Carson Hocevar simply wants to be the kind of driver he grew up watching while NASCAR itself is working diligently to create content that spotlights these kinds of personalities.
This is the kind of process that led to the creation of RISING, a documentary series releasing on YouTube with a new episode at 7 ET every night this week, that spotlights young guns Hocevar, Jesse Love and Rajah Caruth.
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As the spotlighted Cup Series driver, Hocevar is the de facto main character of the series, and a willingness to be under such a microscope is true to form for a personality that lives his life very publicly.
Hocevar famously spends his evenings on Twitch streams and his winter off-season plans include racing at dirt track and short track events where he will be very accessible to anyone who wants to meet him.
So naturally, a documentary where cameras followed him around all season, just didn’t feel that invasive. It’s going to show the ups and downs of competing at the highest levels of NASCAR.
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“I think it’s healthy for a show to have the good, bad and the ugly, right,” Hocevar said during a Monday teleconference. For me, I’m comfortable being vulnerable on a camera just because I think that’s healthy.
“Life isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, and when everything is PR or portrayed that way, the world can see through that pretty easily and feel like something is faked or whatever. I want to watch ‘authentic’ and ‘real’ and there’s a reason drama or clickbait sells. I think shows need that.
“With some reality shows, a lot if that is faked, even though it’s entertaining be so scripted but this was really enjoyable for me, how authentic it was, and how vulnerable I did get at times. There were times when it was rough, and I did wish it wasn’t being filmed, but at the same time, I look back on it and was happy that it was and I think fans will be too.”
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And that kind of storytelling is something that NASCAR has leaned into since hiring John Dahl as Senior Vice President of Content in 2024. Dahl was one of the original executive producers for the ’30 for 30’ series renown for its authenticity.
Dahl has brought that to NASCAR, the style most prominent in the well-received Full Speed and Earnhardt documentaries, with the executive believing the sport has a treasure trove of young personalities.
“What we’re looking (to spotlight) is characters and people, drivers in this case, who are willing to open up and not just present a polished PR look at their lives, and are willing to be vulnerable,” Dahl said.
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“These are drivers that have an interesting story, a backstory, and we see it with all three over the course of these five episodes, that they have inspiring and interesting backgrounds. We show them as human beings, and as we expand our audience for NASCAR, we look to do storytelling that is authentic and relatable, and that’s what we got here with RISING.”
Hocevar, who is sometimes a polarizing driver on the track, also doesn’t shy away from sharing his opinions no matter how they will be received. He has done that from the moment he arrived in the short track scene as a teenager at Berlin Raceway and that character trait continues into his third season at the Cup Series level.
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“There are some young drivers out there, 15 years old, and they show up to the track with nice pants and they look like salesman,” Hocevar said. “They have buttoned up shirts and their sponsors on them, mostly their family business, and they try to play a part.
“I never had that. I was showing up to the race track in shorts, and just wanted to race, and I always thought that even if this is what you’re supposed to do, at least I stand out by not doing it.”
Hocevar says he wants to come across as just an ordinary guy that gets to race high level cars in RISING because that’s exactly who he is. He isn’t playing a character or an archetype.
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He just wants to be the racer that he would have cheered for as a kid.
“This is a look at who I am behind close doors and how can I be the driver that I was a fan of growing up,” Hocevar said. “We have YouTube documentaries and streaming services, content creators, so that’s new.
“But even racing the La Mullets (race at Freedom Factory owned by Cleetus McFarland), that got a crazy number of viewers and that started with a guy that was just shooting content with his iPhone, and it’s just fun to watch.
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“So ultimately, I just want to hopefully grow the sport, and not be a disservice to five-year-old me that fell in love with the sport. It would be a disservice to that kid and every kid like me if I shied away from going into the stands, enjoying a Xfinity or Trucks race, and not positing about the things I do.
“I just hope that it moves the needle, because I’m passionate about this sport, and seeing kids with their parents because I was that kid once.”
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