes, and a tenth-place finish in the final standings in just his first season, at the age of 18.
Carson is eager to begin his sophomore Camping World Truck Series season in 2022 and pursue his first NASCAR victory.
Carson Hocevar excited to make his first NASCAR Cup debut
Hocevar will take Corey LaJoie's place behind the wheel of Spire's No. 7 Chevrolet. This weekend, Lajoie will be driving Hendrick Motorsports' No. 9 Chevrolet instead of Chase Elliott, who was earlier this week given a one-race suspension by NASCAR.
“It’s a dream come true regardless of whose car it is. It means the world whether you’re driving the car that’s first in points or the car 38th in points on Sunday,” he said.
The 2023 Xfinity season will feature six races for Hocevar, Spire revealed earlier this year. He has made two appearances in the No. 77 so far. The first was in Darlington, South Carolina, and the second was this past weekend at Charlotte. In both races, he was excellent, finishing sixth and eighth, respectively.
