Michigan Native Carson Hocevar Living the Dream as Rising NASCAR Star

Carson Hocevar grew up just 80 miles from Michigan International Speedway and attended his first race there at age 5. As a kid in Portage, he dreamed of becoming a NASCAR driver who made headlines.

Now 22, Hocevar is doing exactly that.

Image: Carson Hocevar | Yahoo Sports

Last week, he made waves by bumping Ricky Stenhouse Jr. out of the race in Nashville. His aggressive approach has sparked conversation in a sport where young drivers often struggle to balance boldness with control.

“It’s cool to be talked about,” Hocevar said Saturday, ahead of the FireKeepers Casino 400. “Obviously, you want to be talked about maybe in a different light. But I mean, at least they’re talking, right? And, I think that’s big for me.”

Earlier in the week, Hocevar called Stenhouse to discuss the Lap 106 incident, where contact from behind sent Stenhouse into the wall. Both drivers said the talk went well.

“I don’t think he crashed me on purpose,” Stenhouse said. “But I think he was super impatient. We’ve never had any issues. He’s had plenty of issues with other people.”