“I’m very creative in the race car.” Indeed, Carson Hocevar’s words hold true to his actions. Foremost among his creative pursuits is his aggressive tendency. Ranging from wrecking himself and Corey Heim in the 2023 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series championship to ramming into Harrison Burton in Nashville last year, Hocevar’s antics are endless. However, the young racer also has creative tricks up his sleeve.
We see glimpses of that sometimes in the NASCAR Cup Series. Be it a spectacular 11th-place result as a fill-in driver for Noah Gragson in 2023 or a career-best runner-up finish this year in Atlanta, Carson Hocevar has performed well. He plans to do the same in the upcoming Homestead-Miami race with a secret trick. But a NASCAR insider may have ruined it for him.
During the 2023 Truck playoff race at Homestead-Miami Speedway, Carson Hocevar soared to victory. He put his No. 23 Niece Motorsports truck in the Championship 4, but the path to this success was also interesting. Hocevar occupied the lead spot with 11 laps to go, fending off a hard-charging Zane Smith. He persisted in his line of control until the checkered flag waved, finishing 2.705 seconds ahead of the 2022 Truck champion.
What stood out in this run to Victory Lane was the strategy Hocevar used. He explained it to journalist Jeff Gluck in 2024: “I had a weird line at Homestead that I did in the trucks (in 2023), and it worked. We won the race. But nobody in the (Cup) field ran it. Everybody ran against the fence.”
Yet as core NASCAR works, drivers emulate or copy styles of racing from their peers. Tyler Reddick, the 2024 Homestead playoff race winner, apparently copied Carson Hocevar’s 2023 Homestead strategy. Jeff Gluck recounted the same in an interview with Eric Estepp. “He was happy because he wanted to save this line for when it was going to count. So he sits on it for 365 days, comes back, finishes top-ten in both stages, finishes top-ten in the race. He said like, Reddick was the first one to start copying his line last year.” Gluck added a bit of insight about what this mysterious line is: “It’s an unconventional line – I think it’s just sort of a middle line, not on the wall.”
Carson Hocevar
However, interesting as this sounds, Gluck’s words may upset Carson Hocevar. The Spire Motorsports driver already got ticked off when the journalist broached the topic in Las Vegas. Jeff Gluck continued: “I walk up to him in Vegas and say, ‘So, Homestead’ – he said, ‘You mother——…I was like, if it’s going to bother you that much, I’ll not write about it for a week. He’s like, No, I think everybody is smart enough to figure it out. The Hocevar line is something people will pay attention to. I’d think that he would even get a top-ten based on that everybody does the same thing he does. It’s a copycat sport now with SMT. Yeah, he should be a contender.”
Regardless of whether it’s his racing line, Spire Motorsports Jeff Dickerson is fully supporting his driver, as per Hocevar. “I called Jeff Dickerson (co-owner of Spire Motorsports) right after Daytona, on Monday, and I said, ‘Hey man, like, what do you think I should do?’ And he’s like, ‘Well, just ride, do what you normally do.’ And I said, ‘I think I’m just gonna go race and I’m just gonna go see what happens.”
Evidently, Carson Hocevar’s Homestead strategy is now out in public. Despite that, the angry young driver of the No. 71 may still be in contention.
Hocevar is unfazed by the ensuing storms
We were barely two races into the 2025 and Carson Hocevar ran into controversy. During the Ambetter Health 400 race, Hocevar ticked off three veteran Cup Series drivers. Kyle Busch faced his aggressive moves, and did not mince his words: “I don’t care if I wreck the whole f—— field, I’m over him. He’s a f—— douchebag. I’m going to wreck his a–.” Ross Chastain also fell prey and refused to shake Hocevar’s hand when he confronted him on pit road. The Spire driver also spun out Ryan Blaney on lap 235, facing a stream of harsh words from the Team Penske driver as well. Despite the amount of criticism he has drummed up among his peers, Hocevar does not flinch from his goal.
Carson Hocevar clinched a runner-up spot in Atlanta, and he asserted that his relentless tendency is what got him there. “There’s a few things that I probably need to clean up on, but normally, I’m riding 38th and trying to put myself in decent spots just finishing. So, this is the first time I’ve ever really been up front, especially a superspeedway, pushing and doing everything.”
This shows the iron resolve with which the Spire driver is going through the 2025 season. So even if his trade secrets are out, Hocevar may very well perform in Homestead-Miami. That is because he does not get rattled by his rivals: “We’re here to win races, not be a boy band and love each other, you know, and play on the playground together.”
As we inch closer to the Straight Talk Wireless 400 race, Carson Hocevar may be rolling up his sleeves. Let us see how well he can surprise us this weekend.
The post “It’s a Copycat Sport” – NASCAR Insider Leaks Homestead Dark Horse’s Secret Move Compromising His Run appeared first on EssentiallySports.