Talladega done, Indy 500 to go! That's the next goal for Carson Hocevar, who strongly wishes to pull off a 'Double Duty' at the Brickyard. But though he's mentally locked on it, can he physically do it as well?

In an interaction with Dale Jr. on his podcast, the Spire Motorsports driver called the Indianapolis 500 the coolest race he knows. He recalled his experience of competing in the Brickyard 400 for the first time, talking vividly about the emotional rush that clearly left a mark on him. But Junior reminded him, saying, "You're too tall to get on that ride, man."

The physical challenge of adjusting to IndyCar is real, as the cars there are notoriously tight. The drivers have to fit themselves into a cramped space and fight for the top spot at extreme speeds. But Hocevar wasn't worried so much.

“Luckily, my torso’s short. I might cry if I was too tall. I was P1 in ten-lap average at the Brickyard the first year I ran," he replied instantly and continued to narrate an incident from then.

"I’ve never gone down a straightaway and realized I was smiling. I was cheesing my a** off smiling, and I was literally, how you sit in the driveway, and you’re like, buzzer-beater shooting. It’s like three more seconds on the clock, miss! Then two more seconds on the clock.”

While lapping the track, he also found himself narrating his own victory, pretending he was being chased by a slew of rivals charging from behind as he took the checkered flag. He admitted getting so caught up in his fantasy that he almost slammed his car into the wall, which is when he then drove into the pit road, stating the adrenaline rush was getting to him.

“For every lap I was running it, I kept narrating as if I was coming around to win the Indy 500, or race the Indy 500, pretending the cars were behind me and everything, and I was like he comes around to the checkered flag! Oh my God, there’s one more to go!

"I just kept doing that, and I got so close to the wall, and I came down pit road, and they’re like ‘We’re supposed to stay out’, I was like ‘I had to stop’, it was going to get worse.”

Given how he spoke of his experience in IndyCar, Hocevar surely is someone who feels things intensely. For those who were at Talladega last weekend, they saw firsthand proof of it.

The moment that touched Carson Hocevar

After winning at Talladega, the Spire driver spoke to reporters, describing the environment around his winning lap in detail. He admitted that the cheer of the crowd and the fact that fans were celebrating with him right there is what got to him.

“If there's a video of how loud the crowd got, that's going to be the one that I cry to and just enjoy it. Like that's what means the most to me. It's just that people spent money to be here. And I did something that got them to yell and cheer or throw something. And that would be the coolest thing.”

For someone who came close to winning a few times, most notably at Darlington, where he chased down the rest of the pack in the final stage, his maiden victory at the Superspeedway will be one he will cherish for his lifetime.

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Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason