Carson Hocevar wants you to understand he doesn’t think he is Dale Earnhardt but he really appreciates the history of NASCAR and doesn’t shy away from embodying some of those character traits either.
He idolizes the late great Driver No. 3.
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To wit, he really appreciated that primary sponsor Chili’s Bar & Grill wanted to sponsor the spring race at Darlington even if it wasn’t an official throwback scheme event anymore because they wanted to pay tribute to the seven-time champion through their driver as well.
Thus, the throwback wrap to the 1981 season, a lost season in which The Intimidator drove for a combination of Rod Osterlund, JD Stacy and then Richard Childress.
“I don’t really love the comparisons of what they turn into,” Hocevar said of any similarities to Earnhardt. “It started by just kind of not apologizing after running into people, basically, and just being really, really aggressive, to turning into kind of the ‘I’m as good as him’. I was like, I don’t know where that came from.
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“So, yeah, I just plan on driving. I’m just hoping I’m fast enough or we’re good enough that we can actually be up front and be relevant, especially with that scheme. But, yeah, I’m just me. I’ve been saying it for a long time. I like just being me. You know, it’s a lot easier that way for my sake. I don’t like to have to be anybody I’m not.”
Mostly, Hocevar really just liked the cowboy hats the likes of Earnhardt and Richard Petty wore during that era and really just wanted an excuse to add that to his repertoire of Chili’s ‘Ride the Dente’ hats.
“Yeah, so it was Chili’s idea that kind of came to me,” Hocevar said. “They were like, is there any scheme you want to run? This was last year… they were like, we want to run a throwback. Instantly, I was like, I want to run the Bud No. 8. I thought it was perfect.
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“But then they were like, well, we kind of want to go with this cowboy theme… what about this? So it was all their idea. I didn’t understand for a minute because I was like, blue and yellow, that doesn’t really work with your colors. But once they kind of explained it, their thought process, they just really wanted the picture recreated and fit in their cowboy theme with ‘Ride the Dente’ and everything. It made a lot of sense for their side.”
Ultimately, even during the era where throwback wraps were encouraged, numerous sponsors declined because they emphasized brand familiarity over a one-off specialty scheme that didn’t match the activation.
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Chili’s and Hoecar were all-in on wanting to do something this weekend.
“I really wanted to do one,” Hocevar said. “But, no, this was their idea even before throwback weekend went away. I felt like this one made a lot of sense for them, just because they specifically bought this race kind of with that in mind, so this was important to them.
“And also, too, when it all stops and everybody goes away, you’re then kind of the only one running a throwback or a lot less emphasis and you can kind of stand out more, which is good for a brand and their idea, I have to imagine.”
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