Top Dog: Carson Hocevar
After a 10th-place finish at Bristol Motor Speedway, Carson Hocevar came into Kansas Speedway on Sunday (April 19) looking to continue to boost his gap over The Chase cut line. Hocevar entered the race holding a 33-point advantage on 17th- place Chase Briscoe in points as he was hoping to become the next driver to earn their first career Cup win after Ty Gibbs achieved the feat last weekend at Bristol.
So far in his young Cup Series career, Hocevar has struggled at Kansas, posting a 26.2 average finish over his first five starts at the track. His best finish was 20th, which he got with Legacy Motor Club back in 2023. While in the No. 77 Spire Motorsports entry, Hocevar had not finished higher than 24th at Kansas.
On the bright side, the No. 77 team has continued to improve and show more consistent speed so far in the 2026 season. At the last race on an intermediate track, Hocevar finished fourth at Darlington Raceway, so the team looked to build off that performance.
The Climb To The Top
It was a strong start to the weekend for Hocevar as he put up a strong qualifying effort, good for a sixth-place starting spot on the grid. He was the second-highest starting Chevrolet in the field, trailing only Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports.
In the first stage, Hocevar was able to stay up in the top 10 and hold his track position early. But on the first green flag pit stop of the race, an air gun broke, which resulted in a slow stop. He dropped to as low as 17th on track but rallied through traffic to finish eighth and collect three stage points at the end of the opening stage.
During the stage break, the No. 77 team suffered another slow stop on pit road after having to tighten a wheel, dropping from eighth down to 18th. He was able to nab one single stage point in the second stage, getting back up to 10th.
In the final stage, Hocevar ran long on the last green flag pit cycle of the race, but he ran into a third pit road issue of the day, losing more track position. Despite the late caution and overtime attempt, Hocevar was unable to get back into the top 10, settling for a frustrating 13th-place finish.
Another underdog who finished in the top 15 was Corey Heim, driving on a part-time basis with 23XI Racing, coming home in 15th after battling in the 10th to 20th range all race long.
Looking Ahead
Hocevar and his No. 77 team will look to shake off the poor pit stop performances as they will head to Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 26, now with a 40-point gap over 17th place after he moved up one spot to 12th in the standings. Hocevar will look to avoid the carnage and improve on his two sixth-place finishes he earned at the track last season.
Top Dog of the Lower Series
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: It might be odd to pick a former champion of the series as the underdog of the week, but Cole Custer‘s performance is worthy of this spotlight. Custer entered his second race of the NOAPS season, once again driving the No. 0 for SS GreenLight Racing, a team that entered the Kansas race 27th in owner’s points. Despite Haas Factory Team support, when Custer drove the car at Las Vegas, he only finished 18th, so he was looking to improve on that for Saturday night’s race (April 18).
It got off to a tough start as he had to pit on the pace laps because of a steering issue that went unnoticed since practice and qualifying were rained out. After starting back in 36th, Custer was able to bring home a seventh-place finish, which moved the No. 0 entry up a spot to 26th in the owner’s standings.
Another team that has had its struggles this season but ran well at Kansas was Dean Thompson, whose No. 26 Sam Hunt Racing team came home 11th in the race and moved up to 20th in owner’s points.
Small Team Scheme of the Week
Austin Dillon partnered with Toys For Tots for the first time this season after running two races with them on the car last year.
Dillon was able to stay on the lead lap late in the race and take the checkered flag in the 16th position while driving a red, white and blue Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet this weekend.
Michael Bellifemini joined Frontstretch in February 2026 as a contributor. Bellifemini was born and raised in New Jersey and graduated from Seton Hall University. He called Seton Hall men's and women's basketball games for their college radio station, 89.5 FM WSOU, and continues to broadcast in the area. Outside of covering NASCAR, Bellifemini is also an avid baseball, football, basketball, and hockey fan and enjoys watching different sports leagues on a daily basis.
Thanks for the insight on Hocevar. Anyone know whats going with the 71? 4 bad races in a row now and not much reporting on why? While the 77 and 7 seem to be holding their own.