Carson Hocevar Eyes Iconic Racing Memorabilia Putting New Spin to NASCAR Collector’s Definition

For years, NASCAR fans have celebrated the sport’s history through static displays and memorabilia. From Dale Earnhardt’s iconic black No. 3 Chevrolet to Jeff Gordon’s rainbow-colored Monte Carlo, there’ve been some stunners. The cars themselves remain powerful cultural artifacts. Some of these cars end up in the NASCAR Hall of Fame, while others gather dust in private collections, rarely seen on the road again. Yet few drivers have taken an active role in bringing that history back to life, until now.

22-year-old Carson Hocevar has been working hard towards his own collection. Competing full-time in the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Spire Motorsports, Hocevar has quickly become known for his aggressive style on track and his outspoken presence off it. Beyond the checkered flags and points standings, however, he has carved out a reputation for surprising fans in unexpected ways. His recent appearance in a Dale Earnhardt-inspired Chevrolet Silverado, purchased for $19,850 off Facebook Marketplace, demonstrated how relics of NASCAR’s golden eras could still connect fans to the present. And after taking a ride in the Silverado, Hocevar’s ambitions to expand his collection are only set to rise.

Carson Hocevar is redefining being a NASCAR collector

When asked about his growing interest in these iconic cars, Hocevar admitted that his searches had moved beyond just impulse finds on social media. “I get DMs all the time now from people with cars,” Hocevar said when recalling the offers that come his way. One of the cars that caught his eye that he wished to add to his collection was tied to a fan favorite. “One I was looking at isn’t actually for sale, but the guy had a Kasey Kahne Cup car, and I thought that would be pretty cool to have.” His choice of a Kahne machine, symbolic of Hendrick Motorsports’ dominance in the 2000s, shows how Hocevar’s collection is not random. It is carefully rooted in moments that defined eras of NASCAR.

Yet Hocevar is not content with just one model. He outlined the scope of his ambition with remarkable clarity. “I’ve already got the Oldsmobile, and I’m trying to collect all the others, the Oldsmobile, the Monte Carlo, the Lumina, and hopefully the COT next,” he explained. Each car represents a piece of NASCAR’s lineage. The Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme defined the late 1980s, the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Lumina ruled the 1990s, and the Car of Tomorrow arrived in 2007 to improve safety standards. The variety illustrates Hocevar’s attempt to piece together a rolling museum. It is his way of honoring history, not through glass displays but through horsepower. His next step, he admits, is practical. “But I’ve got to build a shop first.”

What sets this pursuit apart, though, is not the models themselves but the way Hocevar plans to treat them, as he doesn’t plan on going the conventional route. “What’s most fun is that any car I get, I’m going to drive. They’re not just going to sit on a shelf and collect dust so people can take pictures,” he declared. This philosophy inverts the usual definition of a collector. He wants to actually live them and add life to them, too. He wants the fans to still encounter these legends of the past, roaring down highways or turning heads at a gas station, and not just spend their lives inside a collection room.

For NASCAR, this signals an intriguing future. If younger drivers like Hocevar begin to value history not just as display pieces but as functional machines, the sport’s heritage may become more visible and more accessible to new audiences. Meanwhile, coming back to his racing, Hocevar downplayed a recent controversy he initiated against Hendrick Motorsports stemming from the Darlington race.

Hocevar shrugs off contact

Carson Hocevar entered the weekend at World Wide Technology Raceway as a driver under fresh scrutiny after contact with Chase Elliott’s No. 9 at the Cook Out Southern 500 drew attention. The incident surfaced amid playoff-level intensity and immediate fan and media commentary. But Hocevar has framed the episode as part of the sport’s normal ebb and flow, taking a step back on his initial outrage.

During the race, he laid out an expletive when Elliott dropped low, hunting space and tagged him, spinning him out. He said, “F–k him… I don’t care who he drives for.” This jab was not only at Elliott but also at team Hendrick, which powers the No. 77 runs Hendrick-provided Chevrolet powerplants as part of the technical alliance forged in 2022.

An internal team talk in the hierarchy changed things as Hocevar now tried to downplay the incident, saying, “Yeah, I mean you just move on. It was super early. It didn’t affect either one of us I don’t think too bad. You just move on.” He used the moment to discard lasting consequences and emphasize that incidents so early in a race often resolve themselves without long-term damage to either competitor.

Hocevar also explained the mechanics of those in-race decisions with the same plainspoken clarity. “One thinks you’re going to give a little bit of extra room, and the other you’re trying to kind of play a pick. I think that’s just racing.” His answer reframed the exchange as situational rather than personal, signaling a preference for focus and composure as the season tightens.