Carson Hocevar will move up to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2024, driving the No. 77 for Spire Motorsports in a multi-year deal, he announced on NASCAR Race Hub on Tuesday, Oct. 10.
Hocevar will replace Ty Dillon, the current occupant of the No. 77. He joins Corey LaJoie and Zane Smith to round out Spire’s 2024 Cup Series roster.
“It’s super cool,” Hocevar said NASCAR Race Hub. “Super proud to be a part of this team and already have the growth that’s there. [Spire is] doing a lot on the back end that is just making me that [much] more excited to walk into that building next year and see the beautiful shop that they’ll have, let alone all the great faces that are there that are prepared to work on really good race cars.”
Hocevar is in his third full-time NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series season with Niece Motorsports. 2023 has been a breakout year for the 20-year-old, finally earning his first career win at Texas Motor Speedway. He tacked on two more wins at Nashville Superspeedway and Richmond Raceway. He is currently second in points, 23 points above the cutline to make the Championship 4 race at Phoenix Raceway with just one race remaining in the Round of 8.
Hocevar also ran a part-time Xfinity Series schedule this season with both SS-Green Light Racing and Spire, where he’s earned two top-10s in five starts. The Portage, Mich. native also made his first career Cup start at World Wide Technology Raceway in June, driving Spire’s No. 7 in place of LaJoie, who was filling in for a suspended Chase Elliott at Hendrick Motorsports.
Afterward, Hocevar became the permanent replacement for Noah Gragson in the No. 42 Cup ride at Legacy Motor Club beginning at the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway (except for the Charlotte Motor Speedway ROVAL, where Mike Rockenfeller drove the car). In his six Cup starts, he has a best finish of 11th at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Meanwhile, Spire has quickly expanded its operations for 2024, first buying Live Fast Motorsports’ charter to allow Smith to also move up from the Truck Series and join the team in a partnership with Trackhouse Racing in 2024.
Spire then purchased the assets of Kyle Busch Motorsports’ Truck Series team (hence the “beautiful shop” Hocevar referenced) and will relocate to Mooresville from its current shop in Concord at the end of 2023.
About the author
Anthony Damcott joined Frontstretch in March 2022. Currently, he is an editor and co-authors Fire on Fridays (Fridays); he is also the primary Truck Series reporter/writer and secondary short track writer. He also serves as an at-track reporter and assists with social media when he can. A proud West Virginia Wesleyan College alum from Akron, Ohio, Anthony is now a grad student. He is a theatre actor and fight-choreographer-in-training in his free time.
You can keep up with Anthony by following @AnthonyDamcott on X.
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Spire is going for it. All the best to them. This move is definitely a move very much needed.
Looks like Spire didn’t want to Ty one on!
Lmao wonder where Grandpa will put him next . Austin used to be a better driver but that ugly chick changed that.