Carson Hocevar has become the stand-out star of the 2026 NASCAR season on and off track.
In the first 22 races of the year, Hocevar earned one victory, five top-fives, nine top-10s. But most notably, Hocevar had zero DNFs and only one finish below 30th-place. The No. 77 team had seven DNFs in the 2025 regular season, several of which were due to mechanical failures.
Following Indianapolis, it looked like this combination could make a Cinderella run in the Chase and potentially contend for the title. However, since the off week that followed, the team has struggled immensely. Despite sitting fifth in points four races ago, Hocevar enters the Chase as the twelfth-seeded driver.
A Difficult August
Mechanical failures returned to the team at Iowa Speedway. That, combined with a spin, relegated Hocevar to a 31st-place finish. This cost him three positions in the points as he exited the weekend eighth in the standings.
Richmond Raceway saw a pure driver error: The 23-year old did not shift through the gears properly, which destroyed his engine and resulted in him being unable to finish the race. The 37-place finish was his first DNF of the season, and cost him another three positions in the points.
Hocevar entered New Hampshire Motor Speedway 11th in the standings. Before the race even started, he spun on the pace laps. This caused NASCAR to delay the green flag by approximately an hour seeing as the track conditions were not safe enough to race on. Once the green flag waved, Hocevar had multiple other incidents. Most notably, he drove into Connor Zilisch and spun himself out. Despite these incidents, he earned his best result of this four race stretch of 19th-place and maintained 11th in points entering Daytona International Raceway.
Daytona, like every other drafting race this season, saw speed from Hocevar. In the final laps of the race, the No. 77 machine was making a move on eventual winner Ryan Preece, when he lost control and spun himself out. Due to the low attrition of the event, the spin earned him a 38th-place finish and cost him one final points position.
Looking Forward
Despite these late season struggles, the Chase schedule sets up nicely for Hocevar. He finished top-5 in Darlington Raceway’s spring race, has back-to-back top-10s at Bristol Motor Speedway, and is always strong at the mile and a half tracks that make up four of the final seven races. Looking at the other four tracks, Phoenix Raceway and Martinsville Speedway are not his best tracks, but he is consistently strong at Gateway and is the defending Talladega Superspeedway winner.
The seven spots in the standings Hocevar lost cost him 35 points in the Chase standings. If the team can return to the form they showed a majority of the regular season, then returning to the top-5 in points is very possible. But, if they continue the form they have shown since the off weekend, then Hocevar’s first Chase run will be difficult and disappointing.
