Carson Hocevar Returns to Michigan International Speedway After Nashville Fill-In

carson hocevar is set to return to action this weekend at Michigan International Speedway after missing the Truck Series race at Nashville Superspeedway. The move sends him back to his home track in Michigan and restores the No. 77 Chevrolet to the driver Spire Motorsports originally had in mind.

Hocevar's Michigan return

Hocevar, in his third season as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver for Spire Motorsports, has already split time between the Cup Series and the Truck Series this year. He ran eight of the season's first nine races and had hoped to make it nine out of 10 to open the year, but the team used other drivers when schedule conflicts pulled him away from truck duty.

At Michigan International Speedway, the stakes are more personal than usual. Hocevar is from Portage, Michigan, and this is the track he can call home. He has made one Truck Series start there, finishing 11th a year ago, and his better of two Cup Series finishes at the speedway is 10th place in 2024.

Spire Motorsports' No. 77

Spire Motorsports has rotated drivers through the No. 77 truck while Hocevar has been focused on Cup Series races. Connor Zilisch handled the Charlotte Motor Speedway Truck Series race so Hocevar could focus squarely on the Coca-Cola 600, and Jesse Love filled in at Nashville Superspeedway last weekend.

Love had not run a Truck Series race since 2023. That made Nashville another short-term change for a truck that has already seen different hands this season, even as Hocevar's return brings the seat back to its regular driver for one weekend in front of a Michigan crowd that knows his name well.

Next for the No. 77

Spire Motorsports has yet to announce a driver for the No. 77 truck for the next two races after this weekend. That leaves Hocevar's Michigan appearance as the clearest set piece in the immediate stretch, with the team still sorting the rest of the Truck Series schedule around its Cup Series commitments.