XFINITY: Unable to hear his crew, Carson Hocevar unwittingly climbs out after minor crash
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
SCREENSHOT: The CW, @TheCW_Sports
Carson Hocevar picked up the 2nd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in Saturday’s Focused Health 250 at the Circuit of the Americas when his #14 Trophy Tractor Chevrolet crashed after 3 of 65 laps.
The finish, which came in Hocevar’s sixth series start, was his first of the season and the first since March 25, 2023 in this same event, 63 races ago. In the XFINITY Series’ last-place rankings, it was the 10th for the #14, the 406th from a crash, and the 656th for Chevrolet. Across NASCAR’s top three series, it was the 63rd for the #14, the 1,408th from a crash, and the 1,976th for Chevrolet.
Just last week in Atlanta, Hocevar thrilled the crowd and angered his fellow drivers as he twice forced his way through the middle lane in a bid for his first career Cup Series win. He came up just short as the caution fell short of the finish line, though he still walked away with a career-best runner-up finish.
Hocevar wasn’t slated to run double-duty this weekend at COTA – that only came together on Monday, when Garrett Smithley tweeted that he would hand the wheel to Hocevar as Smithley wasn’t confident in his road racing abilities. This put Hocevar into Bobby Dotter’s #14 with Smithley’s longtime sponsor Trophy Tractor. So long as he qualified, Hocevar would make his first XFINITY start since August 5, 2023 at Michigan. That same year saw Hocevar make his series debut at the COTA track in another Bobby Dotter car – the #07 – where he stepped in after Blaine Perkins was released from the team. That day, Hocevar finished last after the transmission failed just eight laps into the race.
This time around, 41 drivers would attempt to make the 38-car field on the track’s short course, bringing the lap count up from 48 to 65 laps. In practice, Hocevar did show speed, ranking 10th overall. He then earned 24th on the grid with a lap of 99.572 seconds (86.771mph). He also qualified 4th for Sunday’s Cup race with Spire Motorsports.
Sent home after a particularly competitive qualifying session were two-thirds of the Alpha Prime Racing team as both Brad Perez missed the cut in the #45 Apex Coffee / Weiss Sand & Clay Chevrolet along with teammate Parker Retzlaff, wrecked out of the lead battle on the last lap of last week’s Atlanta race, in the #4 Noxzema Chevrolet. The third DNQ was Thomas Annunziata, attempting to make his season debut for upstart Cope Family Racing. Annunziata ranked 22nd in practice, but on his qualifying lap lost the oil pump belt, causing the engine to lock up on his #70 Bayshore Mortgage Chevrolet.
Securing the 38th and final starting spot was Ryan Sieg, whose #39 Sci Aps Ford spun, then broke an axle during practice. This incurred him a redundant tail-end penalty. In all, another nine drivers were also sent to the back before the start for various infractions: 11th-place Jesse Love, the Daytona winner, in the #2 Whelen Chevrolet; 20th-place Austin Green in the #32 Volpi Chevrolet, 25th-place Preston Pardus in the #50 Chinchor Electric Inc. Chevrolet, 26th-place Josh Bilicki in the #91 Insurance King Chevrolet, 31st-place Harrison Burton for an axle failure on his #25 DEX Imaging Ford, 33rd-place Kris Wright in the #5 First National Bank Corp Chevrolet, 34th-place Ryan Ellis in the #71 Classic Collision Chevrolet, 36th-place Kyle Sieg in the #28 RSS Racing Ford, and 37th-place Baltazar Leguizamon, the Argentinian driver making his NASCAR national series debut in the #35 KSW Construction Corp / Speed Agro Chevrolet.
When the race started, Ryan Sieg was still last across the stripe, showing 6.768 seconds back of the leader to 37th-place Leguizamon’s 6.705. Coming off the final corner to complete Lap 1, Ryan Ellis’ #71 was spun in heavy traffic, and he dropped to the tail end of the field, already 22.888 seconds back of the lead. By then, Sieg had jumped to 35th with Leguizamon now 37th. The next time by, Leguizamon made contact with Preston Pardus’ #50, tearing the sidewall on one of Pardus’ tires. Pardus made it to pit road on Lap 3, dropping him 58.181 back of the lead with Ellis now 37th, six seconds back of Leguizamon. Pardus’ crew quickly changed tires and sent him back out, just as the day’s first caution fell.
Heading into Turn 6A, the new “shortcut” that trimmed the track’s lap distance, Hocevar was running around 18th place to the right of Jeb Burton’s #27 State Water Heaters Chevrolet. Hocevar appeared to cross Burton’s nose, and the contact with Hocevar’s left-rear caused his car to pull straight, aiming straight into a tire barrier. The impact didn’t appear serious – there was only minor damage to the right-front corner and the hood still lay flat. But mere seconds later – as the trailing Pardus finally dropped him to last place – Hocevar dropped the window net and climbed out. Hocevar would say in his interview that his radio wasn’t working, and he couldn’t re-fire the engine. He also thought he could be leaking fluid and didn’t want to risk further damage to the team’s car. With no way of verifying this over the radio, he climbed out. The team remained confused as Hocevar’s car was towed. The truck had to stop for a moment as the car’s rear wheels were locked, perhaps from a gear issue or the transmission not put into neutral. A flatbed was then used to finally bring the car to the garage on Lap 12.
Leguizamon made it just 17 laps on Saturday, taking 37th after his car broke down just before the end of Stage 1. NASCAR declared him out on Lap 27. Pardus took 36th after a litany of mechanical issues, including the sway bar and rear end, before a tube ripped out of the center housing that sent them behind the wall on Lap 34. He was declared out on Lap 38. Harrison Burton stayed out to win Stage 2 ahead of several underdogs, but in the final laps suffered an axle failure heading into Turn 1, dropping his #25 to 35th. Sage Kram, who finished 9th in that stage, rounded out the group after late-race issues on the #53 Eternal Fan Toyota. Karam was a late announcement to run the #53, and for much of the week lacked any sponsorship.
Perkins scores first top-ten finish in more than two years
While the penalized Ryan Sieg (19th) and Ryan Ellis (16th) both managed to claw their way back into the top half of the field in the final laps, the underdog run of the day belonged to Blaine Perkins in the #31 Werner Chevrolet. Perkins worked his way up to 10th in the final ten laps and soon caught the eye of The CW’s cameras as he battled William Sawalich for 9th. Perkins took the checkered flag in 10th, matching his career-best run from October 29, 2022 at Martinsville.
THE BOTTOM FIVE
38) #14-Carson Hocevar / 3 laps / crash
37) #35-Baltazar Leguizamon / 17 laps / suspension
36) #50-Preston Pardus / 26 laps / rear end
35) #25-Harrison Burton / 55 laps / axle / led 5 laps / won stage 2
34) #53-Sage Karam / 58 laps / transmission
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES OWNER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Joe Gibbs Racing, Kaulig Racing, SS-Green Light Racing (1)
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES MANUFACTURER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
1st) Chevrolet (2)
2nd) Toyota (1)
2025 LASTCAR XFINITY SERIES DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP
