Carson Hocevar is the next driver to pilot the #42 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 of Legacy Motor Club as he joins the team for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Darlington Raceway.
He takes over the #42 from Josh Berry, who in turn was serving as the car’s interim oval driver following Noah Gragson‘s indefinite suspension and eventual departure. He finished thirty-fourth and twenty-second in his two races while Mike Rockenfeller drove the car at Indianapolis and Watkins Glen as a road course ringer, scoring its best finish at a non-superspeedway of ninteenth at the latter.
Hocevar is currently fifth in the Craftsman Truck Series playoff standings and coming off a runner-up finish at Milwaukee on Sunday. He has three wins on the 2023 season including the regular season finale at Richmond.
Regarded as one of Chevrolet’s top prospects, Hocevar has been running a part-time Xfinity Series schedule for Spire Motorsports, scoring top tens in his first two starts with the team. In June, he ran his maiden Cup race at Gateway for Spire while Corey LaJoie was in Hendrick Motorsports’ #9 but retired with a brake rotor failure.
“This is a great opportunity to get some seat time in the Cup Series and help out the team at Legacy MC,” said Hocevar. “I had the chance earlier this year to race at St. Louis in the Cup Series. I’m looking forward to working with Luke (Lambert, crew chief) and the #42 team, and if anyone knows how to get around Darlington, Erik Jones does, so it will be great to have him as a team-mate.”
He was originally scheduled to run Saturday’s Xfinity race at Darlington with Spire.
“Carson is a very talented driver and has a bright future,” commented team CEO Cal Wells III. “We are thankful to Chevrolet, Spire Motorsports, and Niece Motorsports for making this happen and look forward to seeing what he can do in the #42 this weekend.”
The #42—and Legacy Motor Club as a whole—has struggled in 2023. Even before Gragson’s departure, the rookie was the worst full-time driver in the standings, while the #42 is currently a paltry thirty-third in owner points. Ironically, Hocevar’s Truck championship rival and Milwaukee winner Grant Enfinger substituted for Gragson at Sonoma after Gragson suffered a concussion in a crash at Gateway, also for a brake rotor explosion like Hocevar.
He has top-five finishes in all three of his career Truck starts at Darlington including a second in 2022, alogn with a sixth in the Xfinity race there with Spire in May.
