DAYTONA, Fla. (WGHP) –Three rookies are racing for Cup Series Rookie of the Year.
At the racetrack, Carson Hocevar is famous for wearing interesting-looking hats. He has a new one each week.
Zane Smith may be a rookie to the Cup Series, but after winning the Truck Series Championship in 2022, he knows what it feels like to be on the top.
Josh Berry’s road to the NASCAR Cup Series was hardly a direct route since he thought a career as a short-track racer might have been for him.
In 2023 at age 20, Hocevar was also wearing many different hats. He was a full-time Truck Series driver where he ended up in victory lane four times, and he was also filling in in the Cup Series, running eight of nine races with Legacy Motorsports.
For Smith, progression comes with learning, adjusting and execution, and he hopes to succeed in the Cup Series.
A chance meeting with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. put Berry’s career on a different path.
“He kind of swooped me up and took me out of middle Tennessee and just gave me an opportunity to drive for him … That was exactly what I needed,” Berry said.
He drove for Earnhardt, Jr. in the Xfinity Series and won five times.
Hocevar recently celebrated his 21st birthday. He’s moving up to the Cup Series full-time and driving the 77 car for Spire Motorsports.
Berry’s replacing Kevin Harvick in the 4 car at the Cup level, but he knows his place.
“Kevin’s legacy speaks for itself, right? Like I’m not Kevin Harvick. I’m not trying to be Kevin Harvick, but the benefit to me is I’m stepping into a great opportunity that Kevin has built for years and years and years,” Berry said.
Smith has a huge confidence advantage to start the season since he won at Daytona in the Truck Series the past two years.
“But the Cup side is no joke. Everyone from first to last is there for a reason. They’ve won races in this sport. They’ve won championships, and that’s what makes it so tough,” Smith said.
Whether he ends with a Rookie of the Year or not, the driver of the 71 car hopes to keep racing on Sundays for a long time.
Driving with an established team and being a little older should work to Berry’s advantage this year.
But each driver has momentum they’ll need, advantages they’ll take and confidence they’ll use trying to outrun not only one another but every other driver in the Cup Series field.