2026 Season Notes
Hocevar is in his third season as the full-time driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet, paired with crew chief Luke Lambert. The 2026 Cup season is the one that delivered the breakthrough, his first career Cup Series win at Talladega Superspeedway on April 26 in the Jack Link's 500.
The Talladega Win: His 91st Cup Start
Hocevar took the checkered flag at Talladega by 0.114 seconds over RFK Racing's Chris Buescher in his 91st career Cup Series start. The win locked him into the 2026 All-Star Race at Dover (where he raced as a Cup regular, not as one of the open-entry qualifiers).
The celebration earned its own coverage. Hocevar pulled to the apron, positioned his 6-foot-4 frame on the edge of the driver-side door, removed the steering wheel, dropped the clutch, quickly reattached the wheel, found the throttle, and made a slow door-perched victory pass along the main straight in the No. 77.
Career Path
Hocevar made his Cup debut in 2023 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway, substituting in Spire's No. 7 Chevrolet when Corey LaJoie was promoted into Hendrick Motorsports' No. 9 to fill in for a suspended Chase Elliott. He became Spire's No. 77 full-time driver the following season and won the 2024 Cup Series Rookie of the Year.
Career Stats
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Cup Series wins | 1 (Talladega, April 26, 2026: his 91st career start) |
| Cup Series career | Third full season (2024 ROY, 2025, 2026): plus the 2023 substitute debut at Gateway |
| 2024 Cup Series award | Rookie of the Year |
| Highest finish prior to first win | (Pending refresh on next update) |
Related Pages
Draft profile. Hometown city and a fully populated recent-coverage list pending on the next refresh. Hero image pending, strong Talladega victory candidate exists in NASCAR.com archive.