FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — Carson Hocevar is suddenly spending a lot of time out front in NASCAR and already is feeling different as a Cup race winner.
Hocevar will start on the front row at Texas for the second year in a row on Sunday, a week after his breakthrough victory at Talladega in his 91st Cup start. He earned the pole again in the Lone Star State, even after running with the back half of the pack during practice earlier Saturday.
“Internally for sure, I think (a win) establishes all of us that we’re all winners,” Hocevar said of his Spire Motorsports team. “Probably before Talladega, I’m trying to win practice, win qualifying and try to talk myself into we’re going to win the race. ... Everybody’s just kind of slower and more relaxed and everything. I can just tell by the way they’re pulling the hood pins and the little things. They just have a lot of confidence.”
Oh, and Hocevar already has been to Victory Lane this weekend in Texas, winning the Truck Series race Friday night. And he celebrated similarly to how he did after winning at Talladega, hanging out of the window of his Chevrolet while doing a burnout.
Hocevar, who last year at age 22 became the youngest pole sitter ever at Texas and then led the first 22 laps, earned his second career Cup pole with a lap of 191.340 mph. That was just .0003 seconds ahead of Spire teammate Daniel Suarez (191.320 mph), who overcame a flat tire in practice.
“There’s not quite often that I’d sit there and just go, 22nd in practice and I go, yeah, we’re going to win the pole as long as I don’t mess this up,” Hocevar said. “Especially when I saw Daniel roll out, our cars are very similar.”
The defending race champion is Joey Logano, who hasn’t won in his 35 races since an overtime win at Texas last spring. He starts 23rd.
Chastain and the changed Texas track
Ross Chastain had runner-up finishes at Texas last year and in 2023. In between that, he led 33 laps before some late front-row restarts, including one in overtime. He then got bumped from behind and crashed before finishing the last lap in 2024.
“We’ve just done a good job there of executing throughout the race,” Chastain said. “A lot of times at the ends of the Texas races, I’m on old tires hanging on trying to stay in front of people.”
In a season when Chastain hasn’t been fast enough to consistently compete up front, he did get to Texas with some momentum. He led 22 laps in his Trackhouse Racing Chevy last week at Talladega, where he got a stage win and points in each stage on the way to finishing seventh.
The track, which opened in 1997, was repaved in 2017 when the banking in Turns 1 and 2 was reduced and racing surface there widened from 60 to 80 feet. But there were no changes to Turns 3 and 4, taking away what had been similar ends to the track.
Chastain said that has created a yo-yo effect with speeds down through the first two turns, and up through Turns 3 and 4.
“When I’m in the car, it’s frustrating. When I get out and watch, or I watch the other series when I am there on the weekend, it’s great. I love watching,” he said.
“Now you can move around and you can run different parts of the track,” Logano said. “It’s actually been really good."
Crew chief change for the No. 8
Kyle Busch has changed crew chiefs after a tough start to the season. The No. 8 Richard Childress Racing team is 27th in the Cup standings even after its first top-10 finish last week at Talladega. Busch qualified sixth at Texas, where he is a four-time winner.
Andy Street is taking over as crew chief, reassuming a role he had for Busch for the final five races last season. He replaces Jim Pohlman after 10 races.
“We’re not where we need to be," Busch said. “There’s got to be a change somewhere.”
Logano's tough luck
Three-time Cup champion Logano had an early crash and finished 39th out of 40 cars at Talladega. That is part of a seven-race stretch for the Team Penske Ford with two top-10 finishes and four others 30th or worse.
Logano looks for a boost at Texas, where he also won the 2014 spring race and has 11 other top-five finishes.
"A solid run is much needed,” Logano said. “I have a little confidence here ... hopefully it feels the same as last year.”
Odds and ends
This will be the 46th Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. Jimmie Johnson’s seven wins and 1,152 laps led are the most at Texas. Busch is second in both categories with his four wins and 1,069 laps led. Two of Busch’s wins have been since the 2017 repave and reconfiguration. ... Tyler Reddick, who has won five of the 10 races this season, is one of only two drivers to complete all 2,805 laps this season. The other is RFK Racing driver Ryan Preece, who has only two top-10 finishes and 25 laps led. ... Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson and Reddick are the favorites among sportsbooks.
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