TALLADEGA, Ala. — Fitting for his first career NASCAR Cup Series win, Carson Hocevar turned in an ultra-original victory celebration sitting on the window ledge of his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet while driving around the massive 2.66-mile Talladega Superspeedway soaking up the emotions that will forever define and reward his first victory lap.
The huge crowd loved the unique celebration and the 23-year-old Michigan native deservedly soaked it all in after earning a .114-second victory over Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing veteran Chris Buescher in Sunday’s Jack Link’s 500 at the iconic Talladega track completing a solid, no-holds-barred three-lap run to the checkered flag for his first trophy in NASCAR’s premier series.
It marks the second time in the last three races a driver earned his first career victory – matching the work of Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs two weeks ago at Bristol, Tenn.
“I’ve had this thought up for a while,’’ Hocevar said of his winning salute. “And I’ve messed it up every which way to not be able to do it. And I don’t care if I took me 20 minutes or whatever I was going to figure out how to do it.
“I’m just so thankful,’’ he said, the grandstand crowd roaring in approval. “This is the biggest dream I’ve ever thought of. Thank you everybody. I couldn’t have done it any better way. Hopefully my grandfather is watching. My grandmother died last year and I’m just so thankful I can give my grandfather a trophy now.’’
“Just unbelievable, I’m just so thankful,’’ he added. “I knew we were going to win. I really did.’’
Over the three years he’s competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, Hocevar has taken some criticism for his bold – at times imprudent – driving style. But on Sunday, Hocevar proved his metal in the big leagues leading 19 of the final 37 laps in the 188-lap classic and holding the field off on three late race restarts.
“He deserved it for sure and this is a perfect place for him to get it,’’ third place finisher, Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman said of Hocevar.
Buescher, who also scored his career-best finish at Talladega said, “That was a fun race all the way until the end.
“Man, it was close. … awesome day and it was a good race.”
Hendrick’s Chase Elliott, a two-time Talladega winner, finished fourth in the No. 9 Chevrolet with Front Row Motorsports’ Zane Smith rallying to an impressive fifth place finish in the No. 38 Ford, also setting the fastest lap of the race.
Another former Talladega winner, Hyak Motorsports’ Ricky Stenhouse Jr. finished sixth, followed by Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain, Team Penske’s Austin Cindric, Front Row’s Noah Gragson and two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Busch, whose 10th place showing Sunday was the first top-10 of the season for the venerable Richard Childress Racing team.
There were 16 leaders and 52 lead changes on the day, with JGR’s Christopher Bell leading a race-high 31 laps despite finishing 17th. RFK Racing’s Ryan Preece and Ross Chastain were the race’s two stage winners.
Half the field – literally – was eliminated from legitimate winning contention in a wild 26-car melee in Turn 3 on lap 115 that included championship leader Tyler Reddick among the two-dozen collected. And it all started up front.
Contact between the front cars of leader Bubba Wallace and Ross Chastain triggered the chain reaction incident and brought out a 10-minute red flag stoppage. A handful of those involved – including 23XI Racing’s Wallace and fellow past Talladega winners and Team Penske teammates Ryan Blaney and Joey Logano – were no longer able to continue but a sizable number of those involved were able to return to the track.
“Got wrecked there, unfortunately,’’ Wallace offered in an understatement after leading three times on the day. “Our Xfinity Toyota Camry was a little unstable getting pushed, but manageable. Maybe that hard of a hit was too much, so unfortunately, we wiped out a bunch of cars.
“Got to debrief, got to be better. Just kind of riding around, not doing much in the first stage – nothing to show for it at Talladega. Unfortunate, it is a place we come to with a lot of confidence, and it is what it is. We will put this one behind us and go on to Texas and have some fun.”
Blaney was equally as frustrated, but like so many of those caught up in the incident, also philosophical about the close-quarter brand of speedway racing that has so often produced NASCAR’s version of the “the big one.’’
“I feel like we all just got pinballing off each other there,’’ Blaney said, adding, “It’s not like there’s any blame on anybody. It’s what this thing is. We see each other. We all just kind of get bumping and banging and one guy eventually gets turned with the car being as unstable as it is. It definitely stinks to be out early.”
A five-time race winner this season, Reddick was also among those whose cars suffered damage in the massive mid-race incident. Hoping to win his fifth race from pole position this season, instead the Californian had to recover from damage in both the big accidents and then again after his No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota clipped the wall with 27 to go.
He stayed on the lead lap and managed a 14th place finish in the 40-car field and maintains a commanding lead atop the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings, 110 points over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Denny Hamlin – one of Reddick’s 23XI Racing team owners.
NASCAR Cup Series Race – Jack Link’s 500
1. (12) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 188.
2. (10) Chris Buescher, Ford, 188.
3. (20) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 188.
4. (8) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 188.
5. (30) Zane Smith, Ford, 188.
6. (22) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 188.
7. (24) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 188.
8. (13) Austin Cindric, Ford, 188.
9. (29) Noah Gragson, Ford, 188.
10. (34) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 188.
11. (19) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 188.
12. (16) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 188.
13. (35) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 188.
14. (1) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 188.
15. (3) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 188.
16. (28) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 188.
17. (14) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 188.
18. (11) Ryan Preece, Ford, 188.
19. (18) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 188.
20. (33) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 188.
21. (36) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 188.
22. (23) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 187.
23. (21) Erik Jones, Toyota, 187.
24. (40) Daniel Dye(i), Chevrolet, 186.
25. (17) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 186.
26. (32) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 185.
27. (37) Jesse Love(i), Chevrolet, 185.
28. (38) Chad Finchum(i), Ford, 182.
29. (5) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 180.
30. (39) Joey Gase(i), Chevrolet, 177.
31. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 166.
32. (31) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 149.
33. (26) Josh Berry, Ford, Accident, 124.
34. (9) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, Accident, 122.
35. (7) William Byron, Chevrolet, Accident, 119.
36. (4) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, Accident, 114.
37. (15) Ryan Blaney, Ford, Accident, 114.
38. (27) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, Accident, 114.
39. (25) Joey Logano, Ford, Accident, 114.
40. (2) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, Accident, 114.
