After his triumphant victory in 2023 at the same Fort Worth facility, Carson Hocevar made his Truck Series return on Friday, May 2, at the Speedycash.com 250 with high expectations. Sadly, his Truck Series return was derailed by technical issues. However, what truly grabbed headlines was his blunt post-race reaction to a bizarre pit lane incident involving Toni Breidinger.
Carson Hocevar Explains the Pit Road Confusion at Texas
Spire Motorsports went all in on Friday’s Truck Series race at the Fort Worth facility. The Chevy garage fielded four fierce entries, vying for a decisive result. Besides regulars like Rajah Caruth and Andrés Pérez de Lara, Jeff Dickerson and Co. roped in Hocevar to the No. 7 and Xfinity Series full-timer Nick Sanchez to the No. 07 trucks.
Yet Caruth was the only driver who could secure a top-five finish. Despite high hopes, Hocevar, who picked up the first of his four Truck Series wins at Texas, failed. In effect, the No. 7 Chevy ran on an empty battery.
After the race, the 22-year-old explained his struggles: “It kind of started all day. We were running like fifth and had to come change batteries and then got back up front, and I had to run all my fans off.”
To salvage what was left of the race, Hocevar pitted from second to change his battery on Lap 140 but found himself in a rather awkward position on Lap 143. As the No. 7 driver left his pit stall, he nudged Breidinger’s Toyota, which was trying to go into the garage.
“I don’t know what was happening; it was bad judgment maybe on me to know they’re going to go into the garage … so I couldn’t tell,” said the Spire driver on the confusing pit road incident, acknowledging that the confusion on the pit road may have stemmed from his own misread of the situation.
He added, “You know, normally right of way is the guy out, or at least you would think, but I mean, ultimately, our day was over already, but, yeah, added insult to injury a little bit.”
However, the sanctioning body didn’t quite leave it; they were not happy with Breidinger, her crew chief, or her spotter, in this situation. Soon, all three were called to the NASCAR hauler for explanations. As for Hocevar, he ended his day in 17th, while the Tricon Garage racer, who was fighting alternator issues throughout the race, went out with a limp and a 26th-place finish.