By Seth Eggert, Associate Editor
DARLINGTON, S.C. – From tricking his competition into endorsing him to doing impressions of NASCAR’s stars, Carson Hocevar has had fun while campaigning for the NASCAR All-Star Race fan vote.
The Spire Motorsports driver will have to race in the All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro Speedway as he’s not qualified for the main event. Should he not transfer through the race itself, the NASCAR Cup Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year contender is eligible for the fan vote. Like other drivers in the past, Hocevar has turned his bid to win the fan vote into a campaign.
The driver of the No. 77 Premier Security Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 opted to turn to Cameo to enlist the help of celebrities like Sketch, a Twitch streamer. Then they found several of Hocevar’s competitors on the platform. With a clever message about a class vote and some editing, Anthony Alfredo, Austin Dillon, and Kaz Grala were all tricked into throwing their support behind Hocevar in video messages.
“We originally were going to get Sketch, we were trying to get him and then we (were) just having to look for NASCAR drivers and just saw there’s a lot of guys that had one and just thought of it,” Hocevar recalled. “Obviously Bubba has done it before, so it wasn’t a 100% original idea, but you know it’s pretty funny and it worked out.”
The fun didn’t end with the cameo videos. Hocevar and his team spent another day filming at Dirty Mo’ Media after Hocevar hopped on The Dale Jr Download Reloaded. The Portage, MI native embraced his inner Dale Earnhardt Jr. and started doing impressions of the NASCAR Hall of Famer, including the infamous “what does Kyle Petty have to do with this” line.
Hocevar also did impressions of Ross Chastain, Denny Hamlin, and Chase Elliott. Each were met with praise and laughter for the creativity from race fans on social media.
“The cameo I had fun with it, but it was over really quick,” Hocevar admitted. “We spent a whole day almost filming the other one and having fun and I went to Dirty Mo’ and did the (Dale Jr Download) Reloaded and then sat in Dale’s chair. There’s so many Dale impressions that weren’t even shown just because I just kept asking them like, ‘what quotes do you guys do of Dale in here because that’s the quotes I want.’ And then the Kyle Petty quote was the funniest one.”
Overall, the campaigning for the fan vote has allowed Hocevar, Justin Haley, and others to break out of their shell and be themselves. The 21-year-old conceded that his team isn’t currently at the point where they could win a race to qualify for the All-Star Race. Spire Motorsports’ only Cup win came in a weather shortened race at Daytona Int’l Speedway with Haley in 2019.
Instead, Hocevar is looking at the All-Star Race as an opportunity to get track time. With practice largely limited to 20 minutes at most events, the 200-lap exhibition race is an opportunity for the rookie driver. Hocevar viewed that if being silly and having some fun was the price to pay to get extra seat time, then it was ultimately worth it.
“I’ve just had a lot of fun with (campaigning for the fan vote),” Hocevar explained. “I’m very happy that I get to do what I do and get to showcase myself a little bit. I’d be having as much fun as I am without cameras or social media or anything, you know I’m. But I obviously want to be able to show that in the film, but it kind of let me get out of my shell a little bit.
“Obviously, we want to run good, and we want to make the All-Star Race, somehow win a race, right and be locked in, right. But truthfully, that’s not where we’re at as a race team yet. I look at it more as a performance deal. That’s another race that we can try and get in and there’s only 20 minutes of practice anywhere we go, so 200 laps worth of practice for a race would be huge. And if the price to pay is doing what I love to do is just having fun, that’s an easy price to pay.”
Voting for drivers not currently locked into the NASCAR All-Star Race is open and fans can vote up to five times each day. The voting period ends at 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 19.
The NASCAR All-Star Open at North Wilkesboro Speedway is scheduled for Sunday, May 19 at 5:30 p.m. ET with the All-Star Race itself at 8:00 p.m. ET. The races will be broadcast on Fox Sports 1, the Performance Racing Network, and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, channel 90.