NASCAR Cup Series
Bristol Motor Speedway
Team Chevy Driver Quotes
September 18, 2026
Carson Hocevar , driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, met with the media in advance of the NASCAR Cup Series practice and qualifying session at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Media Availability Quotes:
Racing in the Bristol Night Race, as someone who is such a fan of the sport and growing up watching this event, what’s it like for you to be able to compete in it now, and do you sense that aura of the event going into it during pre-race and whatnot?
“Yeah, I do, I enjoy it. This is Luke (Lambert), my crew chief, it’s his favorite race of pretty much the whole schedule. This is always his favorite race. This is the race he grew up going to. I know our whole team enjoys going to it. I think it was Luke and I’s second-ever race and we ran like fifth that night for the majority of the race, and then we had a loose wheel but still finished good. Yeah, we just have a lot of good memories at this track. When you talk about NASCAR and you talk to new fans about what events you have to go to, I feel like one of the highest is always the Bristol Night Race. So yeah, I always enjoy it. I feel like NASCAR has done a really good job of trying to keep the prestige of this race, or the energy rather, and the excitement every time it comes up.”
With the fans being as close as they are to the action here, as well as the sword trophy, what would your celebration look like if you were to win tomorrow night? How much planning goes into your winning celebrations?
“I don’t know… I would take advantage of not having to fly home, I know that. Yeah, I don’t know how the banking would be, you know, if I tried to recreate what I did at Talladega. But that would be all good problems to have. Watching the Truck race last night, we kind of laughed that Jake (Garcia) just kept doing laps. I was like, I wonder how many laps you could just keep doing before people would just start wondering what the hell you were doing. So we were laughing about how many laps it would take before they would actually step in and say, ‘no, do your burnout’, and you just kept doing laps and acting like you didn’t know the race was over. We were joking about that. But yeah, I don’t know what I would, but I think all of us would enjoy going up the ramp, obviously.”
Before the Chase, you swore you weren’t going to look at the points. Do you know how many points back you are now?
“I have no idea. I have tried not to look. Sadly, I think I know where I’m at because we had our Monday debrief and we were going through excel sheet. It showed the points and I was like, ‘dang it’. It was just right there. So I remember where I’m at, but we’re trying not to look at it and just enjoy it. I think, ultimately, us looking at it gets us focused on stuff like, oh, we’re racing this guy or this guy behind us. But if we just raced the whole field and tried to run up as far forward as we can in the race itself, it’s all going to take care of itself. I mean, you know, if we get a loose wheel, it’s like we’re going to give up all these points and everything. But then all of a sudden, they started taking each other out and you’re like, oh, cool, we’re getting some of those points back. It can just flip like that, so if we can just focus on finishing good, the points are going to take care of themselves. I think a single-digit at the end of the season. would be really strong for our whole team.”
You talk about your good results here at Bristol Motor Speedway. What is it about this track that maybe fits your driving style or tendencies behind the wheel?
“I think, ultimately, being able to move around sort of suits by style. Obviously, I like dirt racing. I don’t call myself a dirt guy, but dirt guys tend to run really well here. I feel like I watch enough dirt racing that I can kind of understand it. I really love that you can run the top and get a huge run, as well as run the bottom. I just give Luke (Lambert) a hard time like, oh, I think we’ll run good this weekend because this is your favorite race and you’re going to try this weekend. I asked him on the plane last weekend, I was like, ‘are you going to try this week’. He got all excited and I was like, ‘you finally get to try, maybe we’ll win’.
But yeah, for whatever the reason, I think Bristol kind of fits my sort of style and I take advantage of it. But it always helps that Spire Motorsports has been good at these tracks for a couple of years now, so it’s a good marriage there that my best track is one of their best tracks.”
Where did the idea come from to have the fans come down to the pit wall last week, and is that something you’re going to try at other tracks? Did any other drivers join you for that?
“No, so, I think they were already open to that. They did it for the Truck race here at Bristol, they opened the gates. We were sitting there on pit road, kind of BS’ing, and all of a sudden the fans kind of noticed me. I was like, well, I’m going to go sign for them, so I walked away from Jeff (Dickerson). And then at St. Louis, same deal — I remember getting out of the car and I could hear (Kyle) Larson doing his celebration. And also, they started cheering really close to me, so I was like, that’s weird, what’s happening? And I realized they were all cheering for me, just because I happened to acknowledge them, I guess, and wave at them. So I was like, oh, that’s really cool, too. So obviously I do all the TV, radio, and everything, and then I started walking. All the fans happened to start crossing, and I was like, well, I’m not going to say no. We were within me to you right now, and I can’t just be like, oh, I’m apparently blind and deaf, I don’t hear you. Luckily, I have a team and support system that if I’m going to be a little late to the plane, a good reason is that I’m signing an autograph for fans.
