AUSTIN, Texas — Carson Hocevar seems intent on driving as aggressively as ever.
After all, he was the runner-up in last Sunday’s race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, his best finish in a NASCAR Cup Series career that’s less than two full years old. It also prompted a week of criticism from some veteran drivers, along with warnings not to make things harder on himself by making enemies on the track.
The 22-year-old Michigan native has treated it all with a shrug and a promise to keep it going Sunday in NASCAR’s first road race of the season at Circuit of the Americas.
“I’m planning to race no differently,” Hocevar said Saturday before he qualified fourth in the Spire Motorsports No. 77 Chevrolet to put him near the front again.
He dismissed criticism that comes from outside his team and its suppliers as “noise.”
“You know, I just like racing … and I’m excited to have fast race cars,” Hocevar said. “So, I race for me, myself and I, and you know, obviously a little bit for Spire Motorsports for sure. That’s what they pay me to do.”
Spire co-owner Dan Towriss suggested Hocevar is just the latest young driver mixing things up on track.
“This happens every time there’s a young aggressive driver that comes along. … Are there things that Carson needs to learn? Yeah. This is his second year. He’s not out there wrecking people, doing things like that,” Towriss said.
Hocevar even had some fun with all the drama.
Shortly after the race at Atlanta, where several drivers complained about him over the radio or confronted him in pit lane, Hocevar shot back: “We’re here to win races, not be a boy band and love each other and play in the playground together.”
And by Friday, he was promoting “Wanna Join My Boy Band?” T-shirts on his social media accounts and website. The posts were briefly taken down Saturday, but Hocevar promised they would return and that all proceeds from the sales would go to the Drive For Life charitable foundation in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Hocevar’s reputation as an aggressive driver dates to his racing in NASCAR’s third-tier Truck Series, but his talent also has stood out. He was the top rookie in the Cup Series last year with six top-10 finishes on the top circuit.
Then things bubbled over at Atlanta. Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney, who got turned by Hocevar in the final stage of the race, and Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain confronted him after it was over.
Chastain acknowledged Saturday he faced similar criticism from older drivers earlier in his career: “I’ve had a line of people waiting on me at the car as well.”
Aggressive moves take on different forms at high-speed ovals such Atlanta and a road course like Circuit of the Americas, where cars bump and grind their way through sometimes sharp and slow-speed corners that bring them together.
“I can’t speak for other people, but in my experience, it’s all fine unless you make the same mistake again,” Chastain said. “Just don’t make the same people mad again.”
Connor Zilisch, who will start 14th in his Cup Series debut Sunday with Trackhouse Racing, seems eager to avoid that kind of attention. The 18-year-old said he’s not setting any expectations other than to win the respect of the veteran drivers.
“You don’t want to go out there and make a fool of yourself, because once you lose the respect of all the veterans, it’s really tough to get it back,” he said. “We want to race them the right way.”
Zilisch has been pegged as a future star. He won 15 races across seven series in 2024, and he won Saturday’s second-tier Xfinity Series race after starting in pole position.
“I want to try and become the youngest Cup Series winner,” Zilisch said. “And honestly, I don’t feel like there’s anything that tells me I’m not ready to race on a road course on Sunday.”
Zilisch and teammate Shane Van Gisbergen are listed as co-favorites (+525), per BetMGM Sportsbook.
Even drivers who have raced in Austin before are having to learn a few things this weekend.
The stock car race at a facility built for Formula 1 features a shorter, tighter layout than in past years. The new design slices about a mile off the track distance and takes out most of COTA’s long straightaway. It also cuts about a minute off lap times, allowing the race to be extended from 68 laps to 95.
Tyler Reddick is on the pole for the Cup Series race, and it will be a front-row lockout for 23XI Racing with teammate Bubba Wallace starting second.
Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott, who will start third, has seven wins on road courses during his Cup Series career, which leads active drivers. However, he hasn’t won a road race since 2021, when he won two, including one in Austin.