Top Dog: Carson Hocevar
Carson Hocevar came into Darlington Raceway in need of a big weekend to stay above the Chase cutoff line. After two frustrating weeks in a row at Phoenix Raceway and Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Hocevar found himself only one point above the three-way tie for the 16th and last spot.
Sunday (March 22) was Hocevar’s sixth career Cup Series start at Darlington, and the Track Too Tough to Tame lived up to its nickname for the young driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. After his first four races there, his best finish was 17th, with the other three finishes coming outside the top 25.
However, in his most recent start at Darlington in last year’s Southern 500, Hocevar was able to pick up a ninth-place finish. With a new package introduced at this type of track for the 2026 season, Hocevar and his team hoped to build on that strong run he had last September.
Thinkin’ Out Loud at Darlington: Putting the ‘Race’ Back Into Racecar
The Climb To The Top
Hocevar nearly won the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Friday night (March 20), but late issues in the race caused him to spin out, and he settled for a 22nd-place finish.
Hocevar showed speed in practice and qualifying but got his first “Darlington stripe” of the weekend during his qualifying run. Despite his 16th-place qualifying effort, he had to start at the back of the field because his team changed a toe link that got damaged during his qualifying run.
It was a slow climb to the front, and with Tyler Reddick’s blistering pace, Hocevar found himself one lap down in 23rd at the end of the first stage. With the help of the wave around, he was able to get back on the lead lap and the right strategy kept him there. Hocevar marched his way up to 16th at the end of the second stage, but he was still lacking the speed he and his team hoped for.
In the final stage, Hocevar was able to show off his talents while sporting a familiar throwback. The usual red and white Chili’s colors were changed to blue and yellow to fit the throwback design to Dale Earnhardt’s Wrangler car he drove back in 1981.
On the last run, Hocevar had the fastest car on track, which helped him climb all the way up to a fourth-place finish.
Hocevar was the highest finishing Chevrolet in the race, and this result helped him go from 15th to 13th in the driver standings, 12 points above the cut line for the Chase.
Looking Ahead
Hocevar will look to string together some more strong runs to stay in the Chase picture as the Cup Series will head to a couple of short tracks over the next few weeks. The next race will be at Martinsville Speedway (March 28), and after an Easter weekend break, the Cup Series will return at Bristol Motor Speedway (April 12).
Top Dogs of the Lower Series
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series: One pleasant surprise so far in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series has been Viking Motorsports, especially the No. 99 car driven by Parker Retzlaff. Coming into the weekend, Retzlaff was ninth in points, 25 points above the cut line, but VMS is still a relatively new team, and Darlington is quite the challenge.
Retzlaff only had one top-15 finish in his five career Darlington starts, but he looked very comfortable during his run on Saturday night (March 21). Retzlaff came home with an eighth-place finish, adding 11 stage points with his sixth and fifth-place stage finishes. He earned 40 points in total and was able to remain ninth in points, opening up his gap to the cut line to 50 points.
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series: Timmy Hill had himself quite a wild Friday night at Darlington, making his second start of the season in his No. 56 Toyota for Hill Motorsports. Hill led three laps by staying out with 38 laps to go and was able to stay in the top 15-20 range for the rest of the race.
After the last caution, Hill used his fresh tires to work his way to a 14th-place finish. He earned 23 points on the night and had his best run in the Truck Series since his eighth-place run at Darlington last season.
Small Team Scheme of the Week
Not only did Hocevar claim underdog of the week in the Cup Series, but his car stole the show as well.
Hocevar explained in the media center earlier in the weekend that it was actually Chili’s that had the idea of throwing it back to “The Intimidator’s” class look, and it was one that will be remembered for a long time.
There were a lot of other great throwbacks showcased across all three series this weekend but, while not necessarily underdogs, a special shout-out goes to the three RFK Racing Fords for their Greg Biffle tribute schemes.
Quite a marketing coup by Chili’s here. I realize it’s no longer an official throwback weekend, but I find it strange that most sponsors don’t join in on the fun.
A well executed throwback scheme is almost guaranteed to result in a bit more air time, both visual as well as the commentators joining in. I believe it was Bowyer who even said as much during the broadcast.