One of the most controversial, yet exciting NASCAR prospects is Carson Hocevar. Hocevar wowed with four Truck Series wins and some solid outings in the Cup Series with Legacy Motor Club and Spire Motorsports. However, he has gotten himself into hot water due to actions on track, most recently wrecking Championship contender Corey Heim on the closing laps at Phoenix. Hocevar has a lot to prove in 2024.
Carson Hocevar at times this year showed that he could be a bit impulsive. This oftentimes ended up in Hocevar wrecking other drivers. Early in the season, Hocevar was parked for two laps by NASCAR for attempting to wreck Taylor Gray.
Hocevar also wrecked Nick Sanchez late in the race at Texas to earn his first win. Hocevar also got into Ty Gibbs at Martinsville in a Cup Series race later in the season, which puzzled many NASCAR fans. He also got into it with Corey Heim at Phoenix, and, after the initial wreck, he was so distraught that he fell completely out of contention.
NASCAR Cup Series races are long, and seasons are long. If Hocevar continues to get into multiple drivers throughout the season, and he fails to keep his emotions in check, he will get into a lot of trouble. Just ask Ross Chastain how badly a reputation could suffer if you keep wrecking competitors.
It’s important for drivers as races go on to take deep breaths and keep their emotions in check. When racing aggressively for a win, a driver still needs to remain calm and calculated enough behind the wheel to execute in a way that does not hurt their reputation. Hocevar gets to somewhat start over by moving up to Cup in 2024, so, this is an opportunity for him to learn those lessons.
One thing is for certain about Carson Hocevar, he has raw talent and raw speed. His performance across all levels of the sport this year shows that. However, raw talent still needs to be refined be years of experience and race craft.
A lot of the incidents that were mentioned above could be down to Hocevar just pushing it a little too hard at the wrong time. It is also worth noting that Hocevar had 9 DNFs this season across 37 races. That is a lot of wrecked race cars.
Now, big race teams can handle the occasional wrecked race car for an aggressive driver as long as they win races. Kyle Larson this year is a great example of this as he had 8 DNFs despite nearly winning the Championship. Hocevar needs to learn when and where to push and how to manage an entire Cup Series race.
The races are much longer at the Cup level, with most being twice as long as the average Truck Series race. In order to be successful at the Cup level, Hocevar needs to learn how to be patient and race smart for a full race. As time goes on, and as he develops, the wins will come and he will earn the respect of his competitors. The talent and the speed are obviously there, but it needs to be refined.
Will Carson Hocevar be able to prove his worth in the Cup Series in 2024? We will have to find out once the green flag drops at Daytona in February.
It was a busy Saturday at EchoPark Speedway (formerly Atlanta Motor Speedway). First, we had the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race. Then, the O’Reilly Auto Parts Series took center stage and they were two vastly different events. Ultimately, it was Sheldon Creed standing tall in victory lane when all was said and done. Here’s what you need to take away from tonight’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at EchoPark Speedway.
Corey Day had a very sloppy, bad race in general, and it started early. First, he caused a wreck that took out Harrison Burton and a couple of others. Then, he took out the JRM duo of Carson Kvapil and Justin Allgaier. You can recap that first incident by reading the article below.
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Kvapil and Allgaier weren’t the only JRM cars to have issues tonight. Firstly, Rajah Caruth was out of control throughout the race, fighting a mean-handling car. He was able to brilliantly save it several times, to his credit. But perhaps the biggest incident involving the four JRM Chevys came at Lap 142 when Sammy Smith had a tire go down and spun in front of the pack. This took out several drivers, including Taylor Gray, among others. Read about that here:
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Results Pending.
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As Ross Chastain took the lead and the pack was closing in on 20 laps to go, things a little deeper in the pack started to get a little hairy. We had yet another huge crash late in the running here tonight, this one sparked by Sammy Smith’s flat rear tire. Here’s what happened:
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It has been a tail of two races when it comes to today’s NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series at EchoPark Speedway (formerly the Atlanta Motor Speedway). We got off to a rough start with Corey Day triggering a massive wreck that took out the likes of Harrison Burton, and the Sieg brothers. Then, the field settled in and started to churn laps. Here’s what’s gone down so far.
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