Central Plains FFA Chapter

04/26 18:17 CDT Carson Hocevar earns 1st NASCAR Cup victory with last-lap pass at Talladega Superspeedway Carson Hocevar earns 1st NASCAR Cup victory with last-lap pass at Talladega Superspeedway TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) --- Carson Hocevar earned the first victory of his NASCAR Cup Series career, outdueling Chris Buescher with a last-lap pass at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday. Hocevar, who drives the No. 77 Chevrolet for Spire Motorsports, joined Ty Gibbs (who won two weeks ago at Bristol Motor Speedway), as the second first-time winner this season. Hocevar, who has made headlines for angering veterans with aggressive moves, won in his 91st start in NASCAR's premier series. The 23-year-old from Portage, Michigan, used a drafting push from Alex Bowman's No. 48 Chevrolet to edge past Buescher's No. 17 Ford by 0.114 seconds. Hocevar celebrated by taking a victory lap while sitting on his car's doorsill, making contact with the outside wall while doing an unconventional burnout and then hopping on his roof to encourage the crowd. Bowman finished third (his best finish since missing four races with vertigo), followed by Chase Elliott and Zane Smith. Hocevar capped a weekend of first-time NASCAR winners at the 2.66-mile oval. In the lower circuits on Saturday at Talladega, Corey Day (O'Reilly Auto Parts Series) and Andy Jankowiak (ARCA Menards Series) made their first trips to victory lane.

Up next The NASCAR Cup Series will race May 3 at Texas Motor Speedway, the lone stop this season at the 1.5-mile oval near Fort Worth. Joey Logano won at Texas last year, the most recent Cup victory for the three-time series champion. ___ AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing