One common complaint from fans and insiders alike is that in recent years, there haven’t been many NASCAR drivers who became larger-than-life celebrities, particularly after the retirements of Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. However, Carson Hocevar appears close to rectifying that. 

During the pre-race presser for the Window World 450 at North Wilkesboro, the Spire driver spoke about his transition from a local short-track racer to a prominent NASCAR figure, noting that he models his approach after Dale Jr., who, at one point, was very involved with MTV. 

“I say all the time: my favorite driver was Dale Jr. So, I saw him everywhere, right? You saw him on MTV and the music awards and all these really cool things. So, I just always thought that's really what NASCAR drivers do. And, you know, in the 2000s, that probably was a lot more realistic that they all do it."

In the same press-conference posted on Youtube, he also added, "So, it's really cool for me that there's a lot of times where I'm like, I don't understand why I'm 100% invited to these, but I'm definitely taking advantage of it and enjoying it and embracing it and just trying to have as much fun with it as possible, knowing that it's a really cool experience for me and once in a lifetime at a lot of these events but also too it's great for the sport.”

Hocevar was one of the only drivers at the Met Gala and the Fanatics Fest this year. After his win at Talladega and the iconic celebration during his victory lap, the organizers of the Met Gala contacted NASCAR. He became the first driver to attend the event since Jeff Gordon in 2010. 

He told Fox Sports it was Cassidy Towriss who got him in touch with ‘the right people’. For those who do not know, Cassidy Towriss is the Chief Brand Advisor for the Cadillac F1 Team, and she is also married to Dan Towriss, who is the founder and CEO of TWG Motorsports, the company that co-owns Spire Motorsports. 

Hocevar was also briefly linked to Sabrina Carpenter and later to Madison Beer. However, he is currently said to be dating content creator Tabitha Swatosh, but neither party has confirmed anything yet. 

What former drivers feel about Hocevar and his personality

Veteran Ford driver Mark Martin has previously praised Carson Hocevar, labelling him as the ‘villain’ NASCAR needs. After Dale Jr. told Prime in 2025 that Hocevar reminded him of his dad, Martin addressed the same on the Kenny Wallace show, fully agreeing with him. 

“As far as Hocevar goes, Dale Jr.’s right. We need Hocevar to continue being a rocketship, and we need him to bounce off of people and stuff.

Why? We need some of that villain, some of those people love. Like they did with Earnhardt. They either love your style and love what you do, and condone every mistake that you make. Or they hate you! And that's good, that's good if they hate you because that puts enthusiasm, gets people's blood pumping."

Similar sentiments have also been echoed by The King, Richard Petty, who famously said that there is “no fox for all of the dogs to chase.”

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Aaradhya Singh

Edited by

Kaamna Dwivedi