Carson Hocevar

Carson Scott Hocevar (born January 28, 2003) is an American professional stock car racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports, part-time in the NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series, driving the No. 42 Chevrolet Camaro SS for Young's Motorsports, and part-time in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Silverado RST for Spire Motorsports. He has previously competed in the ARCA Menards Series. He is a former member of the Drivers Edge Development driver development system.

Hocevar racing at Berlin Raceway in 2017

Hocevar began competing in quarter midgets at the age of seven, winning 79 feature races and fifteen national championships. He started racing at Berlin Raceway in 2015 as a twelve year old and won the track's Outlaw Late Model championship. He won his first Super Late Model race at the track in 2016, but NASCAR stopped all drivers under fourteen from competing at sanctioned tracks. Hocevar returned in 2017 and won the track's Super Late Model championship.

Hocevar standing next to his No. 28 car in 2019 before the race at Madison

Hocevar competed in eleven ARCA Menards Series races between 2018 and 2019, with nine top-ten finishes and two pole positions.

In 2019, Hocevar joined the Driver's Edge Development Program.

Hocevar made his NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series debut in the 2019 Eldora Dirt Derby driving the No. 3 Chevrolet Silverado for Jordan Anderson Racing. He qualified for the main event by finishing third in the third qualifying race. He returned to the series in November at the Lucas Oil 150, driving a No. 56 for JAR in a partnership with Hill Motorsports.

On December 20, 2019, Hocevar joined Niece Motorsports for a nine-race schedule in 2020.

On September 24, 2020, Hocevar and Niece announced a full-season schedule in 2021. During the season, Hocevar would have a very successful rookie season, nearly winning multiple races. He finished second at Charlotte and fourth at Las Vegas. He re-signed with Niece in 2022 and led the most laps of the Spring Vegas race until he was turned with 36 to go.

On June 4, 2022, Hocevar broke his right tibia at the ankle during the final lap of the Gateway race when his truck was T-boned by Tyler Hill. He underwent surgery prior to the Sonoma race. Hocevar took the pole position before wrecking in turn 10. On lap eleven, he was relieved by Daniel Suárez, who took the No. 42 to a sixth-place finish.

Hocevar started the 2023 season with a twelfth-place finish at Daytona. He scored his first career win at Texas in double-overtime after race leader Nick Sanchez made contact with Zane Smith on the final lap and Hocevar unintentionally spun Sanchez from behind. Hocevar also scored wins at Nashville and Richmond. He won at Homestead to make the Championship 4. During the race, he spun out Corey Heim, which also collected Stewart Friesen. After that, Heim retaliated on Hocevar so he finished 29th. After Heim slammed him on the turn 4 wall in retaliation for spinning him earlier in the race, he also finished fourth in the final points standings. After NASCAR penalized Heim 25 driver points for intentionally wrecking him, Hocevar was credited with a third-place points finish.

On April 18, 2025, it was announced that Hocevar would drive part-time for Spire Motorsports in their No. 7 truck in four races. In his second start with Spire, he would earn his fifth career win at Kansas.

On January 29, 2026, it was announced that Hocevar would run the season opening race at Daytona, running the No. 77 truck for Spire.

Hocevar takes his damaged car out of the race at Nashville Superspeedway in 2023.

On March 7, 2023, Spire Motorsports announced that they will expand their racing operations to the NASCAR Xfinity Series, with Hocevar running six races in their No. 77 car, making his debut in the series at Circuit of the Americas in the No. 07 for SS-Green Light Racing before suffering a brake failure leading to a 36th-place finish. He was initially on the entry list for the race at Dover Motor Speedway, but was withdrawn due to the weather providing the risk of qualifying being canceled. His debut with the team was thus scheduled for the next race at Darlington Raceway. He would finish sixth at Darlington and eighth at Charlotte Motor Speedway but would DNF at Nashville Superspeedway.

On February 24, 2025, it was announced that Hocevar would drive for SS-Green Light Racing with BRK Racing, replacing Garrett Smithley at COTA. He was involved in an early wreck, earning a 38th place DNF. On July 30, shortly after Josh Williams was released by Kaulig Racing, it was announced that he would drive the No. 11 for the team at Iowa.

