NASCAR driver Carson Hocevar cleverly shrugs off Daytona wreck
This weekend, The Chase begins. NASCAR Cup Series drivers enter a 10-race run to the finish of the 2026 season. Carson Hocevar is one of the 16 drivers that advanced into The Chase.
With 6 laps to go in the regular-season finale at Daytona, Carson Hocevar turned to the bottom while racing for 2nd. The car over-rotated and as he corrected he slammed the outside wall.
Hocevar finished the day in 38th. Despite that, he gained hundreds of points on leader Denny Hamlin.
Entering The Chase, NASCAR resets the points. The leader now just has a 25-point advantage. Hocevar sees this as a huge point gain…
NASCAR points after Daytona International Speedway (August 2026)
“We’ve been above The Chase [cutline] ever since the Duels,” Carson Hocevar told Bob Pockrass.
“We were comfortably in and that was kind of our goal. We won a race. I thought that was big for our whole team.”
“We’ve just enjoyed it. There’s a lot of things that you can’t 100% control.”
“Everybody’s like, ‘You lost a few spots in The Chase’. Yeah, but Daytona was my biggest points gain. I gained like 300 points on Denny.”
“So, I thought it was a positive week.”
