After an enthralling Daytona Speedweek, all eyes are on Atlanta. As NASCAR fans shift their focus to the second race of the season, Carson Hocevar is a driver to watch. This is especially after he led the white flag and was so close to sealing the win at Daytona. Now, at the EchoPark Speedway, he is planning to shed all safety and go all-offense, something that was close but couldn’t work for him at Daytona.

Hocevar all set for Daytona redemption at Atlanta

In a recent interview with PRN Live on X, the Spire Motorsports driver shared his thoughts on the upcoming Autotrader 400 at the EchoPark Speedway. Prior to the race, the #77 driver said he would resort to aggressive moves to extract results at the track, known for its narrow and tight drafting, despite being a superspeedway.

“You just have to make moves. All offense. All offense,” Hocevar said. “You can’t just pull out by yourself at Daytona or Talladega. Like, you can’t just make a move all by yourself. Atlanta, you can. It reminds me of 2000s, bumpy Daytona, like watching it as a kid. Or not watching it as a kid, I wasn’t born.”

Following this, the Spire star took a trip down memory lane and reflected on how he used to enjoy watching races at Daytona back in the 2000s. Even though he could not race at the time, Hocevar wants to live his childhood dream by racing at Atlanta instead.

“But like, going back and re-watching it all the time, right? I live watching those races and am jealous I never got to race those type of super speedways. So Atlanta, I’m more so just living out a childhood dream of being able to race bumpy Daytona. So I’m just having fun with it and it works well perfectly for me,” Hocevar further added.

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Notably, Carson Hocevar’s outing at the Daytona 500 was an underwhelming one, especially given how he performed throughout the Daytona Speedweek. Having started his race in sixth place, the #77 driver went on to finish the first stage in fourth place.

However, he lost places in Stage 2 but he made a strong comeback to lead the race on the white flag. Unfortunately, he spun in Turn 1 and lost the lead, taking Erik Jones and Michael McDowell along with him.

With Daytona being in the past now, all eyes are on Atlanta, and Hocevar would want to maximize his chances. For this, the 23-year-old driver from Michigan would need to prepare himself for the 28-degree banking turn, but with barely 40 metres wide.

This brings in high-intensity drafting in tight corners, where drivers can only see 3 to 4 car lengths ahead in turns, making visibility difficult. This is something the #77 star needs to take care of at Atlanta, and avoid a situation like Daytona.

Carson Hocevar reflects on his Daytona disaster

Following the conclusion of the Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway last weekend, Carson Hocevar looked back at his crash nearing the end of the race. While leading the race, Hocevar crashed in the last lap trying to defend his lead.

“I was trying to pick which lane to cover,” Hocevar said after the race. It just looked like the top had a huge run, and it was probably offset a little right. I don’t know if I didn’t commit all the way up, or if he just got me off-center, and it just hooked me into the wall, and then obviously I bounced off of it.”

Nearing the last lap, Hocevar and Erik Jones were jockeying for position when Jones hit Hocevar slightly off-center. As a result, the Spire Motorsports star lost control, tagged his teammate, Michael McDowell, and subsequently hit the wall.

As a result, Hocevar’s brilliant outing came to an unfortunate end. In the end, Tyler Reddick won the race ahead of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Joey Logano.