NASCAR rookie Carson Hocevar clinches career-best finish at Watkins Glen despite qualifying setback 

It was a historic day for the Spire Motorsports at the Go Bowling, and Carson Hocevar was one of the reasons. Despite having a major hurdle in qualifying laps, driver number 77 recorded his career-best finish so far at the Glens on Sunday.

Hocevar started his race from the 29th position; he was 0.831 seconds behind Ross Chastain, the leader of the race. But this didn't stop Spire Motorsports' driver from securing a place in the top five standings and finishing the race in third place.

Carson Hocevar started picking up pace as soon as the race began and moved up to 23rd place by the end of Stage 1. In Stage 2, he jumped six places and moved up to 17th place by the end. By this time, driver #77 was gradually making progress and moving up in the standings, and the real hop-in positions happened in the final stage of the race.

In the final stage, Hocevar jumped ten positions and moved up to seventh place, slowly paving his way into the top five. Driver #77 maintained third place for the majority of the time in the final stage. Carson Hocevar even led a lap during the overtime at the Glens and finished in third place. Driver #77 shared a hilarious reference to his win on his X account.

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Carson Hocevar, Zane Smith, and Corey Lajoie

helped Spire create a new record for the organization

It was not only Hocevar who created history for Spire Motorsports at Watkins Glen International; driver #77 Carson Hocevar and Zane Smith #71 Zane Smith both secured a place in the top-5 rankings, making a new record for the Spire Racing team. Hocevar secured third place with 34 points, and Smith got fifth place with 32 points in total.

Corey Lajoie's eighth position, with 29 points, also earned one more record at Glen for the organization. However, the qualifying laps of the drivers were not in favor of the Spire Motorsports drivers, but they showcased their exceptional set of skills and secured places in the top-10 rankings.

As the race began, the drivers began pacing up and moving up in the standings. Smith started the race in 19th position and went up one place in stage 1, but by the end of stage 2, he moved six places to 13th place. In the final stage, he went up eight more places and finished fifth.

Corey Lajoie did the same; he started his race from the 18th position. He moved up four places by the end of stage 2, giving a head-to-head battle to Bunna Wallace. In the final stage, Lajoie moved six places and ended up eighth, contributing to Spire's new record of having the most drivers in the top 10 standings for the first time in their organization's history.