Carson Hocevar hits the go-kart track ahead of first road-course race of the season at COTA

Ahead of the first road course race of the year at Circuit of the Americas, Carson Hocevar took a detour on the track's go-kart course. He shared his POV from his go-kart on social media with a view of the Circuit Breaker rollercoaster.

Carson Hocevar is a 22-year-old NASCAR Cup Series driver from Portage, Michigan. This season marks his second year in the premier series driving the No. 77 Chevrolet Camaro for Spire Motorsports.

In an Instagram post, Hocevar updated his followers with a photo at COTA's go-kart track course.

Carson Hocevar's Instagram post - Source: @carsonhocevar on IG

In the race on Sunday, Carson Hocevar and the rest of the NASCAR grid will drive on the shorter 2.3-mile track configuration (from 3.41 miles). The new configuration eliminated turn seven (midway the esses) through turn 11 (hairpin leading to long straightaway).

In other words, the shorter track configuration sidelined the long straightaway where NASCAR drivers usually build a gap. As such, fans can expect closer racing in the Texas-based road course track.

The 2025 EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix at COTA will happen on March 2 at 3:30 pm ET. It is the first race from the expanded road course schedule as the league will host a new road course stop in Mexico City later this year.

Carson Hocevar drives the No. 77 Chevrolet in the NASCAR Cup Series - Source: Imagn

Hocevar will enter the COTA race 15th in the standings following a strong outing at Atlanta Motor Speedway. He finished in second between race winner Christopher Bell and Kyle Larson after caution ended the contest on the final lap.

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"Just block out the noise": Carson Hocevar receives word of advice from NASCAR champion following controversial Atlanta race

Carson Hocevar made headlines for driving aggressively in the previous race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, which upset several drivers including Kyle Busch. However, former NASCAR champion Kevin Harvick encouraged the young driver to block out the noise and keep at it.

In an episode of the Happy Hour podcast, Harvick said:

"It's going to bite him. There’s going to be some times where he has got four or five guys mad at him after the race. There is no better way to learn. Why would you not want to learn by being in the front, racing against the guys that are winning the races and running up front?" [21:30]

He added:

"You have to be able to balance all that and still be able to have that aggressive nature and make those aggressive moves. But you gotta clean some of the mistakes up. You can't keep making the same mistakes. I don't think he's going to do that personally. I think he's very talented but I would advise to just block out the noise and keep that pedal down."

During the Atlanta spring race, Carson Hocevar cut Kyle Busch towards the end of stage one, which the veteran driver didn't appreciate. Hocevar also spun Ryan Blaney in stage two, with the two drivers later conversing when they got out of their racecars.

As Hocevar finished second, the 22-year-old driver amassed his best race result in the NASCAR Cup Series.