Bristol, Tenn. – The NASCAR Cup Series Round of 16 cutoff race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday (Sept. 13) saw tire wear reminiscent of the spring race there in 2024.
In the ’24 edition, the veterans rose to the top. But while playoff driver Christopher Bell was victorious, Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith were among the drivers chasing their first career win at the 0.533-mile Tennessee short track.
The pair restarted on the front row with just four laps remaining in the 500-lap event, with Smith on the inside and Hocevar on the outside. Unfortunately for both, neither prevailed.
Smith finished third for his first top-five result of the season. On old tires, Hocevar lost a few more positions, winding up seventh. He picked up his eighth top 10 of the season and second in the past three races.
“Yeah, it was a good race for us,” Smith said post-race. “Car was good. That was fun just managing tires and a lot going on. Especially after 30 laps, just everyone pays their penalty for trying to go hard there.
“But yeah, with that said, just proud of the effort. How we executed strategy and in the end there with five to go, we’re all going for it. So, track’s marbled up, slipping and sliding around and I don’t know how many laps I had on my left-side tires. But, yeah, just trying to get my first Cup win. And it didn’t work out.”
It was a promising night from the jump for the Californian. After starting 24th, Smith ran inside the top 10 for the vast majority of the 500-lap race. He finished fifth in stage one, ninth in stage two and also led five laps. It was his best performance all season, with a season-high number of points earned to show for it.
“It’s big,” Smith said of the result. “Especially in the playoffs. There’s a lot of these guys bringing their best stuff. And if it stays green there, we’re in a really good position to get my first Cup win (and) this 38 team’s first Cup (win).
“Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. We tried to make the most out of lining up on the bottom there. Yeah, chased it, just needed a little more.
“It was fun. It kind of brought back, like, short track days. Just tire management, yeah, those races are fun. Just didn’t expect it to be quite this much, but this whole team, Ryan Bergenty, did a great job on strategy. Letting me know on lap times that I needed to run. Yeah, it was just a good run by the whole team.”
A few minutes after the checkered flag flew, Smith had no regrets about his final restart attempt.
“I feel like I launched honestly as good or better than anyone I saw tonight,” he stated. “Yeah, trying to get to the lead.”
On the opposite end of the final restart, Hocevar led 26 laps and may have been on the winning strategy had a caution not flown in the race’s closing stages. The Spire Motorsports star was on fresher tires and chasing down then-leader Brad Keselowski when the yellow flag was displayed.
With no sticker tires remaining in the pits, Hocevar stayed out. That left him a sitting duck for the final four-lap shootout. This marked the 12th time he’s led laps in a race, but once again the promising run didn’t end in victory lane.
“Yeah, I mean, there’s nothing we could’ve done,” he told Frontstretch. “The winning strategy was if that stays green. We were out of tires, so we had to try, especially from the lead.
“I tried to stay side by side just to get a ‘Clear off [turn] 2′ and not, like, too far out. Just try to stack everybody up. If I could get squared up off [turn] 2. Hopefully, the 38 and 48 would hold ’em up. (But the) 20 just got inside right away. Yeah, that’s all she wrote.”
In his sophomore Cup season, Hocevar was one of many surprised by the tire wear on Saturday night. While he wants to see some tire wear, the Michigander doesn’t want it to be to the level that unfolded tonight.
“I mean, I miss running the top,” Hocevar said. “It would be nice if we could get tire wear where we could. Where it’s not like a lottery as much, and we could still go run the top. I enjoy running the top here, and you get to move around. It eliminates some of the bumper-tag cautions.
“But it was nice not complaining about dirty air. So, there’s a bright side to everything.”
Smith and Hocevar will have seven more opportunities to capture their first triumph in Cup this season.
Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site's ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.