Love him or hate him, Carson Hocevar is doing what no other NASCAR Cup Series driver in the current field can do, and that is create new storylines on a weekly basis whether he finishes third, 23rd, or not at all.
Sure, there are some overblown narratives about the driver of the No. 77 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet. He's not Dale Earnhardt, and a driver whose career win percentage is lower than that of Harrison Burton (also with zero non-superspeedway wins) is not "singlehandedly saving NASCAR", something folks with his Reddit flair so desperately want you to believe.
And that's what makes Saturday's race at Bristol Motor Speedway, which saw Hocevar finish third after late contact with Ryan Blaney and a hard-fought battle with Ty Gibbs, even more interesting.
As Sports Business Journal's Adam Stern reported, ratings were actually down from the 2025 Bristol Night Race.
.@USANetwork averaged a 0.76 rating and 1.449 million viewers for Saturday's NASCAR Bass Pro Shops Night Race @ItsBristolBaby, down 3% from last year.
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) September 23, 2026
↙️ The race went up against Ole Miss-LSU.
➡️ Bristol's social media generated 2.6 million engagements, up 567% from last year. pic.twitter.com/hjan0Yda7f
Carson Hocevar making an impact, even if the ratings don't show it
On the surface, that would appear to directly contradict the argument that Hocevar is moving the needle when it comes to the sport generating outside attention and revving up interest within its preexisting fanbase.
Having said that, it's not as if fans would have tuned in knowing there was going to be a post-race fight between Hocevar or Blaney. They didn't tune in knowing Blaney was going to drop the f-bomb on live TV, or that Gibbs, in his Kyle Busch M&M's tribute scheme, was going to be the guy to keep Hocevar out of victory lane by roughing him up on the race track (before chucking his water bottle into the middle of the brawl).
They didn't know any of that. Yet those things are what have everybody talking. And did anybody notice we didn't even have to mention the race winner (Joey Logano, by the way)?
The race going up against Ole Miss vs. LSU is notable, but at the same time, there will always be "something else" on when you start talking about why motorsport ratings look the way they look. The race took place during college football season in 2025 as well.
For all intents and purposes, I'm not sure that is ever truly a big factor in a year-over-year comparison. As it is, a lot more folks have second screens now than they did even five years ago, although we do have to commend NASCAR for moving this race back into August, before college football season, for 2027.
The real note here is the fact that Bristol's social media generated over 2.6 million engagements, which is more than six and a half times as many as it did during the race a year ago.
That's significant, to say the least.
There's no way around it; Hocevar is absolutely moving the needle.
And while the ratings from the Bristol race may not necessarily reflect that, perhaps a better comparison will be the ratings from this coming Sunday's race at Kansas Speedway versus the ratings from the 2025 event at the same track.
How many more fans will tune in to this year's race, and how much will Saturday's drama, which felt like it was a long time coming, have affected that number?
If Hocevar's well-documented merch sales are really as impactful as they seem, ratings this week should be through the roof. And for the record, yes, the Kansas playoff went up against the NFL 12 months ago, too, so don't even think about letting that factor into the viewership comparison.
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