Carson Hocevar wins first career NASCAR Cup pole at Texas
Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images
FORT WORTH, Texas—Ride ‘em, cowboy.
Decked out in Texas-appropriate attire, Carson Hocevar put his No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet on the pole for Sunday’s WÜRTH 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY at Texas Motor Speedway (3:30 p.m. ET on FS1, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
With the second fastest lap in the era of the Gen 7 car, Hocevar toured the 1.5 mile track in 28.175 seconds (191.659 mph) to edge 2023 race winner William Byron (191.564 mph) for the top starting position by 0.014 seconds.
The Busch Light Pole Award is the first of Hocevar’s career, and at age 22, he’s the youngest-ever pole winner at Texas.
Clad in a firesuit designed as a cowboy outfit—courtesy of sponsor Chili’s—and sporting a black 10-gallon hat, Hocevar reveled in the moment after his lap stood up to all comers.
“Having the cowboy outfit—what better place to be on the pole,” Hocevar said. “I’m normally so hard on myself, and I didn’t think I nailed that lap at all, but I’m super proud of this team.
“I’m so proud, because I’ve never had the No. 1 pit stall, and I’ve had a lot of issues with pit road and we’ve had a lot of bad luck. So I finally get the No. 1 pit stall, and I’m pumped about that.”
Austin Cindric, last Sunday’s Talladega winner, qualified third at 191.523 mph in a closely compacted field. Larson, the last driver to make an attempt, was fourth at 191.421 mph.
With 10 drivers to go, Ty Gibbs topped the chart at 191.293 mph, but Michael McDowell, Hocevar’s teammate, eclipsed his time by 0.006 seconds in a lap at 191.333 mph.
“Obviously, with Michael going out and putting up a really good lap time, I felt like we were faster than him in practice, and that gave me a little bit of confidence that our stuff was going to be as quick, if not hopefully a little quicker,” Hocevar said.
McDowell will start fifth on Sunday, with Gibbs sixth. Josh Berry, three-time Texas winner Denny Hamlin, Bubba Wallace and AJ Allmendinger completed the top 10 on the grid.
One driver who left the session with regret was Cindric, who felt he could have gone faster.
“I feel like I left a pole lap out there,” he said. “I sent it into Turn 1 and didn’t quite get to the bottom and didn’t quite maximize my exit. I guess I can be happy with where we are at, but I definitely feel like you want to do it all.
“We’re in a great spot for (Sunday) and should have a good pit stall, so I feel good about where we are. We’ll try to go get another one.”
Defending race winner Chase Elliott will start 29th.
Note: Since the Gen 7 car was introduced in 2022, only Christopher Bell at Michigan International Speedway in 2023 has run a faster lap than Hocevar at Texas. Bell’s speed at the 2.0-mile track was 193.382 mph.
NASCAR Cup Series
Starting Line Up by Row
Texas Motor Speedway
W?rth 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY
Provided by NASCAR Statistics - Saturday, 5/3/2025 @ 12:52 PM Eastern
Driver Date Time Speed
Track Race Record: Greg Biffle 04/14/12 03:07:12 160.577
Pos Car Driver Team Time Speed
Row 1: 1 77 Carson Hocevar Chili's Ride the 'Dente Chevrolet 28.175 191.659
2 24 William Byron Raptor Chevrolet 28.189 191.564
Row 2: 3 2 Austin Cindric Discount Tire Ford 28.195 191.523
4 5 Kyle Larson Valvoline Chevrolet 28.210 191.421
Row 3: 5 71 Michael McDowell Delaware Life Chevrolet 28.223 191.333
6 54 Ty Gibbs SAIA LTL Freight Toyota 28.229 191.293
Row 4: 7 21 Josh Berry WURTH Ford 28.233 191.266
8 11 Denny Hamlin Progressive Toyota 28.248 191.164
Row 5: 9 23 Bubba Wallace McDonald's Toyota 28.249 191.157
10 16 AJ Allmendinger LeafFilter Gutter Protection Chevrolet 28.276 190.975
Row 6: 11 48 Alex Bowman Ally Chevrolet 28.284 190.921
12 17 Chris Buescher Fifth Third Bank Ford 28.309 190.752
Row 7: 13 38 Zane Smith Speedy Cash Ford 28.325 190.644
14 43 Erik Jones AdventHealth Toyota 28.334 190.584
Row 8: 15 7 Justin Haley Katz Coffee Chevrolet 28.337 190.564
16 20 Christopher Bell Interstate Batteries Toyota 28.356 190.436
Row 9: 17 45 Tyler Reddick Jordan Brand Toyota 28.363 190.389
18 4 Noah Gragson Rush Truck Centers Ford 28.368 190.355
Row 10: 19 3 Austin Dillon Bass Pro Shops/Winchester Chevrolet 28.381 190.268
20 41 Cole Custer Red Baron Ford 28.438 189.887
Row 11: 21 35 Riley Herbst # BeatBox Toyota 28.447 189.827
22 19 Chase Briscoe Bass Pro Shops Toyota 28.449 189.813
Row 12: 23 10 Ty Dillon Grizzly Nicotine Pouches Chevrolet 28.475 189.640
24 12 Ryan Blaney Menards/Knauf Ford 28.512 189.394
Row 13: 25 99 Daniel Suarez Kubota Chevrolet 28.532 189.261
26 8 Kyle Busch 7-Eleven Chevrolet 28.541 189.201
Row 14: 27 22 Joey Logano AAA Insurance Ford 28.545 189.175
28 42 John Hunter Nemechek Dollar Tree Toyota 28.554 189.115
Row 15: 29 9 Chase Elliott NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet 28.588 188.890
30 6 Brad Keselowski Consumer Cellular Ford 28.636 188.574
Row 16: 31 1 Ross Chastain Tooties Orchid Lounge Chevrolet 28.658 188.429
32 34 Todd Gilliland Love's Travel Stops Ford 28.659 188.422
Row 17: 33 60 Ryan Preece Kroger/Sara Lee/Kraft Singles Ford 28.696 188.180
34 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr. SUNNYD Chevrolet 28.704 188.127
Row 18: 35 62 Jesse Love(i) C4 Ultimate Energy Chevrolet 28.935 186.625
36 51 Cody Ware Arby's Ford 28.942 186.580
Row 19: 37 88 Shane Van Gisbergen # Safety Culture Chevrolet 29.193 184.976
38 66 Chad Finchum Hart HVAC & Electric Ford 29.833 181.008
Did Not Qualify: None.
Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs Manufacturer Starting Lineup DNQs
Chevrolet 16 0 Ford 13 0
Toyota 9 0
(i) Ineligible for driver points in this series
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