As the 2025 NASCAR Cup season is wrapped up, the drivers are chilling in their own ways. Some are resting, some are racing. Among the latter is Carson Hocevar, who’s enjoying himself racing with his friends at the Gateway Dirt Nationals in St. Louis, Missouri. The 22-year-old finished 11th in the race, but his post-race happiness showed he didn’t race for the results.

There is something in dirt racing that he doesn’t find in NASCAR, and he casually expressed that after the race.

Carson Hocevar calls dirt events “real racing”

Speaking to FloRacing, he said, “Yeah, it’s just fun to be back here. These are a lot of my NASCAR guys, guys at the shop that grew up doing this. They get to have fun, with Jeff [Jeffrey Ledford] and Tim Kloss, everybody here. It’s a lot of fun, just happy. Just race, real racing.”

Hocevar had a fun time racing with his friends, which included Jeffrey Ledford, Tim Kloss, Wil Herington, and Jonathan Davenport. As for why he calls it real racing, it’s best to hear that from himself.

“There’s not a lot of aero or engineering. I’m not looking at laptops and data, I’m looking at flow and what lane works, and everything.”

Hocevar basically points out how dirt racing brings the sport down to its most authentic form. It’s more raw, and there’s not much tech involved. It’s more about going with the flow and judging how the car feels. There are no complex simulators, wind-tunnel numbers, or any kind of sophisticated setups as you have in NASCAR.

Instead of data, he’s reading the track more with his eyes and instincts. It’s more about how, as a driver, you handle your car more naturally and adapt to the conditions by yourself.

“When I walk into this building, I don’t know how many people watch NASCAR, but they sure remember me in a heat, just getting the car drove into my head, almost.”

Whether or not they recognize him for NASCAR, they surely remember him for that 2023 dirt-track clash he had with Jason Feger. Reports say that after a bump, Feger rammed the driver’s side door of Hocevar’s car. “The retaliation part, I wish he would — if he was that mad — full-throttle me from behind and not go for my head,” Hocevar had said.

Nonetheless, after the off-season, the Spire Motorsports driver will retain his spot in the No. 77 for the Cup Series next year.

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Bobby Pierce is three-time Gateway Dirt Nationals winner

Bobby Pierce became the first driver to win the Gateway Dirt Nationals three times. He dominated the Kubota Gateway Dirt Nationals at The Dome, as he led all 40 laps and won a record $70,000 prize money, the richest payday ever offered.

Starting from the pole, he finished the race first, beating Ricky Thornton Jr. by 2.15 seconds. He wins his third title after the first two coming in consecutively in 2017 and 2018.

“You just dream of things like this, ever since this event came around,” he said. “It’s been a spectacle from the beginning. I’ve watched it grow into what it is now. They’ve got a packed house. I don’t see it stopping from growing. I think one day this place will probably be full from the tippy top.”

Looking ahead, he will look to cash in on his dominant run in the World of Outlaws Late Model Series starting at the Volusia Speedway Park in Florida in January.