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Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn't want Carson Hocevar to change
Driver Carson Hocevar. Mike Dinovo-Imagn Images

Dale Earnhardt Jr. doesn't want Carson Hocevar to change

Carson Hocevar's all-take, no-give driving style in the NASCAR Cup Series has prompted plenty of comparisons and conversations, but one NASCAR Hall of Famer doesn't want the third-year driver to change how he races.

On Tuesday, Dale Earnhardt Jr. explained why he wants Hocevar to remain aggressive on the racetrack. 

Dale Jr. doesn't want Carson Hocevar to change

"I don't want him to change," Earnhardt Jr. said. "I don't want Hocevar to change. I want this sport to be bigger than any other sport. I want it to be watched by tens of millions of people every week. And that's where we need Hocevar. 

"We need people like Hocevar. We need people like [Cup Series rookie] Connor Zilisch. We need all these very great, awesome, different personalities. And we need to be celebrating that."

Earnhardt Jr. noted that he said he tells Hocevar that it's when he's invisible on the track that he's in trouble. 

Hocevar is yet to win a Cup Series race, but he's been in contention often to start 2026. He led at the white flag in the Daytona 500 on Feb. 15 and at Atlanta on Feb. 22. 

Hocevar is 10th in the Cup Series standings going into the fourth race of the season at Phoenix on Sunday. 

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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