“He’s a Handful!” Kevin Harvick Hints at a Possible Carson Hocevar to Hendrick Motorsports Move

One of the biggest points of discussion in the NASCAR community is around the No:48 Hendrick Motorsports team. Alex Bowman has claimed that he would retire at the end of the 2027 season and Rick Hendrick is looking to find the perfect replacement to race for the iconic team. Their development driver Corey Day and Trackhouse Racing’s Connor Zilisch are reported front runners.

But talking about it, Kevin Harvick sees an opening for a Carson Hocevar move. In the latest episode of his podcast, the 2014 champion asserted that HMS is in a tough situation as they have decided between a short-term seat filler or a long-time signing. Both Zilisch and Day are, long-term prospects the team could bank on.  

When you look at that situation with the 48, and you look at Corey Day, I don’t think he’s quite ready to go in the Cup. And obviously Connor Zilisch has had a rough go at it…So, very interesting scenario because that is a marquee spot. You have to be able to decide: are you going for a Mark Martin-type situation or something that fills it for a couple years to just have fun with it? Or are you going for something long-term to build it from the ground up like you would with Zilisch or Day?

Kevin Harvick said on his podcast.

But if Hendrick Motorsport find it really challenging to make a decision, they could sign a wild card racer according to Kevin Harvick. He named Spire Motorsports’ Carson Hocevar as one of the safest bets in terms driver signings they can make, considering the youngsters haven’t proven their worth in top-tier yet. The one challenge though is the fact that Hocevar isn’t the usual corporate type of racer HMS likes to have.

It’s just in this type of scenario, it opens up things that you would never even think about, ever. Yeah, I mean the guy that would be the fastest, and it’s Carson Hocevar, right? And they already have all that tied together. I mean, he’s the safest bet now. He’s a handful, and maybe he’s not a Hendrick guy.

Kevin Harvick added via Happy Hour podcast.

Further talking about the point, the ex-Stewart Haas Racing racer pointed out that though a move would be wild, is possible considering Spire and HMS has a close relationship. Rick Hendrick’s team right mow has the opportunity sign a normal star driver or a potential superstar that comes with some baggage.

It may be too wild and all those types of things, but I mean the relationship that they have right there. It could be a wild scenario. They could keep it simple and boring, or they could blow it out of the water.

Kevin Harvick asserted.

Kevin Harvick has some big concerns about Connor Zilisch

In the same conversation earlier, Harvick talked about HMS target Zilisch. He pointed out that the youngster has failed to produce good runs that expected and him not matching the oval run of teammate Shane van Gisbergen is clearly disappointing. The No:88 car not matching his teammates is clearly worrying.

Because when I look at Connor Zilisch’s situation on an oval, theoretically, he should be just as good as SVG, in my opinion. So, I think that even when you compare it, team to team, and you look at the things that the 88 cars have done on the ovals. He’s still not really near his two teammates, and that’s the part that concerns me about that.

Kevin Harvick said.

The comments from the veteran are on point and shows how HMS needs to wait a bit and see how Zilisch will perform in remaining races of 2026 and start of 2027 before potentially giving the racer a bog contract. It would be interesting to see how the No:48 seat drama is going to playout in the coming days.

Also Read: “It’s Very Difficult!” Connor Zilisch Discusses Tough Reality Behind His Rookie Cup Struggle