Denny Hamlin made sure to heap some praise on Carson Hocevar and Justin Haley for their recent performances in the NASCAR Cup Series.
Both drivers have been running near the top ten over the last month and change, including this past weekend during the Enjoy Illinois 300 at World Wide Technology Raceway, where Hocevar came home P8 on the afternoon, and Haley followed him in P9.
Fans and media members alike have noticed the duo’s improvement, and Hamlin believes it’s no fluke the way Hocevar and Haley have been running in 2024.
“You can’t say enough about how well they’re running, and certainly I think we need to take this time to congratulate — we’re not gonna give kudos, we’re not gonna say hats off, but well done to Justin Haley and Carson Hocevar, who both ran in the top ten,” Hamlin stated, via the latest episode of his Actions Detrimental podcast. “Now again, some of this came from some strategy early on, but they had speed.
“They had speed during practice. They had — they did it. They’re running towards the top ten. If they’re not finishing, they’re running towards it, most weeks now.”
What Haley has done with Rick Ware Racing is nothing short of magnificent, and Hocevar has out-performed Corey LaJoie, his teammate at Spire who many expected to contend for a spot in the playoffs, in a multitude of ways. That’s been the most surprising thing for Hamlin.
“Carson, you’ve just got to start giving props to, because he’s out running Corey [LaJoie] every single week,” Hamlin added. “I can’t think, you know — I’m just thinking in my head, I haven’t seen him, like Corey ahead of him, much at all this year. And Corey was saying for a very long time, ‘I’ve never had a teammate to like, even remotely challenge me,’ and I think challenge accepted, if you’re Carson Hocevar.
“He’s accepted the challenge, and he’s certainly taking over as the top driver it seems like, performance-wise, on results, this year over at Spire.”
While LaJoie has been running in the mid-twenties over the course of the season, Hocevar in the No. 77 has been contending for top tens week-in and week-out. As Spire looks to become a major player in the Cup Series, perhaps it’s Hocevar, not LaJoie, who will lead them to the promise land.
Time will tell, and both Carson Hocevar and Justin Haley still have a lot of growing to do, but it’s evident they’ve impressed Denny Hamlin with their performances over the course of the 2024 campaign.
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