NASCAR
Carson Hocevar’s Great News Has Nothing to Do With His NASCAR Future
John Moriello started covering sports in 1982, began digital publishing in 1995, and joined Sportscasting in 2020. A graduate of St. John Fisher University, he finds inspiration in the underdogs and the fascinating stories sports can tell (both the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat). John expertly covers all aspects of NASCAR. Beginning with his 2014 coverage at Fox Sports of the aftermath of the dirt-race tragedy in which Kevin Ward Jr. died after being struck by a car driven by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart, John has excelled as a journalist who specializes in the motorsports world. He previously spent more than three decades covering high school sports and worked as a beat writer covering Big East football and basketball, but NASCAR is now where the true expertise falls. John is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame (2013), the President of the New York State Sportswriters Association, and a two-time Best of Gannett winner for print and online collaborations whose work has appeared on FoxSports.com and MaxPreps.com.
Get to know John Moriello betterPublished08 Dec 2022
It’s been a busy week on announcements as Xfinity Series and Craftsman Truck Series teams have been unveiling driver lineups, but the announcement about Carson Hocevar’s NASCAR future got overshadowed by someone.
And that someone was Hocevar himself. The 19-year-old Michigan native dropped some news that’s more important than which team he’ll be making left turns for in 2023.
NASCAR driver Carson Hocevar revealed great news about his girlfriend
NASCAR truck series driver Carson Hocevar already had plenty on his mind before breaking an ankle in early June at WWT Raceway at Gateway. That’s because a more significant medical development two weeks early had him fixated on girlfriend Peyton Lanphear.
According to a GoFundMe page created in the spring by a friend of the young woman’s family, Lanphear, who was more than halfway to her nursing degree, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. That’s a blood cancer targeting the immune system, and the prescribed treatment was an extensive series of chemotherapy sessions.
On Wednesday, Hocevar went on Twitter to share a joyful update, revealing that his longtime girlfriend is officially cancer-free.
“Cancer is very tough thing to watch and can only imagine dealing first hand with it,” he wrote. “However, my favorite person beat this battle today.”
Carson Hocevar will be back with Niece Motorsports in 2023
It was hardly a surprise, but Niece Motorsports announced on Thursday that Carson Hocevar will return to the team for a third full-time season in the Craftsman Truck Series. He is coming off two straight 10th-place showings in the season standings and remains in search of his first victory.
“Niece Motorsports feels like home, so I’m excited to come back and compete for a Championship in 2023,” said Hocevar said in the team’s announcement. “I’m so thankful to Worldwide Express and their WWEX Racing program for stepping up to sponsor us for the whole season. I’ve enjoyed the partnership and really look forward to growing it next season. Our goal remains to bring Niece Motorsports, Al Niece and WWEX Racing wins and a championship in 2023.”
Said Niece Motorsports GM Cody Efaw: “Carson has proven time and time again what a tremendous talent he is, and we are glad that he’ll be back behind the wheel of our Chevrolets again next year.”
A breakthrough victory seems inevitable
Carson Hocevar has had some close calls, but there have been no trips to Victory Lane thus far in his 20 top-10 finishes in 54 starts. Most telling about his determination is that he did not miss any starts in the aftermath of fracturing an ankle in the June crash at Worldwide Technology Raceway at Gateway.
Just one week after that mishap, he earned his first pole at Sonoma Raceway.
He finished the season with seven top-five results and a total of 282 laps led, including the first 65 at Knoxville the week after Sonoma before an engine probably ended his night.
“I’ve dreamed of racing in NASCAR since I was a little kid,” Hocevar said. To be preparing for my third full-time season in the Truck Series is surreal.”
Got a question or observation about racing? Sportscasting’s John Moriello does a mailbag column each Friday. Write to him at [email protected].
