Carson Hocevar is so close, yet so far. He took the lead on the white flag at Daytona, but a last-lap heartbreak sent him to 18th. The 4th-place Atlanta finish was some consolation, but post that, he’s just not able to get that form he’s looking for. Therefore, it was only natural that after a poor show in qualifying at Las Vegas, the Spire driver wasn’t in the highest spirits.

Carson Hocevar not satisfied with his start to Vegas weekend

On Saturday, Christopher Bell took the pole for the Las Vegas Cup race. While Bell was joyous, Carson Hocevar was left frustrated. He managed 19th place start on the grid for Sunday, leaving a lot of gap to be covered. When asked about how he intends to bridge that gap, Hocevar said:

“At the end of practice we were pretty good, just didn’t qualify or when you practice that bad you’re probably going to be pretty timid and qualified and that’s kind of what happened.”

He claimed that the sim session wasn’t ‘very good’ and the car has been ‘a handful’ to drive for him. As for whether his teammates, Michael McDowell and Daniel Suarez fighting the same issues as him, Carson Hocevar mentioned that while Suarez seems to be running a better lap than him, he also faced similar issues in practice.

It’s worth mentioning that Hocevar is currently sitting 14th in the points table. His teammates, Daniel Suarez and Michael McDowell, are in 17th and 8th place, respectively. While Hocevar qualified in 19th, Suarez managed a 13th and McDowell a 30th-place spot for the race.

Hocevar was handed a major reward by Spire

Even though Carson Hocevar hasn’t won at the Cup level yet in his three seasons so far, Spire Motorsports continues to believe in his potential. This was evident earlier this year when Hocevar was announced to have signed a contract extension ‘into the next decade.’

Speaking after the announcement, Jeff Dickerson of Spire claimed it has been ‘an absolutely rewarding’ experience for him to see Hocevar grow and learn from both good and bad on and off the racetrack.

“I love him like a son and it means a great deal to me, personally, knowing he’ll be here for several years,” he claimed.

Dickerson joked that the contract extension announcement could test his blood pressure medication’s effectiveness. But he mentioned it’ll be worth it. Spire’s faith in him also reassured Hocevar in how much faith he and his team have in each other on racing together for a long period of time.

“Everyone in the building has really become a family to me. Spire is such a different team now compared to how it was my rookie season, and especially when I made my debut in 2023,” he claimed. He added that it has been to know that he’ll be a regular name in the Cup garage thanks to Spire, which he called ‘a dream come true.’

But do you think Hocevar will taste high levels of success in NASCAR in the future? Let us know in the comments below.