Earlier in the year, Carson Hocevar turned a lot of heads with his P2 finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He made the headline and perhaps ruffled a few feathers. But he made his mark and sent the message across the garage that he was here to compete. Yet he never really lived up to the hype, and in the next ten Cup starts, he only had one top 10 to show for himself. But then came the Coca-Cola 600, and the No. 77 Chevy was back on the charge, battling out with William Byron and Denny Hamlin for the lead.

Starting the race on the tail end of the field in 39th spot, Hocevar muscled his way up front. And as the lights came on at Charlotte Motor Speedway, he was seen as the contender for the win. But just when things started to look good for the Spire Motorsports driver, his engine blew up. This incident happened in the final stage as the race went green on Lap 308, starting on the front row alongside Denny Hamlin on the outside lane. His racecar stalled and caught up the cars behind him, bringing out the caution, and that was it for Hocevar. It was a gut punch for the young gun who had shown promise late in the race, and he was eager to finish the race.

Speaking to Peter Stratta after the race, Carson didn’t need a long explanation. The disappointed driver said, “Yeah, I just blew up. With no real warning. Rolling right rear to hopefully take the lead, and all of a sudden, it was full of smoke. It’s unfortunate, our car was really fast.” Just like that, his incredible charge through the field turned into a cloud of disappointment. We recently saw AJ Allmendinger lose his engine at Kansas Speedway, and this was the second incident in recent times where Chevy-powered engines gave up on the drivers during the race.

Hocevar couldn’t even react in time and had no control of the car after the engine stalled. He was going backwards while the field was charging up. A lot of cars dodged the #77, but the car made contact with Chris Buescher’s #17 car. This sent Hocevar spinning down the racetrack, where his car finally came to rest against the inside wall. What could’ve been a top 5 finish or even a shot at winning ended with a 34th place disappointment.

The 22-year-old also took to X and shared his emotions after the heartbreak at the Coca-Cola 600. “could’ve won. could’ve not. just wish we could have had an opportunity to finish that one out and see. thank you @chilis and everyone on our 77 group. ugh. need a ‘dente.” He knew that victory wasn’t assured, but he wanted to see this race through, especially after charging his way from the tail end to the front. But there are some positives that Hocevar can lean on and keep his focus to seal a playoff spot.

Carson Hocevar is making steady progress

Despite the heartbreak in Charlotte, Carson’s 2025 season has been a clear signal that this young driver is a serious contender in NASCAR’s top tier. Currently sitting at the 21st position in the driver standings, all he needs is to keep his head down and churn out consistent performances. He might get a wildcard race like the Atlanta or 600, but top 10 results and points are what he needs to focus on in the coming races. It’s not that he hasn’t been able to do that, but the final execution is missing.

He made headlines at the All-Star open at North Wilkesboro Speedway, where he led the final 46 laps to win the event and secure a spot in the All-Star race for the first time when he finished 11th in the main event. The #77 driver is not a one-time wonder. In the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, he snagged his fifth career victory at Kansas Speedway after a great battle that saw him brush the wall but still come out on top.

The average starting position of 19 and average finish position being at 23 go to show that the #77 car has the speed. Not to mention the 4 DNFs he suffered this season. With 13 regular-season races now remaining, both Carson Hocevar and Spire need to get back to work, figure out their strengths, which seem to be on the intermediate tracks, and capitalize before it is too late.