Carson Hocevar retains realistic expectations for his first full season on the NASCAR Cup Series.
But the pilot of Spire Motorsports’ No. 77 Chevrolet does expect to finish among the series’ three rookies.
“The biggest thing for me is just being in the field, even having a Cup car, period, let alone racing in the Daytona 500,” Hocevar said, as reported by NASCAR.com. “It all just seems so big.”
Hocevar competed in seven Cup events for a few garages last season, including Spire. His best outing came at Bristol Motor Speedway, placing 11th when he served as a substitute driver for Legacy Motor Club.
Of the circuit’s three rookies, two will drive for Spire. Zane Smith, the 2022 Truck Series champion, will drive the No. 71 Chevrolet. The third rookie is Josh Berry, who takes over the No. 4 Ford for Stewart-Haas Racing.
“The goal on our whiteboard is definitely win Rookie of the Year,” Hocevar said. “Spire has two shots at it, but the No. 77 team definitely wants to be that one to get it.”
still thankful for this group.
last year this car was 33rd in qualifying, and this year we were 0.015 from putting 2 cars in the show. will continue to build with our process to keep getting better and show the speed i have been fortunate enough to show in a cup car so far! 👊 pic.twitter.com/bQ62GwPWhb
— Carson Hocevar (@CarsonHocevar) February 4, 2024
NASCAR Speedweeks Schedule
Here is a list of NASCAR’s Speedweeks events at Daytona International Speedway (All Times ET):
Wednesday
- 8:15 p.m.: Cup Series Daytona 500 qualifying
Thursday
- 4:05 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series practice
- 5:05 p.m.: Truck Series practice
- 7 p.m.: Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel 1
- 8:45 p.m. (approximately): Cup Series Bluegreen Vacations Duel 2
Friday
- 1:30 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series qualifying
- 3 p.m.: Truck Series qualifying
- 4:35 p.m.: Xfinity Series practice
- 5:35 p.m.: Cup Series practice
- 7:30 p.m.: Truck Series Fresh from Florida 250 race
Saturday
- 10:30 a.m.: Cup Series final practice
- 11:30 a.m.: Xfinity Series qualifying
- 1:30 p.m.: ARCA Menards Series Daytona ARCA 300 race
- 5 p.m.: Xfinity Series United Rentals 300 race
Sunday
- 2:30 p.m.: Cup Series Daytona 500 race
One week until the pinnacle of stock car racing. One week until the Daytona 500. pic.twitter.com/bDx7MrFIFV
— Brett (@22fan4ever) February 12, 2024
NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 Entry List
Entry, Driver, Team, Car No.
- 1, Ross Chastain, Trackhouse Racing, No. 1 Chevrolet
- 2, Austin Cindric, Team Penske, No. 2 Ford
- 3, Austin Dillon, Richard Childress Racing, No. 3 Chevrolet
- 4, Josh Berry, Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 4 Ford
- 5, Kyle Larson, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 5 Chevrolet
- 6, Brad Keselowski, RFK Racing, No. 6 Ford
- 7, Corey LaJoie, Spire Motorsports, No. 7 Chevrolet
- 8, Kyle Busch, Richard Childress Racing, No. 8 Chevrolet
- 9, Chase Elliott, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 9 Chevrolet
- 10, Noah Gragson, Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 10 Ford
- 11, Denny Hamlin, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 11 Toyota
- 12, Ryan Blaney, Team Penske, No. 12 Ford
- 13, Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 14 Ford
- 14, Riley Herbst, Rick Ware Racing, No. 15 Ford
- 15, AJ Allmendinger, Kaulig Racing, No. 16 Chevrolet
- 16, Chris Buescher, RFK Racing, No. 17 Ford
- 17, Martin Truex Jr., Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 19 Toyota
- 18, Christopher Bell, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 20 Toyota
- 19, Harrison Burton, Wood Brothers Racing, No. 21 Ford
- 20, Joey Logano, Team Penske, No. 22 Ford
- 21, Bubba Wallace, 23XI Racing, No. 23 Toyota
- 22, William Byron, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 24 Chevrolet
- 23, Daniel Hemric, Kaulig Racing, No. 31 Chevrolet
- 24, Michael McDowell, Front Row Motorsports, 34 Ford
- 25, Kaz Grala, Front Row Motorsports, No. 36 Ford
- 26, Todd Gilliland, Front Row Motorsports, No. 38 Ford
- 27, Ryan Preece, Stewart-Haas Racing, No. 41 Ford
- 28, John Hunter Nemechek, Legacy Motor Club, No. 42 Chevrolet
- 29, Erik Jones, Legacy Motor Club, No. 43 Chevrolet
- 30, TBA, NY Racing Team
- 31, Tyler Reddick, 23XI Racing, No.45 Toyota
- 32, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., JTG Daugherty Racing, No. 47 Chevrolet
- 33, Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, No. 48 Chevrolet
- 34, Justin Haley, Rick Ware Racing, No. 51 Ford
- 35, Ty Gibbs, Joe Gibbs Racing, No. 54 Toyota
- 36, David Ragan, RFK Racing, No. 60 Ford
- 37, Anthony Alfredo, Beard Motorsports, No. 62 Chevrolet
- 38, Zane Smith, Spire Motorsports, No. 71 Chevrolet
- 39, Carson Hocevar, Spire Motorsports, No. 77 Chevrolet
- 40, BJ McLeod, Live Fast Motorsports, No. 78 Chevrolet
- 41, Jimmie Johnson, Legacy Motor Club, No. 84
- 42, Daniel Suárez, Trackhouse Racing, No. 99 Chevrolet
Daytona 500 time 👀
— Chase Briscoe (@ChaseBriscoe_14) February 12, 2024
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