Things are only speeding up for Carson Hocevar. The win at Talladega has allowed his popularity to take off, and you can already see it at the race track. On Saturday, Hocevar was busy in the merch hauler, signing away, and he made it through every single fan who showed up.
Carson Hocevar is clearly embracing his newfound role as the fresh new face of NASCAR. There's nothing saying a driver has to sign every autograph for every fan who shows up to the merch hauler, but that's what Hocevar did.
When he's not signing autographs or racing, Hocevar is generally watching the races. Sometimes he will even sit in the stands. This crowd of fans was as long as three or four of the merch trailers. According to Jeff Gluck of The Athletic, Hocevar made sure every fan had their chance to get an autograph before he went to watch the O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race.
It is funny what a win can do for a driver and a team. Getting the win at Talladega, and doing his victory celebration how he did it, that won over a ton of fans. There were so many people who wanted to go all-in, and when a driver becomes a winner, it makes it a lot easier to make the move.
If you look at the video there are fans with Hocevar merch, Logano merch, and just about everything in between. Being able to not only win over fans, but fans of rival drivers, now that is impressive.
Spire Motorsports believes in Hocevar. That's why they locked him down to a huge contract extension earlier this year. Now that he's a winner, the sky is the limit. If he were to somehow win the All-Star Race, Dover might not survive the celebration on Sunday.
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on May 16, 2026, where it first appeared in the Racing section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
