NASCAR CEO likes what Carson Hocevar “brings to the fan base,” but says on-track work remains

NASCAR wants to see Carson Hocevar succeed. He has emerged as a prominent new personality with a growing fan base that goes beyond traditional NASCAR fans. He went viral for his wild Talladega post-race celebration, creates content on YouTube and streams on Twitch, attended the Met Gala, and was even named to Time’s 100 Most Influential People in Sports list.

His rise has also been accompanied by controversy. Hocevar’s aggressive style on the track has brought a lot of scrutiny his way, and his response to running over competitors hasn’t helped either. After his latest run-in at Martinsville, his own team opted to suspend him for the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, while NASCAR hit him with a $100,000 fine and points deduction.

It’s a tightrope for NASCAR to walk, as it wants drivers to show personality, but they also have to maintain a level of professionalism. 

NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell said said NASCAR has had conversations with drivers about encouraging them to ‘be themselves,’ saying in his State of the Sport address: “Ryan Preece is a guy that I talk to him a lot about this, of drivers being themselves. Our job is to encourage drivers to be themselves. We talked about sponsorship. There is a balance there. We recognize that balance.

“But I think what we’re seeing is the more drivers are themselves and the more they let people in with their personality, the more they’re going to be recognized, the more fan engagement we have.”
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Asked specifically about Hocevar, the NASCAR CEO said “there’s certainly some challenges, but I like what he brings to the fan base in terms of going out, meeting with fans, talking. Does he have some things to work on on track? Absolutely, and we’ve talked about that, and we all know where that stands today.

“But I think if you look at licensed merchandise, engagement, fans are really hungry to embrace a driver, to find their driver, and the more drivers we can have the fans say that’s my favorite driver, the better the sport will be. We are working with them and encouraging them to do that, but that’s a long journey for sure.”

Watch: Hocevar talks Cindric brake check: ‘We’re just having fun’

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