BROOKLYN, Mich. – Carson Hocevar started pre-race ceremonies at Michigan International Speedway by emerging onto the driver-introduction stage wrapped in the dark blue flag of his home state, his blooming stardom amplifying the cheers from the home crowd.
The conclusion of his race day Sunday was pure frustration at the checkered flag he didn’t get. A slammed helmet on the roof of his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet and an extended stay on the track’s pit wall stood in for a potential trip to MIS Victory Lane.
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Fifth place was what Hocevar settled for in Sunday’s FireKeepers Casino 400, a NASCAR Cup Series race in which most were playing for also-ran status during another dominant performance by a white-hot Denny Hamlin. He led 21 laps, spending time out front at his home track for the third straight outing, but he also had to answer for his role in triggering a Stage 2 restart pile-up and other aggressive tactics that drew criticism.
The day was eventful for multiple reasons, just not the ultimate one he wanted most.
“I mean, I’ll just reminisce on it for another 365 days,” Hocevar said. “This is … I’m from Michigan – U of M and Michigan State. You know, it’s its own season, so you know, this race is its own season for me.”
Hocevar’s day started with plenty of promise, getting the early upper hand by leading the first lap from the second starting spot. He remained a contender throughout the race’s first half, but his forceful move on a Lap 83 restart sent John Hunter Nemechek’s No. 42 Legacy Motor Club Toyota out of control, collecting multiple cars in its wake entering Turn 1.
Austin Dillon was among those sidelined by the incident, and he made his disapproval clear, saying: “Hope at some point he figures it out.”
“I mean, they just checked up right after the start/finish line,” said Hocevar, who held the inside lane at the point of collision. “I went to go low when I saw them check up, so it probably just shot him right and spun him. Yeah, it caught me off guard that they stacked up. I kind of gave a little bit of space, but they just stacked up, and so I don’t know why they did, but I mean I spun whoever it was, I’m not sure.”
Sixteen laps later, Hocevar attempted a dive-bomb move from fourth place, interjecting his No. 77 Chevy into a two-wide contest for second place between Kyle Larson and Bubba Wallace. Hocevar backed out of the maneuver, and a brilliant save kept all three from potential catastrophe, but the move left enough of an impression on Wallace that he pulled up alongside Hocevar as he sat on the pit wall post-race, voicing his grievances but also offering a potential teaching moment.
“He’s fast,” said Wallace, who turned the tables on a difficult May with a third-place result. “He’s fast, and he deserves to be in Victory Lane multiple times out here, but making mistakes is going to cost him, and he hasn’t realized that yet.”
Wallace added that Hocevar seemed to offer an olive branch later in the race, waving Wallace and other faster cars by. Wallace said that didn’t necessarily absolve the earlier perceived sins.
“I was pissed. He’s playing the game, the point by – letting me and Larson by, and the 43 (Erik Jones) by was nice, but doesn’t ease the pain,” Wallace said. “That’s what I told him. It’s like you have to … I don’t know if you’re doing that on purpose, but you’re having to do that because like, ‘oh man, I wrecked that guy earlier. I wrecked him last week. I gotta just stop hitting [expletive].’ You can race to your potential.”
Hocevar said he understood the message.
“Yeah, I get his point and perspective and everything,” Hocevar said. “I mean, I’m just racing really hard, and there were times where I tried to make a move and get two spots when I probably should have just got one, and it cost me – especially almost wrecking myself in (Turns) 3 and 4 there early in the race when I was next to him. So yeah, just a bummer today, obviously.”
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Luke Lambert, Hocevar’s crew chief through each of his three full-time Cup Series seasons, said he sensed how much this home-track race meant to the 23-year-old driver, but was able to gather positives from the outcome. Hocevar earned 12 stage points, plus a bonus point for turning the race’s fastest lap, and collected his first top-five effort since his breakthrough Cup Series win at Talladega in April.
Though there was disappointment, Lambert said he took to heart the perspective offered by Spire co-owner Jeff Dickerson, who noted how far the organization has progressed.
“The message is simple: We’re mad at a fifth, and that’s really it,” Lambert told NASCAR.com. “We used to – as Jeff said – we used to pop bottles for days like today. So we’re in a good place as a race team when we end the day and we’re really frustrated with a fifth-place finish, and we know we have to continue to do this and continue to get better to get to where we want to be, but it’s a sign of where we’re at and where we’re headed. That’s really the thing to kind of step back and look at is that, yeah, in the moment it’s easy to be frustrated on the what-could-have-beens, but there’s a whole lot of other what-could-have-beens that we need to also recognize, and so I’m just proud of the team for executing, putting ourselves in position.”
Hocevar gained two positions in the Cup Series standings, moving up to seventh place through 15 races this season. Still, the youngster said that watching Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota control the final 39 laps and stretch out to a stunning margin of victory of 11-plus seconds while precious ground slipped away would stick with him.
“Yeah, I mean, this one’s gonna sting,” Hocevar said. “I would have really liked to have this one, just because of how good our car was. It’s just probably just gonna eat me up watching the 11 (Hamlin) come in my rearview, drive by me and then drive away, and then have a car in between us.”
