NASCAR CUP SERIES
DAYTONA INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
DAYTONA 500 MEDIA DAY
TEAM CHEVY DRIVER QUOTES
FEBRUARY 12, 2025
Carson Hocevar, driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet – DAYTONA 500 Media Day Quotes
REGARDING MICHAEL MCDOWELL JOINING THE TEAM AND HIS IMPACT
“I think he has been big, especially for here. That is the biggest thing, especially for the race because he runs good. I think Travis has played more of a role personally because he knows what was on the cars. I like to do my own thing, and my strategy was to always ride in the back at superspeedways anyway. We haven’t really got enough races for me to pick Michael’s brain or him to pick mine. I normally like to go out there and just run and don’t like to talk about anything anyways. I like to just go see if I am any good or not. But having Michael just adds depth and adds to our allotment that if I struggle, or if I can lean on him if he is running good, and that type deal. He is going to fill our gaps and as a team owner, you are trying to run first-second-third. But if your cars struggle and they have their strong suits, like Michael’s is superspeedways and road courses is hopefully where he is going to elevate our program.”
SO WHEN YOU ARE GOING MORE OFF THE FEEL OF THE TRACK THAN THE DATA, DOES THAT PLAY AT OTHER TRACKS MORE THAN LIKE DAYTONA?
“Yeah, for me I almost look at these two, especially more now, that I look at them more as an off week. Just hang out and be like, ‘man, I am just going to enjoy the week’. There is not a whole lot more you can prepare for….the last couple of years it was super draggy, but now we are trying to be fast everywhere. I think we are a lot closer to the Hendrick cars based on the lap time there with the single car alone. It was like a second difference from last year to this year, so I am super pumped about that. So, the biggest thing they want to do right is to try and get my head ready if we are up front and give me all the info that we have. But yes, for me it is like so much more laid back. There are about two instances that I study for here and I just hang out the rest of the time. I have an iRacing rig on my hauler so you probably won’t see me much until race time and I will be driving on superspeedways and World of Outlaws Sprint Cars.
HOW MUCH CAN IRACING HELP YOU IN REACTIONARY MOVES AND MAKING THE RIGHT MOVES AT THE RIGHT TIME?
“I think iRacing on superspeedways is more 1 to 1 and is light years ahead of any other (track). I don’t learn a lot doing anything else, but for superspeedways its huge. I had to leave the race with five to go, I was leading, and had to go practice. All my guys were having fun. We were maintaining lanes in a truck, manipulating lanes and its fun. But yeah, I am going to take advantage of it before the Duel and try a bunch of stuff, hit people, have them hit me, and change lanes. I am more than happy to wreck over there than out here.”
REGARDING GETTING ANOTHER SHOT AT THIS RACE AFTER WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR
“I mean I am not a superspeedway guy, and I don’t want to say I have been so anxious, but it would be cool to finish, right? But we ran good and we finished 11th in July. So at least I finished. Regarding last year, I haven’t got it out of my system, but I kind of want to finish all the laps and be there at the end. I am excited to go, but at the same time I do not love these superspeedways, so I don’t get too excited. You know what I mean? If I win the race and we figure out how to maintain lanes and we run really good, then I am going to be really excited to come back next year. But for me, I need a little bit more superspeedway racing to get excited.”
HOW ARE THE EMOTIONS COMING BACK FOR YOUR SECOND YEAR AS OPPOSED TO YOUR FIRST LAST YEAR?
“I think its more about being more confident and being a lot more decisive about the decisions you are making and decisive on how our cars are being developed. I think it adds……there’s not really any pressure and as Dan Campbell said one time, there is no weight, he just felt the wind underneath him. That is the motto we have been going with.”
HOW ABOUT THE CONFIDENCE IN HAVING JUSTIN AND MICHAEL OUT THERE?
“Yeah, it definitely helps to have friends out there for sure. But I don’t know. I will let you know after the Duels and Daytona 500 go for sure. At the same time, we have a lot of Chevy friends that hopefully we will work closely with. So, there is a lot of depth out there already.”
WHAT HAS THE TEAM ENVIRONMENT BEEN LIKE THIS YEAR AND HOW BIG ITS GOING TO BE?
“It’s been good and all the teams have been working very closely and there is a lot of depth. For me, there are more researches than excuses in my mind. There is a lot more brainpower, there is a lot more depth, and I think the biggest hire we got was Matt McCall. I think it’s super important that we are racing with him and not racing against him. We have two crew chiefs that are super talented sitting on the sideline too.”
A BIG STORY LAST YEAR WAS THAT YOU WERE OUTPERFORMING YOUR SPIRE TEAMMATES. DOES THAT ADD PRESSURE GOING INTO THIS YEAR?
“No, not really. I don’t know why we were so good last year, I just drive. I don’t know why I was good in the 42 car when I first got in it, and I don’t know why I was good in the 7 when I first got in it. I just drive and we were either fast or we were slow. For me, it was about less excuses and more brain power. We were fast in The Clash, which I didn’t expect to be in the Clash. Just because that is not our forte and I thought we would be like, ‘let’s get through the Clash and we will be okay’. I thought we would make it, but I didn’t think we would be the third fastest car on lap times. We were super-fast which makes me excited to go to places like Martinsville and other places where we struggled. The Clash was the race for me that told me we were headed in the right direction.”
HAVE YOU SEEN A DIFFERENCE IN SPIRE SINCE RODNEY CAME OVER?
“Well, when Rodney walked in, so did four other crew chiefs too. So, I think it’s just the combination and everybody. I mean Rodney is great, but for me it’s Matt McCall, Travis Peterson, Nick Case and Ryan Sparks getting off the box. In my mind, we have five crew chiefs for three cars that are super talented. We have way more smarter people for their specific roles to make these cars go fast. You know, Mr. H and Hendrick Motorsports continue to help us through their programs. With Jeff Dickerson and that whole group, they are just rocking. I think it’s just the whirlwind of people that came in and not anyone specific. That is why I think we are going to be successful, and Spire is going to be successful. We are not relying on one person, we are relying on the whole group. I think that is what is really cool, they work super well together.”
HOW HIGH HAVE YOU SET YOUR GOALS THIS YEAR?
“Well, our boss wants all three of us in the Playoffs this year and I know how high that one is. But you have to have tip top goals. For me it’s that I want to run good, and I want to run top 15 every race and if you keep doing that, you are going to win a race.”
WHAT IS THE CRAZINESS FACTOR IN GOING FROM SOMEWHERE LIKE DAYTONA TO ATLANTA NEXT WEEK?
“I think this place is more unpredictable in my mind because the wrecks don’t happen from back blocks anymore, they happen from back pushes. At Atlanta, you are more chaotic, and you can see wrecks happening but here you are just sitting in line and saving fuel and then somebody wants to hit somebody a little too hard and they spin. For me, I think its more unpredictable for something to happen here.”
DOES IT GIVE YOU ANYMORE CONFIDENCE THAT YOU ARE GOING INTO YOUR SECOND FULL TIME SEASON WITH HOW COMPETITIVE THE CUP SERIES IS AND YOU ARE GOING IN WITH A GROWING TEAM?
“For me, I like to finish well. I like to maximize my finish. So, for me, I don’t have a lofty goal like let’s go make the Playoffs. Theoretically you can be third in points and miss it, right? So, it worked well for me saying last year our goal was 20th in points and my goal for this year is 15th in points. You might be close in points, you might not be, depending on who wins and who doesn’t. But if we can be there and finish around 15th every race, then we are going to be exactly where we want to be.”
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