According to Kyle Petty, there is a driver in the NASCARCup Series right now who is a mix of three legends. The attitude of Dale Earnhardt? The brashness of Tim Richmond? And the passion of Kyle Busch? Sounds like the T-800 of NASCAR drivers.
Could it be possible that there is a driver that contains these attributes? Kyle Petty says yes, and it’s a driver who doesn’t even have a Cup Series win yet – Carson Hocevar. The 23-year-old was P4 last night in the Autotrader 400.
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On “Inside the Race” last night, Petty was more than happy to deliver his Hot Take of the week. Has he gone overboard with his comparisons, though?
Carson Hocevar waves to fans during driver introductions. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
(Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images)
“Carson Hocevar is going to be a superstar here [in NASCAR],” Petty opened up his rant. “And it’s not up to us, it’s not up to the media, it’s not up to other drivers – it is up to other drivers, to pull him back. But when I look at Carson Hocevar, I’ve been around this stuff a long freaking time, and I wrote this down while I was watching him. He’s got the attitude of Earnhardt, dude, the attitude of Earnhardt. I don’t care, I don’t care you run me in the grass, you do this, I don’t care. I’m going on, I’m gonna make my own way.
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“He’s got the brashness of Tim Richmond. He’s got a swagger about him. He just gets out and gets it done. On the radio, he said ‘Shake and Bake’ all this stuff. When the booth asked him about it, he says, I don’t even know what I’m saying, dude, I’m just saying it, it’s all a TV show. I’m just throwing it out there. He’s just playing a game a little bit.
“Then we get down to it, he’s got the desire to win and the passion of Kyle Busch. He don’t wanna run second, he didn’t show up to make friends, he didn’t show up to do anything but win a race. My hot take is, he’s going to get white hot, and when he gets white hot, everybody better stand back. I don’t care if he’s at Spire, I don’t care where he’s at, what he’s doing, he is going to be a superstar in this sport, and he doesn’t owe anybody an apology, nobody an apology. And when he’s there, count on it lady, I’m going to have my Hocevar fan club card, I’m going to be wearing my Hocevar hat and my Hocevar shirt and saying, I was there from the beginning.”
People like to joke about Kyle Petty and his bonafides because his eight Cup Series wins don’t stack up to the sheer number of his father and grandfather. But Petty knows racing, he’s been around it for years, and he’s seen these drivers come and go.
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Petty has been high on Hocevar since last year. He may have even been the first one to make a comparison to a young Dale Earnhardt and his attitude. Only time will tell if Petty is right or if he overshot the mark.
This story was originally published by Athlon Sports on Feb 23, 2026, where it first appeared in the Racing section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
