Although his finishing position doesn’t exactly show it, Carson Hocevar had the best run of his short NASCAR Cup Series career in Sunday’s Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The 22-year-old driver brought his No. 77 Chili’s Ride The ‘Dente Chevrolet home in 11th-place on the afternoon, just one spot shy of his eighth career top 10 result, but as it turns out, Hocevar was a legitimate contender for the top five, or if the cards fell slightly different, maybe even his first win.
Hocevar started the weekend with his third top 10 qualifying result of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series campaign, lining up directly beside his Spire Motorsports teammate Justin Haley when the green flag dropped.
While Haley was one of the first drivers to jump out of tire conservation mode, driving as high as second place, Hocevar took an easier and more steady approach, hovering around fifth to tenth throughout the entirety of the race’s 125-lap first stage.
As the laps continued to click off, Hocevar and crew chief Luke Lambert continued to make positive adjustments that allowed the second-year driver to inch closer and closer to the front of the pack, to the point where the No. 77 was a consistent top-five contender.
The Portage, Michigan-native’s average running position of 6.78 is by far the best of his NASCAR Cup Series career, and only the third time he’s averaged a position inside the top-10.
During the race’s final stage, though, things came slightly unraveled. Without a single caution flag during the 250-lap final stage, the field was forced to make green-flag pit stops, with Hocevar sitting in third place, behind only Kyle Larson and Denny Hamlin.
On Lap 391, Hocevar came to pit road for what would be the final time. While his Spire Motorsports pit crew was making their stop, the team struggled to get the left-rear wheel on the No. 77, resulting in a nightmare 22-second pit stop. That not only knocked him outside the top-10 but also cost him a spot on the lead-lap.
The kicker? After leaving the pits, Hocevar settled back on the racetrack just behind race leaders Denny Hamlin and Kyle Larson. In the 100 laps that followed the pit stop, the Spire Motorsports driver was able to keep pace with the eventual top two finishers and methodically gained positions as they lapped further up the field.
In the end, as things settled out from the green-flag stop and the run droned on to the finish of the 500-lap contest, Hocevar was able to climb as high as 11th, coming up just short of securing another top-10, which would have required a pass on Austin Dillon.
It’s a surge of positive momentum for the No. 77 Chevrolet team heading into the Spring, after four finishes of 30th or worse in the five events leading up to Sunday’s Food City 500. The positive result also propels Hocevar from 30th in points to 25th, only 43 points below the cutline heading to Talladega Superspeedway.
While the optimal result wasn’t achieved, Sunday still marked a milestone in Hocevar’s NASCAR Cup Series career and proved that he could run up at the front of the pack without any controversy.
