Start: 6th
Finish: 2nd
Driver Point Standings: 9th
Owner Point Standings: 10th
Race Rundown – No. 42 Premier Security Solutions Chevrolet Silverado
Hocevar kept his No. 42 Chevrolet Silverado in the top-10 for the entirety of the first stage to begin the night, resulting in a ninth-place finish in Stage One. Following a four tire stop at the stage break, Hocevar battled traffic for a majority of Stage Two before ultimately coming away with an eighth-place result.
After opting not to pit prior to the start of the final stage, Hocevar restarted fourth in the outside lane and made quick work of the trucks ahead to make the pass for the lead on lap 92 – the first of 55 laps the 19-year-old led on the night. Hocevar fended off a hard-charging John Hunter Nemechek from then on despite four cautions between then and the end of the race that brought the field back together.
Following a three-truck incident that brought out a caution on lap 138, Hocevar led the field to green with six laps to go but was unable to hold off eventual race winner Ben Rhodes who made the pass for the lead in turn four on the high side with five laps to go, resulting in a second-place finish. The finish matches a career-best and marks a season-best for Hocevar.
Hocevar on his run runner-up effort at Bristol: “Our second-place finish is a great effort from Niece Motorsports, my No. 42 team, and Premier Security Solutions. I ran the Bryan Clauson tribute scheme last year and did not have as much success as I would have liked, so I’m glad we could run up front with the ‘BC’ on our Chevrolet Silverado. He was definitely helping me tonight and I had him in my thoughts. We almost stole one there, but [Ben Rhodes] was really good. He could run the top where I couldn’t, which allowed him to build momentum. I tried to force him to the bottom lane but he had too much speed that ultimately put me on the ropes. Niece Motorsports has consistently brought really fast trucks to the track this year and [crew chief] Phil [Gould] and everyone at Niece has done a really good job this year.”
Niece Motorsports PR
