Carson Hocevar has made it clear that the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series season is one where the No. 77 Spire Motorsports team must win.
Hocevar, who made his Cup debut in 2023, won the Rookie of the Year award the following year and followed that up with two podium finishes last season. He also collected nine top-10 results and led a career-high 122 laps in 2025, but finished 23rd in the final Cup standings and is yet to land his first career win.
The 23-year-old will enter his third full season in the series this year and stressed that success for his team should include consistency and wins, during a February 4 appearance on the NASCAR Live podcast.
“I have to win. … Successful was gonna be just putting a trophy in the trophy case and then ultimately, hopefully, we have some consistency with it that our points score is pretty good. So, but ultimately, we have to put a win in the bank for just all of us,” Carson Hocevar said (24:55 onwards).
Earlier this week, Spire Motorsports also announced to a long-term contract extension that will keep Hocevar in the No. 77 Chevrolet for about a decade into the 2030s. He will also race in multiple Truck Series races with the team this season, including the season opening one at Daytona International Speedway.
Carson Hocevar Wants To Steer Clear Of Mechanical And Pit Stop Issues In 2026
Carson Hocevar’s NASCAR Cup season in 2025 was marked by speed and a string of bad luck that robbed him of strong finishes and a first career win. One of the biggest setbacks came at Michigan International Speedway, where Hocevar led late but suffered a left rear tire failure with about 18 laps to go. That flat tire forced an extra pit stop and dropped him to 29th place, which spoiled his bid for a win on his home track.
During the fall race at Bristol Motor Speedway, he looked set for a top-five finish but dropped down after another pit stop error, where his car fell off the jack.
“I think it’s gonna be super important just having everything come together. You can’t blow a tire, you can’t blow a motor, can’t have a caution fall the wrong way. We had all three of those at some point, and we’ll probably have a few more up like a pit stop issue, whether it’s on my end or our crew end or whatever,” Carson Hocevar added.
Hocevar also saw three engine failures last season, including a dramatic blowout at the Coca-Cola 600, where smoke from his Chevrolet ended a promising run while he was near the front.
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