Denny Hamlin is taking notice of the improvements Legacy Motor Club has seen since the ousting of Noah Gragson.
The former Xfinity Series star’s run in the Cup Series in the No. 42 left much to be desired, and it all came to an unceremonious halt when Gragson was caught liking an insensitive meme, which landed him out of the ride. In the weeks since, Legacy Motor Club has turned to numerous drivers to fill-in, while John Hunter Nemechek is slated to takeover the seat in 2024.
One of those drivers was Truck Series star Carson Hocevar, who turned heads with his performance, specifically at Bristol. Hocevar was running in the top ten throughout the night, and gained the respect of Hamlin in the process.
“Carson Hocevar, fantastic run. It looks like Legacy has turned the corner. Unfortunately for Noah, as soon as got out of the car, the organization got better,” explained Hamlin, via Actions Detrimental. “I don’t (think it’s all driver). I think the No. 43 car is still running better, as well. It doesn’t take much. There’s a home base probably, and set-up where they meet. Found something, hit on something at a race track, and then that became their home base when they set-up at other tracks. It can happen like that. Because the parts and pieces are all the same. It’s doubtful that they’re getting any Chevrolet information, anymore. So they’re having to kind of do this on their own. So the old fashion was is using a pen and paper and trying to figure out what the right set-up is. It just takes hitting it one time to come up with some sort of baseline, that helps you at all race tracks. I mean, Erik Jones didn’t have a very good race this weekend, but Carson Hocevar had a great race.
“He was running in the top ten for most of the night. He’s doing great. He’s doing a great job. You can’t say enough about, we gave him a lot of s— for a long time in the truck series, kind of making some really boneheaded decisions, but he’s certainly grown up quickly, and he’s showing that he can compete at the highest level.”
Alas, Hocevar’s performance earned him the seat again, as he’ll be in the ride for both Talladega and Texas, Legacy Motor Club announced. He may be young, but Carson Hocevar has been a revelation, and his future is NASCAR is looking brighter than ever moving forward.