In Atlanta last weekend, Carson Hocevar tangled with Christopher Bell in the first overtime restart, which sent Bell into the outside wall. Hocevar finished fourth, whereas the man with whom he scuffled limped home to 21st, which raised quite a few eyebrows. Now, with eyes on Circuit of the Americas, he wants to keep the wheels turning without stepping on the same rake again.
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Hocevar holds an average finish of 21.7 across road and street layouts. But at COTA, the numbers tell their own tale. After two starts, the Spire Motorsports driver has yet to crack P13, logging a P22 in 2024 and settling at a 17.5 average at the venue. This time, he plans to flip the writing and cash in on recent runs.
After Daytona slipped through his fingers, where he led to the white flag only for it to end, Hocevar bounced back at Atlanta. His Daytona bid went up in smoke when he got turned by Erik Jones entering Turn 1 and smacked the outside wall. Atlanta at least put wind back in his sails, and now he wants to carry that push into road courses.
Hocevar said, “Our guys on the No. 77 team have done a great job this year building us fast Camaros, and I don’t see that changing this week. Of all the road courses, this is definitely the one that has been the most challenging for me.
Addressing his P4 qualifying run at COTA last year, Hocevar added, “We always qualify well on road courses. The goal for Sunday is to keep it on the asphalt and not make mistakes. If we can keep it clean, we’ll maximize our day and come out of the weekend with a solid points day.”
And when Hocevar talks about steering clear of “mistakes,” it could mean keeping things tidy and not lighting the same fuse he did in Atlanta that sent Bell spinning and invited a lot of warnings from the fellow drivers and veterans, including Denny Hamlin and Dale Earnhardt Jr.
Then again, Hocevar has never been one to tiptoe. So, it may simply mean staying out of the blast zone himself while still racing with elbows out when the chips are down.