Hocevar's No. 42 car at Martinsville Speedway in 2023

On May 30, 2023, Hocevar was named the driver of the No. 7 Spire Motorsports Camaro ZL1 for the Enjoy Illinois 300 at Gateway Motorsports Park after Spire's full-time driver Corey LaJoie would fill in the No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevy while HMS driver Chase Elliott served a one-race suspension. He finished in 36th place after suffering a brake rotor explosion going into turn 1 in the second stage on lap 91 while running in sixteenth place. Hocevar drove the Legacy Motor Club No. 42 (originally driven by Noah Gragson, then by Josh Berry and Mike Rockenfeller on road courses after Gragson was suspended prior to the Michigan race) to a seventeenth place finish at Darlington. He then scored a career-best 11th place finish at the Bristol night race. On October 4, Hocevar was signed to drive the No. 42 for the remainder of the season, except at Homestead-Miami where the team's 2024 driver John Hunter Nemechek drove in the No. 42 car instead.

Hocevar's No. 77 car at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2024

On October 10, 2023, Hocevar announced on NASCAR Race Hub that he will bypass the Xfinity Series to join Spire Motorsports in the Cup Series full-time for the 2024 season, driving the No. 77 car under a multi-year deal. Hocevar started the season with a 40th place DNF at the 2024 Daytona 500. He scored his first career top-10 finish at Texas. At Nashville, Hocevar spun out Harrison Burton during a caution lap; as a result, he was fined US$50,000 and docked 25 driver points. At Richmond Hocevar would score his third top-10 finish of the season, tying his best finish of eighth. In qualifying for the regular season finale at Darlington, Hocevar put the 77 car on the front row, qualifying second. It was the best starting spot for Spire Motorsports in the team's history, along with Hocevar's best starting spot for his own Cup career. Unfortunately, Hocevar would crash on Lap 335 and would DNF in 33rd place. At Watkins Glen on September 15, Hocevar once again eclipsed his best career NCS finish for the third time in 2024 with a third-place finish, leading a triple top 10 for Spire Motorsports and even contending for the win in the final restarts. At the end of the season, he won the NASCAR Rookie of the Year honors.

Hocevar's No. 77 car at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2025

Hocevar started the 2025 season with a 30th-place DNF at the 2025 Daytona 500. The following week at Atlanta, Hocevar once again eclipsed his best career NCS finish for the fourth time in his career with a second place in a close, controversial finish. He was behind Christopher Bell and ahead Kyle Larson at the time of caution coming to the checkered flag during an overtime restart. At Texas, he would earn his first career Cup Series pole. Once again at Nashville, Hocevar eclipsed his best finish after Ryan Blaney beat him. Following the Mexico road race, Spire Motorsports fined Hocevar US$50,000 and ordered him to undergo cultural-sensitivity and bias-awareness training for making scathing comments on Mexico City during a livestream. During the Hollywood Casino 400, Hocevar spun, and after safety personnel had arrived at the crash scene, officials indicated that Hocevar revved and spun his tires in an attempt to rejoin the field while those safety workers attended to his car. On October 1, Hocevar was fined US$50,000 for member conduct violations.

Hocevar started the 2026 season with terror. He was leading at the white flag in the Daytona 500, but was spun entering turn one and finished 18th. Finally after 91-races, Hocevar won at Talladega.

Hocevar has also run in Midgets, Micro Sprints, and Dirt Super Late Models on a part-time basis in addition to his full-time rides since 2015. On November 15, 2025, Hocevar and co-driver, Garrett Mitchell aka Cleetus McFarland, won the 5th annual 2.4 Hours of LeMullets at the Freedom Factory in Bradenton, Florida.

Hocevar's aggressive driving style has been met with polarized opinions from fellow drivers, sports journalists, and fans, giving him the nickname of "Hurricane Hocevar" by announcer Leigh Diffey.

As a child, Hocevar raced Quarter Midgets and was exposed to many notable drivers through his father, Scott, who worked as a crew member and sponsor for various local teams. Through this connection, Carson was heavily mentored by Bryan Clauson, for whom Scott Hocevar served as a crew member. Later, he was also mentored by Johnny Benson, who was sponsored by Carson's father. This allowed Carson to work as a mechanic on Benson's racecars and later drive for him in his Outlaw Late Model program. Hocevar is the son of Scott and Amy Hocevar. He graduated from Gull Lake High School in 2021.

† As Hocevar was running for points in the Truck Series, he was ineligible for championship points in the Cup and Xfinity Series.

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

• Season still in progress

1 Ineligible for series points

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

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(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. ** – All laps led.)

• Official website
• Official profile at Spire Motorsports
• Carson Hocevar driver statistics at Racing-Reference