Carson Hocevar was once again in contention on Saturday night, pushing towards the front of the pack with just a few laps left to race at Daytona in the Coke Zero Sugar 400.
But as has often been the case with Hocevar, one move, that was likely a tad too aggressive in retrospect, ended his day early. The No. 77 came down to the low line to get past Ryan Preece, but lost control, spinning out and slamming into the wall.
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Erik Jones was caught in the mayhem as well, hitting hard into Hocevar as the yellow flag came out.
After the race, Hocevar seemed somewhat bewildered as to what exactly happened to lead to him losing control.
“These noses have a lot more lift, and I was a lot tighter on entry and exits with this package. I felt like I needed to make a move to the bottom there to get the No. 12 to push me, similar to how we got the lead earlier. I just did it later in the corner,” Hocevar said. “The nose kept setting, and I couldn’t get the wheel out of it fast enough, as it kept setting and getting freer.”
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Asked about the package, Hocevar called it “fine.”
“It was fine. I thought it was fun. It felt like dirty air mattered more, or was more difficult. I don’t know if it was better or not, but I didn’t complain. We were up front. Same contenders were up front no matter what, either package.”
Hocevar was running as high as fifth in the points standings just a month ago, but finished worse than 30th in three of the final four races of the regular season including his 38th at Daytona.
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While he’s safely in the Chase, he’ll now start the postseason in 12th place out of the 16 drivers still competing for the title, making his potential path to a championship significantly more challenging.
Watch: Preece wins in chaotic Daytona finish for first points-paying victory
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