DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Superspeedway racing is not something that Carson Hocevar feels is a major strength, but he is using a unique method to get better as he prepares for his second Daytona 500.
"I have an iRacing rig on my hauler so you probably won't see me much until race time, and I will be driving on superspeedways and World of Outlaws Sprint Cars," Hocevar said Wednesday during Daytona 500 Media Day.
The Spire Motorsports driver is not someone who relies on data when he is preparing for races. It isn't something he studies during practice or in his free time. Instead, he relies more on how the race car feels.
As Hocevar explained, he only studies data for one or two situations in the race. The rest of the time, he just puts his foot down and hits the gas. This way, he can quickly discover if he and the car are any good.
That being said, iRacing is a piece of technology that Hocevar utilizes. He and his crew use the racing simulator to test out different strategies at Daytona. There is an added benefit considering that there are no repercussions for making mistakes in the virtual world.
This method of preparation doesn't translate to other tracks as seamlessly. The virtual version of Darlington may not provide the same feel as in real life. However, Hocevar says that superspeedways are "one-to-one" when comparing the iRacing versions to real life.
"All my guys were having fun," he said about his iRacing Daytona experiments. "We were maintaining lanes in a truck, manipulating lanes, and it was fun.
"But yeah, I am going to take advantage of (iRacing) before the Duel and try a bunch of stuff, hit people, have them hit me, and change lanes. I am more than happy to wreck over there than out here."
The first two true superspeedway races of Hocevar's Cup Series career did not result in good finishes. He crashed at Talladega in 2023 while driving for Legacy Motor Club. He then crashed in last season's Daytona 500 while driving for Spire Motorsports.
The rest of the superspeedway races, however, have featured much better finishes. Hocevar finished inside the top 20 in both Atlanta races last season, inside the top 15 in both Talladega races, and 11th in the summer Daytona race.
Part of the success stems from a strategy of patiently racing while waiting to avoid the inevitable wrecks. Part of the success stems from gaining experience behind the wheel of a Gen 7 car.
But maybe just a little is owed to the experiments on iRacing.