Is Carson Hocevar a legit NASCAR title contender?

Don't look now, but there's a storm brewing in the chase for the NASCAR Cup Series championship.

Carson Hocevar, dubbed "Hurricane Hocevar" for his aggressive, chaotic driving style, is up to fifth in the Cup Series standings after starting on the pole, leading 31 laps and finishing ninth in Sunday's Brickyard 400. 

With four races left in the regular season, Hocevar is in prime position to be a top five seed when the Chase begins at Darlington on Sept. 6. 

Hocevar's season has been far from perfect, but he's avoided any disastrous results. For all the talk about how aggressive he is and how many accidents he is a part of, he's finished all 22 races this season and only has one finish outside of the top 30. 

Carson Hocevar putting himself in position to chase a championship

His 113 stage points are a big reason why he's so far up in the standings, as is the consistent speed that Spire Motorsports and his No. 77 team in particular bring to the racetrack each week. When Hocevar is fast, he's fast — as evidenced by his five top five finishes, which is more than the likes of Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, William Byron and Bubba Wallace this season. 

Hocevar has been consistently quick enough this season where it's no longer a surprise to see him running inside the top five or top 10. He's fast off the truck every weekend and has been doing a good job of maximizing days and mitigating damage. 

With that said, it wouldn't be surprising if he made headlines for the wrong reasons in the Chase by making an over-aggressive move that does in his title chances. For all of the deserved commendation Hocevar has received this season, he's also gotten is fair share of warranted criticism. 

But he's put himself in position to chase a title, and in modern-day NASCAR, that's all you can do. 

Is Hocevar a championship favorite? Certainly not. As good as he's been this year, he's not in the same zip code as Blaney, Denny Hamlin or Tyler Reddick. 

But if he continues to keep his nose clean, run up front and the aforementioned drivers run into trouble in the Chase, the No. 77 could be there to spoil the party and make a surprisingly strong run at the Cup.