Getty

Carson Hocevar won his first NASCAR Cup Series race at Talladega.

Carson Hocevar is on Cloud Nine after winning his first-ever NASCAR Cup Series race with Spire Motorsports. For Hocevar, it marked his first victory in his 91st race. For Spire Motorsports, it was the team’s second win in eight years of competition.

“I’m glad we got the first one out of the way, and now we can try to go and get redemption at a lot of these places,” Hocevar said just two days after his first win. “Ultimately, this is the lifelong goal and dream. It’s been unbelievable.”

The win may have been monumental on track, but away from it, Hocevar’s impact on the sport is already paying dividends. Largely thanks to a unique win celebration by driving his car while hanging out of the door, Hocevar went viral.

“My favorite part was how loud everybody got,” Hocevar said. “I was so thankful that everybody got so excited when we won, and that gave me the confidence that we’re doing something right.

“It’s who we race for, that we’ve been the underdog growing, and that I enjoy racing. I love being a race fan. I am doing everything I can to soak in every moment of being a NASCAR driver. It’s the coolest job in the world.”

Spire Motorsports’ Commitment To Carson Hocevar

Spire signed Hocevar to a major contract extension, preventing larger teams from stealing the 23-year-old racer. The deal will go into “the next decade.” And most of all, this means Spire Motorsports is building its program around the driver of the No. 77 Chevrolet.

“Walking in the first day in 2023 when I got to drive the [No.] 7, I saw how small they were then compared to now,” Hocevar said. “They’re only going to continue to grow. They’ve been saying they’re going to win races, and now they can at least say they’re there. They don’t have to continue to say we’re building the dream. We’re there.”

The entire team, he explained, celebrated the win. It was the team’s first since they won a rain-shortened race at Daytona with Justin Haley in 2019.

“It felt bigger than one single car,” Hocevar said. “Jeff [Dickerson] is one of the coolest people to walk in the garage, let alone run a race team. He just gets it. He knows how to lead a team and motivate people.

“We really got to soak it up. This one feels more real, I’m sure. Hopefully, this can propel into something.”

Hocevar gives Hendrick Motorsports some credit for Spire Motorsports’ growth, as the three-car team has an alliance with the NASCAR powerhouse.

“They’ve been super complimentary, and Chevrolet, as well,” he said. “Mr. H, Jeff Gordon, Jim Campbell and everyone at Chevrolet have been great. It’s really big for Chevy to have another organization that can not only run up front, but at the end of the day, be there when it matters at the top.

“Hopefully, we keep winning, rolling and keep the excitement rolling.”

Carson Hocevar’s Growing Partners

Few drivers have embraced their partners like Hocevar has. Not only is he fully committed to being a brand ambassador, but he is thriving with each of them.

That’s why it was quite fitting for Hocevar to win at Talladega in a Chili’s black-and-white scheme. So much so that afterwards, he went to a local Alabama Chili’s, and the CEO even sent him a message.

“We have a good group and everybody has bought into it, and they’re all race fans who want to be part of this journey,” Hocevar said of his growing list of partners. “Chili’s was one of the first ones to get in with Spire, grow this thing, and go above and beyond in their campaigns. I met some of them at Talladega of all places, and I didn’t even know they worked for Chili’s.”

Besides Chili’s, Hocevar expanded his partnerships with several other firms, such as Spectrum, longtime Spire partner Zeigler Auto Group, MINER, Delaware Life, Premier Security, and Gainbridge. He also just welcomed Modo Casino into NASCAR, which will sponsor him at New Hampshire.

“Between every partner, there are so many personal relationships,” he said. “They all sent me videos of them getting almost secretly recorded because they were so animated that everyone around them recorded them.”