So yeah, nobody else joined, but hopefully I can start a trend here, maybe, or whatnot. But yeah, obviously I don’t love running away from fans, but also don’t like running away from the races. I like to kind of enjoy the track when it’s quiet to relax and enjoy it. Luckily, I have a team and a support system around me that supports that.”
I kind of want to build on that a little bit. When I saw you signing the autographs for the fans last weekend, it’s something I’ve not seen since Richard Petty did it when I was growing up. I was also impressed that you told the adult one time that the child was getting the autograph, as well, and then Brad Daugherty, when Richard did it for him, it’s why it was in his contract, his number would be 43. What is it that makes you want to connect with the fans, and also what’s some of the coolest experiences you’ve had in connecting with the fans, signing the autographs, and how does that energize you?
“Yeah, for me, I remember my first memories of racing was at Kalamazoo Speedway. You know, if the race wasn’t that entertaining, you had the last race of the night, so you were fine to jump out of your seat to go run down to the fence because you knew the second the last race was over that they would open the fence and you would get to go down to the pit area. I’ve always loved that. I grew up doing that, and I remember how fun it was. I think, ultimately, I enjoyed going to the racetrack sometimes more because I got to be in the pits around all those people. I would be like five years old and acting like I’m 35, so it was fun for me.
But yeah, I just enjoy that. Bristol has had that for a while. Obviously, they don’t really let them in, but for the tunnel, every year I’ve been here, you walk out of the tunnel and they’re lined up all the way to pretty much the driver/owner lot. I’ll sit there and sign. Every year, it’s been a little bit more, so I’m excited to see what the crowd is after tomorrow. Hopefully, it’s late for them because that means we ran really well. I enjoyed the fact that St. Louis did that because I did it as a kind, and I know that there are a lot of fans that are going to enjoy that more than the race itself.”
Has there been one special autograph experience that you’ve given a child or someone?
“Yeah, at Darlington, I thought was super cool, there was a fan that made his electric car match my Cup car, which I thought was super cool. Yeah, that stuff’s just fun because obviously they — I don’t think anybody sells it, the family themselves are making it, so the fact they take the time to do that, bring it to the track and haul it there, is super cool for me.”
I know this week is all about Bristol, but can you talk about next week at Kansas and your thoughts about that?
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to Kansas (Speedway). I think we led some laps last year, so we’ve been getting a little bit better here and there at Kansas. At mile-and-a-half tracks, we’ve been fast at, so I enjoy that track. You get to move around and run the top for a while. The fall race tends to always have a little bit different variation, just because it either is going to be super-hot or it’s going to start cooling down, and that tends to always change the track up a little bit. I feel like that one has put on a lot of good races that are always fun to go be a part of.”
I know it’s only two races in, but with this format being a little bit different than the previous formats, has anything surprised you or stood out to you about how the Chase has gone so far gone two races in?
“No, I think I’ve just enjoyed it, even just following it myself. I think from the fan’s perspective, I think everybody’s kind of enjoyed it. I think as everybody started to crash or have struggles, you’re looking at the top of the pylon and how that’s switching and not looking at the bottom. So I think that’s a good thing for fans to follow or understand and enjoy, that the goalpost isn’t moving and confusing of who you should be following every three weeks, right? You kind of just look from the bottom all the way up rather than you look from the top down with this format. So I think it’s been really solid. I’ve enjoyed it a lot, even just seeing the fan engagement from it. Like this weekend, they get to promote this race, of all places, probably the two best here right now are the top-two in the points.”
You have noticed anything different on the track in the last two races?
“I mean, they wrecked a lot, so I think that just shows the intensity of every point, right? I think a lot of those guys wouldn’t be racing like that for eighth or whatever it is. They know every point matters against each other, versus round one, you’re just kind of like, oh, as long as you survive, it resets and I’m good to go. I’m sure Denny (Hamlin) was panicking at times when he was watching (Christopher) Bell lead. I’m sure everybody’s starting to panic any time a Chase guy’s in front of you and you know you’re racing them in points because that’s points you’re just giving up. There are no more resets, there’s no more get backs. You don’t know when your mulligan’s going to happen.”
After you got your first win at Talladega, did you find that that has fueled even greater desire to win the second race, even maybe more so than you had to win the first one?
“Yeah, I think so. I think all of us want to go back to that feeling because you know what it felt like. I think that you don’t know what you don’t know, right? And once you have that feeling — it’s like racing, even when you first start racing, you don’t know you missed racing until you take a week off or whatnot, and then you want to go back again. So yeah, hopefully we can kind of itch that soon.”
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