Carson Hocevar reacts to 'Hurricane' nickname gaining steam

During this past August’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Iowa Speedway, NBC Sports announcer Leigh Diffey coined a nickname for Carson Hocevar. “Here comes the Hurricane,” Diffey said on the broadcast as Hocevar came racing into the top five at Iowa.

In that moment, Hocevar became known as the “Hurricane.” The nickname caught on with fans and made its 2026 debut this past Sunday at EchoPark Speedway. Mike Joy, the FOX Sports play-by-play man, called Hocevar the Hurricane as he put on a show and caused destruction at Atlanta.

Hurricane, a Diffey creation, is no longer exclusive to NBC Sports broadcasts. It’s now official — wherever and whenever it should be applied. Hocevar is just fine with the name, taking it as a compliment.

“Yeah, I wasn’t sure how much they were gonna use it because, obviously, it was Leigh Diffey saying it, and I was like, ‘Man, you’re not gonna hear that thing till next year in the fall, and I was like, I don’t know, they might have something different.’ But, when FOX [did it], I was like, ‘OK, I guess we can make a shirt or something.’ I take it as a compliment,” Hocevar said Thursday on the Gluckcast. “You can’t nickname yourself anything, it’s gotta come natural, it’s gotta come from somebody else.

“But, yeah, I take it as a compliment that we’re running good enough that they wanna help the sport and think it’s a value for their time to think of something. I’m all for whatever they wanna do. I’m in the car anyway, I’m not the one hearing it.”

Carson Hocevar wearing the ‘Hurricane’ nickname proudly

Hurricane is a fitting word to describe Hocevar, who has gained a reputation for being arguably the most aggressive racer in Cup. Sometimes, as seen at Atlanta, that aggressiveness doesn’t always get the desired outcome. Such was the case in overtime when Hocevar saw a hole between Christopher Bell and race leader Bubba Wallace, tried to fill it and ended up wrecking Bell in the process.

This week, veteran drivers such as Denny Hamlin and Ryan Blaney criticized Hocevar and offered him advice on how to clean up his mistakes on the racetrack. Other members of the NASCAR community, such as Richard Petty, have said that Hocevar reminds them of Dale Earnhardt.

Hocevar has heard the noise. But, his job is to race. That’s what he intends to keep doing — staying aggressive while doing it.

“I’m just out there racing,” Hocevar said. “I’m not out there, like, ‘Which famous race car driver am I gonna play pretend today about?’ I’m just racing, and I am gonna be super aggressive, and I’m not thinking how I can play mental mind games and get away with this or how can I do this. I’m just getting after it.”