Spire Motorsports got a boost this year, but it wasn’t because of the team’s older crowd. Corey LaJoie spent most of his races outside the top 30, and Zane Smith was the same except for a few sparks (in Nashville and Watkins Glen). The maximum talent glittered in their rookie, Carson Hocevar. While the 21-year-old may have triggered a few with his on-track antics – or even his campaign for the All-Star Fan Vote – he gave Spire Motorsports their only first-place honor of the season…

The Rookie of the Year award. Having been in a back-and-forth battle with Josh Berry the entire season, Hocevar did not disappoint in his first full-time Cup entry. He clinched 6 top 10s and 1 top 5, and an average finish of 18.3, besting Berry by 107 points in the battle, while teammate Zane Smith was 181 points back in third.

Hocevar wrung out a new purpose from the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro. Between 2019 and 2023, Spire’s No. 77 had only earned 5 top-10 finishes in its history. By Watkins Glen, Hocevar matched that mark and then crossed it with a 9th-place finish at Homestead. At the end of the season, he was 21st in the points, just below two-time Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, and far ahead of his Spire teammates. Maybe this superior performance was what prompted Kyle Petty to name Hocevar as next year’s ‘Dark Horse.’

In an appearance on GoPRNLive, Petty unequivocally put his finger on a rising and thriving Carson Hocevar. According to him, although Spire Motorsports may not be a championship threat, its young racer will set a golden standard. He said, “Now, this team’s not going to win the championship. But this team is going to become a factor and possibly win a race or two as a team… Spire Motorsports and Carson Hocevar. I think Hocevar is going to make the playoffs. Michael McDowell’s going there, I think he’ll help him.” 

The best part is that the 21-year-old is just as inclined to make it big next season. Revealing that he and his team approached the last 10 races of the season as if they were fighting for the title, he said, “We kind of looked at this Playoffs as if we were in it. Let’s hold ourselves accountable. If we want to be a playoff car, you can’t just show up next year and be like, ‘Alright. Now, we’re going to learn to race in the Playoffs.’ You’ve got to show up and hold yourself to that standard.” 

When Trackhouse Racing first appeared on the scene, it also propelled itself forward with the help of Ross Chastain. Besides making the playoffs in 2022 and 2023, we all remember Chastain’s iconic ‘Hail Melon’ move in Martinsville last year. So Kyle Petty compared Carson Hocevar to him: “I think the team, the organization, will establish itself at the sharp end of the stick a little bit. Not on a consistent basis like a Gibbs or a Hendrick… But there’s going to be a new player, just like we saw with Trackhouse.” 

Coming back to the Rookie of the Year, the moment this young speedster entered the Cup Series, he left a mark. Carson Hocevar replaced Corey LaJoie in wheeling the No. 7 Chevy at Gateway last year. After starting 26th, he quickly charged ahead and ran inside the top 15. Although his brake rotor exploded and ended his race, he had more races to further prove he belongs in the premier class of NASCAR. He drove for Legacy Motor Club in four races, with his best finish being 11th at Bristol.

For Hocevar, who had 1 top 5 and 6 top 10 finishes this season, Homestead was his best run—he mingled with championship players all day long in the top 10 and finished 9th. So after Phoenix, Hocevar reflected on a fruitful year: “I’d say Homestead was our best race. Having a shot to win, Watkins Glen probably is going to be something I remember for a long time.” He started 29th and finished 3rd. “I think we put ourselves in the next caliber.” And he did so even if it meant going against a basic habit.

Even Carson Hocevar is ready to change himself

Ever since the Spire Motorsports rookie scripted his first NASCAR entry, Carson Hocevar made a mark with his on-track personality. “I feel comfortable really being aggressive,” he admitted after a Talladega race last year.

• Hocevar also made a mark during the Craftsman Truck Series championship last year, as he spun out Corey Heim and lost his shot at the Final Four berth as well.
• Similarly, Hocevar spun out Harrison Burton under caution in a retaliatory move in Nashville. For that, NASCAR slapped a heavy $50,000 penalty and a 50-point redux on him. Yet after spending a year at NASCAR’s highest level, Hocevar is realizing that a more pacified approach is better.

Growing up, he had made a pact to himself about racing his competitors as hard as he could. But that is changing now: “For me, I was breaking my own childhood promise to myself that if I got there I would race exactly how I would want to watch them on TV. But there’s limits to that. It’s just being able to balance that more. They’ve got to get comfortable around me too, and I feel like I have the respect of others, but it’s a different type of respect.”

He added, “It’s just being able to do that 36 weekends in a row and not have the one or two ‘Oh, that was a rough day’ or ‘That was a dumb decision-making day’ or ‘That was a self-destruction day.’ It’s just minimizing those and having a full year.” Evidently, Carson Hocevar is on a fast-track journey of growth. The 2025 Cup season is over two months away, but we cannot wait to see what tricks the Spire driver will have in store.