Top Dog: Carson Hocevar
Since his rather conspicuous arrival on the NASCAR Cup Series stage, Carson Hocevar has enthralled fans with his arsenal of talent, a personality that floats between nonchalant and flamboyant, and entertaining Twitch streams of iRacing adventures.
Unafraid to push the boundaries — and on many occasions, cross those boundaries according to other drivers’ expectations — Hocevar has crafted himself to become one of the most exciting drivers for fans to follow.
The only thing that is missing from potentially opening the floodgates? Winning a Cup race.
It was a year ago that Hocevar was arguably a few feet from finding that missing piece by winning at EchoPark Speedway (formerly known as Atlanta Motor Speedway). Instead, Hocevar faced the music of bitter defeat after a caution had Christopher Bell ahead of him at the time of the yellow, ironically, right as Hocevar was going for the winning blow.
One year and several heartbreaks later, Hocevar returned to the site of his closest miss on victory with the gold in sight at the Autotrader 400 (Feb. 22). Despite a few more bumps in the road this go around, the Spire Motorsports driver found himself in position to challenge for the win yet again.
Yet, similar to last year, the conclusion only spelled heartbreak, as Hocevar watched from fourth as Tyler Reddick sped to his second consecutive victory.
The Climb To the Top
One day removed from a runner-up finish in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, Hocevar entered Atlanta as both an underdog and prominent pick to win.
Starting in 15th, Hocevar immediately made noise inside the top 10 before incurring a major setback on lap 31 when his No. 77 suffered a flat tire and scraped the wall. The third-year Cup driver lost two laps as a result.
With minimal damage from the tire failure, Hocevar quickly received a free pass at the end of stage one, then received another on lap 82 to get right back in the race.
The good news for Hocevar was bad news for the field, as the speedy phenom carved his way through the field, reaching sixth by the conclusion of stage two to earn five valuable stage points.
As the intensity skyrocketed on one of NASCAR’s most kinetic venues, Hocevar dodged the first major pile-up on lap 224 before unintentionally getting caught up in some more chaos.
On lap 238, Hocevar and Joey Logano came together exiting turn 4, sending Logano’s No. 22 spinning through the infield while Hocevar escaped without damage.
It seemed as though the Portage, Mich. native had nine lives, and that motivated him to pounce in the closing laps, surging into the top five with under 20 laps to go. As the field approached five laps remaining, Hocevar made a move on Bubba Wallace to go for the lead before another stack-up occurred on the backstretch to render a red flag.
On the first overtime attempt, the “go big or go home” approach that Hocevar possesses at times was unleashed, as Hocevar attempted to slice the middle of race leaders Wallace and Bell. However, the hole quickly closed, causing Hocevar to hook Bell into the outside wall.
Despite the contact, Hocevar advanced to the front row for the final restart, getting a much cleaner restart with help from Ross Chastain. Just like a year ago, the 23-year-old parted the seas through the middle to go for the lead, engaging in a heated side-by-side sprint with Reddick.
Unfortunately for Hocevar, manufacturer games went against him, as Chase Briscoe shoved Reddick to the lead while Hocevar slid to the back end of the top five. Ultimately crossing the line in fourth, NASCAR’s rising star went from “Hurricane Hocevar” to “Heartbreak Hocevar” once again.
Looking Ahead
While Hocevar may lose sleep over what could have been, the resiliency he’s shown can also be aided by this fact — he took the white flag of the Daytona 500 as the leader, then took the white at Atlanta in a battle for the lead.
As the adage goes, every dog has its day, and at this pace, it’s only a matter of time before that is manifested for Hocevar.
It may not come next week, however, as the tour heads to Circuit of the Americas for the first road course event of the season. Hocevar’s results at the Austin, Texas track include showings of 22nd and 13th, and while he’s improving on NASCAR’s twists and turns, it will be a tall order to go out and defeat the likes of Bell, Shane van Gisbergen, and other road course aces.
However, there’s no denying the strength of the No. 77 team, and with some favorable tracks approaching on the calendar, look for Hocevar’s spotlight act to come soon.
Top Dogs of the Lower Series
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: Parker Retzlaff‘s last couple of seasons have felt like a game of musical chairs, as the 22-year-old has spent time with Jordan Anderson Racing, Alpha Prime Racing, and now, Viking Motorsports.
In each situation, Retzlaff has taken his lumps, but he also provided flashes of excellence. Immediately, he proved that at VMS, surging to a runner-up finish to match his career-best showing.
Retzlaff was no ordinary underdog, establishing himself as a threat from the drop of the green flag. In stage one, he sped to a third-place result and nabbed three more points in the second stage with an eighth-place result.
Misfortune plagued Retzlaff the past two seasons with a combined 20 DNF’s, and it looked as though the black cloud had returned when Retzlaff ended up getting a spring stuck in the nose of his car from a wreck. However, after getting the damage fixed, the Rhinelander, Wisc. native picked up where he left off, blazing to the front of the field.
On the final lap, Retzlaff was the fourth car on the outside when Chastain got into the back of race leader Austin Hill, causing cars to scurry to avoid Hill’s No. 21 sliding back onto the track. Through the chaos, Retzlaff emerged to come up one spot short of the victory.
The result was Retzlaff’s fifth-career top 10 and the best finish for VMS in its second season of full-time competition.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: While the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event was top-heavy with the powerhouse teams of the series, one particular name stuck out inside the top 15.
There are plenty of family heritages in motorsports history. Generations like the Pettys, Earnhardts, Mears and Forces are just among a few of legendary families across motorsports.
Then, there are the Andrettis, who could have a distinct category of their own. While Mario Andretti is the patriarch of the family’s racing success, descendants have dabbled in several other forms of racing.
The newest member to step into the family’s NASCAR history is Adam Andretti, the nephew of Mario and brother to the late John Andretti.
Making his NASCAR debut with TRICON Garage, Andretti didn’t disappoint, nabbing a 12th-place finish.
Initially, Andretti’s welcome to NASCAR was anything but warm, as he spun, got sideways on multiple occasions, and fell a lap down within the first stage.
However, after earning the free pass following stage two, the comfort level rose for the 46-year-old, allowing him to progress through the field and come just shy of the top 10.
Creating more history of his own, the accomplished road racer made his mark on the high-speed oval Atlanta presents, and he will get a chance to display his road course prowess in the inaugural Truck event at St. Petersburg on Saturday (Feb. 28).
Small Team Scheme of the Week
It was a chilly day in Hampton, Ga., but nothing may have been colder than Cole Custer‘s No. 41 Andy’s Frozen Custard Chevrolet.
A fan favorite look, Andy’s brought its taste of sweet treats back to Custer’s ride in one of the most fitting partnerships in the garage (hence, the nickname “Cold Custard”). Nearly similar to the design of last year, with the exception that Haas Factory Team is running Chevrolets in contrast to last year’s Fords, this scheme didn’t need much tweaking to remain one of the best on track.
Luken Glover joined the Frontstretch team in 2020 as a news writer before elevating to a columnist, where he served as the longtime writer for The Underdog House. Currently, he is an editor for the site and conducts feature interviews. Glover has covered several forms of racing for the site including NASCAR, CARS Tour, and SRX events.
A 2023 graduate of the University of the Cumberlands, Glover is a promotional writer, elementary athletic director, and basketball coach. He is passionate about serving in his church, playing/coaching a wide variety of sports, and researching motorsports history.