Spire Motorsports driver Carson Hocevar is ready to lead the field to the green flag for the first time.
Hocevar, in his second season as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series wheelman, captured the pole in Saturday’s qualifying session for Sunday’s Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway.
Hocevar, who blazed a fast lap of 191.659 miles per hour around the 1.5-mile track, will be joined on the front row by William Byron (191.564 mph). A Hendrick Motorsports driver, Byron is the NASCAR Cup Series points leader and opened the season by winning the Daytona 500 for the second year in a row.
Team Penske driver Austin Cindric, last week’s winner at Talladega, will start third in the Lone Star State. Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race winner, Kyle Larson, and Hocevar’s Spire Motorsports teammate Michael McDowell rounded out the top five in Cup Series qualifying.
However, it was Hocevar who stole the show by achieving a personal milestone: claiming his first career NASCAR Cup Series pole. He also made a little history in the process.
“Wow.” @CarsonHocevar to the top, and it’s not even close! #BuschLightPole pic.twitter.com/jKZToiT8oD
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 3, 2025
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Carson Hocevar Breaks A Texas Motor Speedway Record In NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying
Carson Hocevar’s pole-winning effort at Texas Motor Speedway came ahead of his 56th NASCAR Cup Series start.
More important for historical purposes, though, the 22-year-old Michigan native became the youngest NASCAR Cup Series polesitter in Texas Motor Speedway history.
That distinction previously belonged to Brian Vickers, who paced Texas qualifying in 2006 as a driver for Hendrick Motorsports. Vickers, who has since retired from the sport, was 23 at the time.
Hocevar, for his part, was just thankful to unload in Texas with a Chevrolet capable of challenging for a coveted spot on Sunday’s starting grid. After turning the quickest lap in practice earlier Saturday, Hocevar believed he had a chance to contend for the pole.
“Really fortunate, really thankful to have a fast car,” Hocevar said. “Obviously, (I was) fastest in practice, and you want to do it again in qualifying and be able to back that up.”
Mission accomplished.
Can Carson Hocevar Finish Where He Starts At Texas Motor Speedway?
Thrilled as he is to have his first career pole, Carson Hocevar knows that using it as a springboard to his first career NASCAR Cup Series victory will be a tall order.
He’s certainly not conceding defeat, however. After all, Hocevar arrived in Texas fresh off a solid sixth-place finish last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway, where he led three laps.
Earlier this year, at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Race Two of the 2025 season, Hocevar notched a career-best second-place finish. So, the youngster has shown flashes of tremendous potential as he looks to establish himself as a driver capable of becoming one of NASCAR’s biggest stars.
But right now, Hocevar isn’t too worried about the big picture. It’s all about Sunday and getting the best finish he possibly can in a car that boasts plenty of speed. Securing the first pit stall — a big perk of qualifying P1 — should help his cause.
“I think the most important for us is being able to kind of determine our own fate a little bit more with pit road; how everybody’s going to have different agendas at times of two or none or four (tires) or whatever the case may be,” Hocevar said after qualifying on Saturday. “Having to go all the way down pit road and having an open out is going to be super-important for us just trying to play that game and knowing that. Hopefully, it clogs some other guys up and we can take advantage there.”
No matter what Sunday holds, Saturday was a very good day for Hocevar.
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