Carson Hocevar’s hard driving has attracted a great deal of negative attention. NASCAR veteran Kevin Harvick went so far as to accuse Hocevar of “antagonizing most drivers” with his aggressive moves. But Hocevar, calm, dug in. That impetuousness was on full display at Talladega, where he sliced through a group that saw intense clashes, including Cindric and Preece’s side-by-side duel on lap 186 and William Byron’s attack on Kyle Larson on lap 174. The four cautions in the race, for a total of 22 laps, only added to the suspense, as drivers like Joey Logano and Zane Smith traded the lead back and forth in a frantic dance.

The Talladega Superspeedway this April 2025 was a storm center of chaos, with 23 drivers swapping the lead a total of 65 times over 188 edge-of-your-seat laps. Hocevar, the 22-year-old NASCAR Cup Series competitor with a reputation for being up to no good, was dead in the center of it, leading the field late in the race and fighting through a tempest of woe. A terrifying pit road crash with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s protégé, Josh Berry, almost ruined his day, but Hocevar’s attention stayed on the heroics of his pit crew. Their speed and precision kept him in the hunt in a race won by Austin Cindric by passing Ryan Preece by a mere 0.022 seconds in a photo-finish thriller.

Carson Hocevar hails the real heroes in his team

The lap 172 pit road fright was a gut-wrenching experience. As several drivers, including Berry, Kyle Busch, and Chase Elliott, pitted under green, Berry’s No. 21 Ford went too far into its pit and struck Hocevar’s tire carrier, sending the crew member rolling across the pavement. He escaped without injury. Berry, shaken, took full responsibility. The wreck, combined with Busch’s speeding penalty on pit road during the same stop, sparked heated discussion on social media about pit road safety. Some fans demanded even tighter procedures, but others complimented the crew member’s grit. Hocevar’s crew, however, was laser-sharp, having already shown their mettle on lap 164 when Hocevar came out of pit road first, ahead of such monster names as Ty Gibbs, Denny Hamlin, and Bubba Wallace.

Looking back on the race, Hocevar’s team pride was apparent. “Yeah, I mean, I don’t know, were we leading? We were leading the pack. Yeah, I thought that was a good play,” he said, recalling his time at the front around lap 115, when he briefly held the lead before Logano challenged. “Ultimately, coming with them, right, if the yellow comes out, you cycle the lead against the guys. Yeah, we knew, you know, we were able to execute really well on pit road. That was really big for us. Our pit crew did a really good job. Everybody did a phenomenal job. We had to change our element and do a lot of things and fight through a lot of adversity.” 

He added further, “A package that’s really difficult to pass. I felt like we were able to put ourselves up front, and that was being on pit road and really executing and coming off first off line. Yeah, it was a lot of fun to know that was an opportunity there. It just didn’t quite work out, obviously, with no yellow, but it was still a really solid points day that we really needed.” His words capture the race’s relentless pace—by lap 155, 54 lead changes had already unfolded, with drivers like Ty Gibbs and Chase Briscoe trading the top spot in a dizzying blur.

A late-race skirmish with Ross Chastain on lap 185, as the field jostled for position, added more drama. Hocevar, caught in the middle of a three-wide battle, kept his cool. “I mean everybody’s just trying to block lanes and just try to stall out, and I saw a quick hole and just filled middle, so I mean that’s just part of racing,” he said. “Just Ross (Chastain), I think, was just trying to get side-by-side with another car. Just good racing.” His reserved reply masked the magnitude of the situation, as Cindric, Preece, and Byron fought for the top spot right in front of him. Carson Hocevar’s position in Stage 2 on lap 120 behind Wallace, Logano, Kyle Larson, and Cindric was a testament to the strategy of his team, particularly after a helmet change in a lap 66 pit stop under caution.

Dubbed as NASCAR’s “next villain,” his performance at Talladega showed a driver maturing under pressure. He’s already mulling ways to shake up the sport, perhaps with protests for change. For now, though, his gratitude is for his crew, who navigated a race where pit strategy was king—evidenced by Preece’s lap 171 pit stop, exiting first, and Briscoe’s fuel-only gamble on lap 123. At Talladega, where every lap is a gamble, that’s a victory worth celebrating.

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Carson Hocevar has a craving for nostalgic NASCAR

NASCAR’s thunder still shakes the ground, but the spark’s fading. The engines scream, tires burn, yet the grandstands sit half-empty. Fans squint at their TVs, chasing the thrill that used to hit like lightning. Something’s off, and it’s not just nostalgia.

The rising star at Spire Motorsports laid it bare after Jeff Gluck’s post on April 26. Gluck shared a memory of the 2004 Talladega race—Jeff Gordon’s win, fans going wild, every moment electric. “I can remember races like this one so clearly, but struggle with recalling specifics from more recent ones,” Gluck wrote. “Everything seemed like a HUGE deal back then, but (I) can’t really put my finger on why it feels that way. Anyone else? Is it just nostalgia?”

Hocevar didn’t hold back. “Social media and just the fact there isn’t much left that leaves you saying, ‘First time ever seeing something like that, ’” he replied. He’s right. Races today feel repetitive—same drama, same storylines, drowned in sponsor plugs and staged cautions. The next-gen cars, slower and too similar, strip away the raw, unpredictable edge that made Dale Earnhardt and Gordon legends.

Back then, NASCAR was dangerous, alive, and unforgettable. Now, it’s polished, predictable, fighting for attention against Netflix and every other sport. Stage racing and format tweaks haven’t recaptured the magic. TV ratings hold steady, but empty seats and fading fan passion tell the real story.

Carson Hocevar’s not just a rookie stirring the pot. He’s a driver who loves racing, begging NASCAR to listen before the soul of Talladega nights slips away for good. The engines still roar, but the heart of NASCAR? It’s stuck in the rearview, and we’re all aching for it to catch up.