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Carson Hocevar to drive No. 42 car for Legacy Motor Club at Darlington

JHby:Jonathan Howard•08/28/23•

Jondean25

Carson Hocevar Daytona
Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

This weekend Carson Hocevar is heading to Darlington for the Southern 500 as he will pilot the No. 42 Legacy Motor Club entry. Earlier this season, Hocevar made his NASCAR Cup Series debut as he drove the No. 7 Chevy for Spire Motorsports at Gateway while Corey LaJoie replaced Chase Elliott.

Noah Gragson has parted ways with Legacy M.C. In the wake of a controversial “like” on Instagram, Legacy and Gragson agreed to go their separate ways. So far, Mike Rockenfeller and Josh Berry have filled in for Gragson.

This is a big moment for Carson Hocevar. He is brought up as a name to join the Cup Series full-time potentially as soon as next season. A lot of eyes will be on Hocevar this weekend.

“This is a great opportunity to get some seat time in the Cup Series and help out the team at LEGACY M.C.,” said Hocevar in a press release. “I had the chance earlier this year to race at St. Louis in the Cup Series. I’m looking forward to working with Luke (Lambert) and the No. 42 team, and if anyone knows how to get around Darlington, Erik Jones does, so it will be great to have him as a teammate.”

There were plans for Carson Hocevar to drive the No. 77 in the Xfinity Series for Spire. However, a Cup ride and potential tryout had to be too good to pass up. So, Hocevar will just focus on the Southern 500 this weekend.

What to expect from Carson Hocevar at Darlington

Of course, we need to talk about expectations for Hocevar. He’s been in a Cup race before. He had a brake rotor failure and it ended his day early. Still, he was on his way to a top-15 day before that happened.

In 2023, the best that Noah Gragson has gotten the 42 car was P12 at Atlanta during the first race of the year. Since Gragson left the team, the last four races have not been great. Berry raced to a P34 finish in his start at Michigan. However, he was P22 at Daytona.

Meanwhile, Mike Rockenfeller put the car P24 and P19 at Indy and Watkins Glen, respectively. Given the performance of this car in the 2023 season, I don’t know what to expect from Carson Hocevar. If he is able to get a top-20 finish, I’d call it a success. The Southern 500 is not for the faint of heart