Carson Hocevar In Full Support of NASCAR Relaxing Limit on Cup Drivers Racing in the Lower Series

NASCAR could soon be allowing Cup Series drivers to participate more in the Xfinity Series and the Craftsman Truck Series. Ever since this talk came into the fold, several drivers have been expressing their excitement about it. Spire Motorsports driver Carson Hocevar was asked for his stance on the possibility during his visit to World Wide Technology Raceway last weekend.

Kyle Busch had said last week that he judges whether a driver in the lower tiers is ready for the Cup Series by assessing how he or she races against the Cup Series drivers. This was pointed out to Hocevar before he was asked if he ever graded himself against the Cup Series drivers when they came out to race against him in the Craftsman Truck Series.

Hocevar replied, “Yeah, I mean, I think any time you’re racing a Cup guy in Trucks or Xfinity, you know, ultimately their owners are watching that and that’s how they really grade it.”

He expressed strong clarity about the idea that winning a race with Cup Series drivers on the grid was always better than winning with none of them on it. He also used himself as an example.

“I’m here because I got to go to a Cup field and race against them and got thrown to the deep end and I didn’t sink right away,” Hocevar continued.

“So yeah, I think that’s the biggest thing. If I never got that shot, I would just be hoping Cup guys would come run Trucks and maybe I can outrun them.”

The No. 77 Chevy driver added how he had won the pole at Sonoma Raceway as a Truck Series driver once. The achievement had meant a lot more just because there were four Cup Series drivers right behind him. Such days serve as a huge confidence boost for youngsters in the lower tiers and with good reason.

Former driver Kenny Wallace expressed support as well. He felt bad for drivers because they couldn’t race against the big dogs. “They don’t have an opportunity now to outrun the best,” he said in a YouTube video.

“They don’t have an opportunity to outrun the Cup drivers. So, although it seemed like this grand idea, what it’s done now is it has dumbed down the Xfinity Series and the Truck Series.”

With such advantages to it, NASCAR allowing the Cup Series drivers to race more in the lower tiers will only prove to be beneficial for all parties.