NASCAR’s Notorious Cup Racer Boasts Unfiltered Social Media Control, Void of Team’s Interference

Who doesn’t love getting a peek behind the curtain on our favorite athletes, especially in NASCAR? Whether it’s Samantha Busch’s Instagram updates or Bubba Wallace’s adorable baby updates, NASCAR fans are invested. But this time, it’s a different driver coming up in the ranks, and he has something to say about social media.

Among them, Carson Hocevar is slowly becoming a fan favorite in the NASCAR community. The Spire Motorsports driver made his Cup debut in 2023 and his full-time debut in 2024. On the race track, his debut season was not much to write home about, with only a handful of decent finishes. However, it has to be said that the potential is there for the 22-year-old Michigan native. But with 2025 going the way of Hocevar, he’s getting popular with the fans, and while he was riding around with Cleetus McFarland, he was asked how much influence Spire Motorsports has on what he posts.

It’s a valid question. What drivers say has a direct impact on the team. Fans might remember how Noah Gragson’s incident from 2023 landed him in hot water with NASCAR. Naturally, some were curious what social media was like for Hocevar.

Right off the bat, he made it clear it wasn’t Spire calling the shots. “I’ve never had the type of convo where, ‘You have to post this, you’re going to post this, we’re going to post this for you.’ I just post what I want to post and I’ve gotten away with it so far. Sure, I get that there’ll be sponsored posts and other obligations. For now, it’s really anything I want to post and what I don’t, I don’t.” And it’s obvious that it’s Hocevar making the posts. If you see his X and Instagram, it’s not the typical athlete social media profile.

He revealed, “Hopefully I don’t have those, I saw somebody posted a TikTok, where I had a fuel problem or whatnot. The whole field at Daytona, and there was just me. I posted that yesterday and now it’s at 2 million views or something? I can definitely see where that would trend. I just reposted something I found funny.”

DAYTONA BEACH, FL – FEBRUARY 12: Carson Hocevar 77 Spire Motorsports Zeigler Auto Group Chevrolet is being interviewed during Media Day for the NASCAR, Motorsport, USA Cup Series Daytona 500 on February 12, 2025 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, FL. Photo by Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire AUTO: FEB 12 NASCAR Cup Series Daytona 500 Media Day EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon2502123473500

Sure, while there are sponsored posts, Hocevar likes to keep things fun for his followers. Just last week, he made a cheeky reference to Formula 1, posting a picture of Chris Buescher and Kyle Larson’s photo-finish at Kansas, captioning it, “Nobody: f1: “I was clearly ahead. That was my corner”.” When he celebrated his birthday, he didn’t just post a picture of his birthday cake. He had something of a flamethrower in his hands, with a clever caption that read, “Birthday gift for myself was fire.” 

What’s the secret, you ask? Hocevar explained, “I like to let my guard down for fans. I do all my socials, which I feel like is not very common. Just with how much time and scheduling and everything. Me being able to do it just comes across as more genuine. I’d have fun and play video games and try and have as much fun as possible. You create the best type of videos too.”

It’s this side of Hocevar that makes him likable. If you visit his YouTube channel, you see Hocevar uploads vlogs to show what really goes on in the background in a driver’s life, connecting him to people. What he might need to be careful about is the effect social media has on him. As Bubba Wallace once said, “Just being caught up in other people’s lives and start comparing. Man I want … Just, besides from the toxic comments, you know, social media is just a lot at times. I do miss the photography side of it, you know, posting all that stuff, but it’s just way better for the mental. YouTube is my best friend.”

Perhaps he can pick up a thing or two from Bubba Wallace. While the 23XI driver doesn’t pay attention to social media too much, he has grown popular, particularly with his banter and vlogs.

However, there are some in the NASCAR community who think social media isn’t all beneficial for drivers.

Mike Joy calls out a big threat for drivers

Now, you might be thinking, isn’t social media good for drivers? It brings them sponsorships, gives the sport another platform to grow. And if we see an athlete like Toni Breidinger, fans and the community know just how massive the impact is. But that’s not what Joy is talking about here. He believes it stops drivers from really connecting with the audience.

He explained, “I think that maturing process is hindered by what is permanently attached to our pocket, and that’s the cellphone. A lot of these younger drivers, and I’ll even put Larson and Bell into that category, their social skills have pretty much been determined by their cellphones. That’s their interaction with their peers, and people skills and media skills take a while to develop.”

But it’s not all bad news. Joy thinks there are drivers who prove what he says. He went on to say, “And Christopher Bell’s a great example. He wasn’t even on our radar the first couple of years in Cup because he wasn’t out with the media, you know? His personality, his external personality, took a while to develop. And like I say, now, he’s a spokesman, he’s a leader in our sport. So is Kyle Larson. But these younger drivers, it’s really taking a while, maybe longer than it should, to bring it out of them and try to make them into stars. We have stars, we have great drivers in this series, and I guess it’s up to you and me and the people that will follow us this season, to make heroes out of them.”

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