22-year-old Michigan racer earns first career NASCAR Cup Series pole position

Donning a black cowboy hat and a cowboy-themed firesuit, Portage native Carson Hocevar celebrated his first career NASCAR Cup Series pole position on Saturday, May 3.

Hocevar clocked a lap of 28.175 seconds around the 1.5-mile Texas Motor Speedway, averaging 191.659 mph. William Byron qualified second, 0.014 seconds behind.

Hocevar is driving the No. 77 Chili’s “Ride the ‘Dente” Chevrolet on Sunday.

“Having the Cowboy outfit, what better place to get on the pole,” Hocevar told Prime Video after earning the pole position.

Hocevar, 22, is the youngest driver to ever win a pole at Texas Motor Speedway.

“I’m normally so hard on myself,” Hocevar said. “I still didn’t think I nailed that lap, at all.”

The honor also earns Hocevar the first pit stall, which can be an advantage to gain spots on pit road.

Hocevar is in search of his first career Cup Series win. His career best was second place at Atlanta Motor Speedway – losing by just a few feet– in February.

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Hocevar finished sixth last weekend at Talladega Superspeedway. He’s moved up from 30th in points to 20th in just two weeks.

Sunday’s race is at 3:30 p.m. on FS1.

There are three Michigan-born drivers in the field for Sunday’s race. Byron native Erik Jones qualified 14th and Rochester Hills driver Brad Keselowski will start 30th.

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