The day wasn’t exactly a walk in the park for most drivers, particularly those who found themselves in second place at some point. However, for the young Carson Hocevar, it turned out to be a standout day. He snagged his first career top-10 finish in the NASCAR Cup Series at Texas Motor Speedway, and he did it with style, bouncing back from a spin and finishing P10 as the race came to a premature close. Piloting the #77, he fought his way back up the pack, and when the final caution flew, sealing the race’s end, he was sitting pretty in a good spot—a commendable achievement in just his 18th Cup Series start. Hocevar even shared a bit about his game plan that helped him break into the top 10 of this race.

Carson Hocevar was waiting for people to take themselves out in Texas

This Sunday showdown was marked by 16 cautions, but Hocevar navigated through the madness with a cool head. In his post-race interview, he mentioned that despite having the speed to be solidly in the top 15, a spin threw a wrench in the works, making his car less than perfect. “It was super tight and obviously with dirty air, that just compounds, but it would put ourselves in the right spot. The yellow flew our way at just the right time in a long time. Sometimes you’d rather be lucky than good, but we still had to have a good race car to race with, once we got a little bit cleaner air,” he explained.

Jeff Gluck also highlighted Hocevar’s approach in a recent video on Dirty Mo Media. Iterating that perhaps he could’ve finished better than he did at Texas, Hocevar revealed a bit of his race-day insight, saying, “I could have done even better. Afterward, I realized if I just… you know, let other people take themselves out. You know, and he said that’s why I did today. I just stayed on the low line and sometimes I had to be more conservative and give stuff up. Just let people have the high line, but I was there at the end because I didn’t put myself in any of the situations.”

Carson Hocevar was probably stoked to hit the Texas track again, the same spot where he bagged his first win in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series back in 2023. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing this time around for the rookie. Early on, during the second stage, he had a tough time with the notorious first and second turns, slipping out of the racing line. Things heated up even more when Hocevar’s car got a bit wobbly going into a corner—looks like he might’ve gotten nudged—and ended up spinning. Luckily, he pulled off a slick save, avoiding any wall contact, and stayed in the game. Eventually, the driver managed to rally back and wrap up the stage in P16.

When the race stretched into a couple of nail-biting overtime restarts, Hocevar grabbed the chance and sprinted to a top-ten finish. With that move, he edged past Josh Berry to nab the lead in the rookie points chase.

#77 is riding high at the top of the rookie leaderboard right now

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Sitting pretty with 152 points, Hocevar is leading the pack in the Sunoco Rookie of the Year race, leaving Josh Berry trailing with 130 points. Kaz Grala and Zane Smith are further down the list with 92 and 72 points, respectively. Next up for Hocevar is the GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, where he’s aiming to improve on last fall’s showing. Back then, he ended up 35th after getting caught in a late-race crash while driving for Legacy Motor Club.

Post-Texas, Hocevar has climbed to 22nd in the standings, gaining three spots, while Berry has slipped three places to 26th. As for Grala and Smith, they are hanging back in the 33rd and 35th spots, respectively.

Notably, after Richmond, Berry had briefly overtaken Hocevar. Richmond proved a rollercoaster for Berry, who spent most of the race in promising positions until a disastrously long pit stop and a subsequent mishap dropped him to 11th. Not the night he hoped for, but it still pushed him five spots up the points table.

Meanwhile, Hocevar’s maturity, once questioned, isn’t on the table this year. He’s knuckling down, determined to earn the respect of his peers in the garage. Last year, he managed to pull off several top-20 finishes in what many considered subpar equipment at Legacy Motor Club—a feat nobody else seemed to manage in that #42 Chevy. Now, in his own ride, he’s continuing to build on that foundation, proving he’s here to stay and compete.