NASCAR’s newest Cup race winner has lately been compared to the great Dale Earnhardt quite often. And after his win and celebrations in Talladega, that comparison has only picked up more speed.

While Earnhardt’s run to success was much quicker, Hocevar has often shown similar traits to the seven-time champion and the father of his idol, Dale Earnhardt Jr. And while the comparison continues, Kenny Wallace and Ken Schrader have also added their thoughts to it.

Both former NASCAR drivers said that some parallels mostly come from Hovecar’s unapologetic racing style. Wallace asked Schrader why Dale Jr. is reminded of his father and why it's not them but the fans, TV, and Mike Joy that compare him to Dale Sr because Hocevar doesn’t apologize and continues racing. 

Scharader said, “Yes, some people have wrecked off the nose of his car. He’s always up there; he’s going for it. If there’s a hole, he’s gonna try to get in. He’s driving like Senior did, and yes, there’s gonna be some people that get turned around, but he did a phenomenal job.”

Wallace had to submit that while he doesn’t like the comparisons, he said, “Carson Hocevar is a show, whether we like it or not. They like him because, like you all said, he’s got Dale Jr type deals. That’s not us, and we can’t get mad about it.”

It’s not just them; even Dale Jr had once said on his podcast last year, “I think this guy reminds me of like a 1979 Dale Earnhardt-fast, not sacred to use his front bumper, doesn’t care if someone gets mad about it. That’s exactly how I saw dad around that timeframe in his career.”

Similarities Between Hocevar and Dale Sr. 

His aggressive driving style, combined with a fierce black  #3 earned Dale Earnhardt the nickname “The Intimidator.” Today, Carson Hocevar runs a similar black livery with Chili’s branding and Dente written across the bonnet. Drawing parallels from their individual driving styles, Hocevar has often been referred to as  “Intimi-Dente.”

Dale Sr appeared on track when Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip were amongst the biggest names, but he didn’t care; he came in and outperformed his car on most occasions, often bumping into slower cars ahead, and fought his way to several victories. 

While Hocevar’s victory in Talladega was near contactless, his driving style had most drivers last year respond with his name when asked who the driver is that is most likely to cause a crash, during a NASCAR video.

Apart from that, Hocevar pulled off one of the sweetest tributes to Dale Sr’s iconic blue and yellow Wrangler livelry when he pulled up to Darlington with a near-perfect tribute that Dale Jr refers to as the best yet. He also drove an amazing race in that livery, after starting from 37th. On the final green flag, Hocevar went from 17th to 4th in the most Dale Earnhardt manner.

Written by

Debrup Chaudhuri

Edited by

Suyashdeep Sason